 These were lengthy, state-sponsored enterprises to gather information about plants and animals from the Spanish realms, assess economic possibilities, and provide plants and seeds for the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid (founded 1755).These expeditions took naturalists and artists, who created visual images as well as careful written observations as well as collecting seeds and plants themselves.Crown officials as early as 1779 issued and systematically distributed "Instructions concerning the most secure and economic means to transport live plants by land and sea from the most distant countries", with illustrations, including one for the crates to transport seeds and plants.