44 THE PLANT WORLD 



cultivation in tlie yards of the liumblest character. It is the desire and 

 aim of the director, Dr. William Fawcett, to make Hoj)e Botanic Gar- 

 dens the great emporium, or distributing center, for the West Indies. 

 In this plan, he has onh^ partially succeeded for lack of financial sup- 

 port from the Government. As it is, about 40,000 plants are sent out 

 each year. The director has a residence and office conveniently located, 

 and in a large two-story porticoed building repose the herbarium, 

 library, museum and research laboratory'. The herbarium is rich in 

 tropical plants, especially Jamaican forms, and is well maintained. The 

 library is well supplied with all of the more important " floras " and 

 recent botanical works. The museum contains alcohol specimens of 

 plants, and a representative collection of woods. The laboratory seems 

 bare, but is supplied with a few dissecting and compound microscopes, 

 and some of the requisite reagents for microscopic work. 



Two other gardens merit a short description. King's House 

 Garden, 177 acres in extent, is located about the residence of the gover- 

 nor, and is but a short distance by trolley car from Hope Gardens. The 

 avenue from the entrance gate to the house is formed of the ^dllow fig 

 {Ficus henjamina) and the royal palm {Oreodoxa regia), wdth borders of 

 ornamental shrubs and creepers, such as Crotons, Hibiscus, Acalypha, 

 Tabernaemoiitana, 3Iussaenda, Tinnea, Bambusa, Dracaena, Musa ,Bigno- 

 nia and Steplianotis. In the garden about the house are many note- 

 worthy trees and plants. 



Hill Garden, or Cinchona, as it is generally called, is located in the 

 Blue Mountains between New Castle and Abbey Green, at an elevation 

 ranging from 3000 to 6300 feet, so that greatly varied experiments can 

 be made in cultures requiring different altitudes. 



If the writer dared to make a prophecy, he would give as his opin- 

 ion that Hill Garden is destined to become the chief botanic garden of 

 the island, even to the abandonment of Castleton and Hope Gardens. 

 The climate is more favorable to continued labor on the part of white 

 men. Timber trees have been planted out and tended for years, and a 

 knowledge gained of the capabilities of different trees for use in the hills. 

 The several medicinal species of Cinchona have been found to do well 

 here. Fodder plants have been experimentally dealt with, as well as 

 many different kinds of economic plants. An experimental coffee and 

 orange plantation has been started, which may prove of ultimate 

 advantage to the plants of Jamaica. 



A visit to any of these gardens cannot but prove a revelation to the 

 visitor unfamiliar with the tropical vegetation out of doors. Under the 

 able management of Dr. William Fawcett, at Hope, seconded by the 

 intelligent direction of Mr. W. G. Thomson, at Castleton, the botanic 

 gardens of Jamaica have become important botanic centers. 

 University of Pennsylvania, Philadeliohia, Pa. 



