BOMBAY GARDENS. 403 



The soil of most Bombay gardens is very different from what we are 

 used to see at home. What principally strikes the new -corner is the 



prevalent red colour of the soil of our hills, and many people will, no 

 doubt, at the first sight, think the colour an objection to its fertility 

 as indicating a presence of iron. I have not been able to find any 

 report on its exact chemical contents, but though there can be no 

 doubt that the " red earth : ' contains a considerable percentage of iron 

 salts, it is, on the other hand, certain that these must be compara- 

 tively harmless to vegetation, or thai action is so modified by 

 the presence of other valuable matter that they only assist in form- 

 ing a most valuable and fertile soil, which, in regard to its physical 

 qualities, partakes of the most desirable properties of the varieties 

 of soil known to us from home. It is porous and at the same time 

 retentive, and has, I believe, a great capacity of absorbing power 

 (a property upon which the fertility of a soil principally depends). 

 In the lower lying districts of Bombay, we meet clay, humus and sand, 

 only slightly differing from the same kinds of soil at home, but 

 which it is not possible, even by artiricial means, to so enrich as to 

 compare favourably with the red earth of the hills, at least in respect 

 to producing the brilliant colouring of shrubs. &m, for which especially 

 Malabar Hill is justly famed. The Public Health Department has 

 always a large depot of mosv valuable manure, by which means it 

 is easy, at a comparatively small cost, to enrich the soil when 

 required. A'few words about the legal aspects of gardens in Bombay 

 may perhaps be found useful. In nine cases out of ten the occupant 

 of a house in Bombay is a tenant, and his rights to the garden, out- 

 houses, and other parts of the property, comprised in the compound, 

 are to a certain extent restricted. He will, as a rule, be required 

 to employ a native gardener, or a tuali, to maintain the 

 existing garden. He may not, wilhout the landlord's permission, 

 cut down any trees or remove any plants once established 

 in the garden, nor remove any part of the ground, be it rock, 

 soil, or other material. In regard to alterations of existing roads, 

 drains or water service pipes, the owner must also be consulted. 

 On the other hand, he is at liberty to plant whatever he likes in 

 the ground, but it must be always borne in mind that, however 

 much the tenant improves the garden, or enhances its value by 

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