June i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



Sit 



throughout the United Kingdom in honour of the 

 Queen's Jubilee year. This would more than any- 

 thing else that I can think of help to break 

 the necks of the members of that cruel gang (as 

 far as quinine in feverish districts is concerned) at 

 any rate (and especially cruel to the jMor .') — the 

 dispensing chemists in the regions referred to. 

 They could not complain and if they did, who 

 would pity them? — Or, if W. H. Smith would not 

 care to do this, would he allow an Association 

 of philanthropists the use of his vast machinery 

 (his bookstalls) for distribution of quinine. To 

 carry out the idea a few thousand pounds to float 

 it would be all that would be required." 



ROYAL BOTANIC GAEDENS: CEYLON. 



BEPORT OF DR. HENRY TRIMEN, DIRECTOR, 

 FOR THE YEAR 1886. 



Introductory. 



As I have been absent from the Colony on leave since 

 the middle of March, I am necessarily dependent for 

 much of the contents of the following pages ou the 

 reports of the subordinate ofRcers of my department. 

 During my absence the genenl oversight of all the 

 Gardens was entrusted to Mr. Nock, the Superinten- 

 dent of Hakgala, who, I am glad to be able to report, 

 carried out his additional duties with energy and dis- 

 cretion. The other members of the Establishment 

 have all worked well and diligently, and on my return 

 I have found the condition and progress of the Gar- 

 dens all that I could wish. 



As regards the personnel of the Department, it is 

 with much regret that I have had to record the death, 

 on Oct. 10, of an old and devoted native member of the 

 staff, Don Seman De Silva Gunaratne, Mubandiram, 

 tlto principal plant collector at Peradeniya for many 

 years. His death is a serious loss, not only to the 

 Gardens, but to me personally, for he has been my 

 constant companion (as before of my predecessors 

 Thwaites and Gardner) in all my botanical tours, 

 when his intimate knowledge of the country and ex- 

 tensive acquaintance with its flora have been of the 

 greatest assistance. He was a first-rate and 

 untiring collector, and the discoverer of many 

 novelties. I have commemorated the name of this 

 unassuming votary of practical botany in a new species 

 of Sonerila which he collected in the Pasdun Korale. 

 The native rank of Mubandiram was conferred on him 

 by Sir H. Robinson, in 1866. 



Peradeniya Gardens. 



Rods and Paths. — The principal heavy work, which 

 has taken up the greater part of the year, has been 

 the re-making of some of the carriage roads in the 

 Garden. The greater part of the Main Central Drive 

 and its branch to the Museum building, the Monu- 

 ment-road, and that round the large circle (in all over 

 1,^00 yards) have been thoroughly re-made, re-met- 

 alled, and gravelled, and will now last for many years. 

 We are fortunate in possessing in the grounds an 

 abundant deposit of rolled flint pebbles, which form 

 excellent road ballast when broken ; I regret, however, 

 to notice that the beds of gravel which have supplied 

 the wants of the Garden for over sixty years are now 

 beginning to give out. 



With the object of improving the appearance of the 

 entrance I planted, a few years ago, a row of Saman 

 trees on the opposite side of the high road where the 

 race-course runs alongside it. At the request of the 

 Race Committee I have now planted a mixed ornam- 

 ental hedge along the whole length of the road where 

 it bounds the course. This will much improve the 

 appearance of the surroundings of the Garden entrance. 



BmLDiNGS. — These are, generally, in satisfactory re- 

 pair, it being always my practice to attend to small 

 dilapidations at once. The building, however, now used 

 as the Director's Office and Museum requires some 

 general attention, re-painting, and whitewashing, by 

 the Public Works Department. 



The new conly liues were completed during the year, 

 and now consist of three substantial buildings, well 

 built und tiled, and containing twenty-si:\f rooms. 



Their cost has been entirely met out of the Depart- 

 mental vote, and I am very pleised to have been thus 

 able to do away with the old lines, which were a dis- 

 grace to a Government establishment. As the lines are 

 very close to the high road, a dwarf bamboo hedge has 

 been planted, which will form a screen ; and behind the 

 buildings the river bank, which is here very steep, and 

 constantly wearing away from the set of the current 

 against it, haa been strengthened and planted with 

 riverside bamboos. 



Thwaites Memorial. — This little Kandyan building 

 has been finally completed by the addition of four 

 strong seats of " Wa " wood and the erection of a brass 

 tablet with a memorial inscription. 



Cultivation, Nurseries, &c. — New and extensive 

 nurseries have been formed, as planned out in 

 my last year's report, in that part of the Garden 

 abandoned in 1881 and lying fallow ever since. The 

 ground has been deeply trenched and well manured, 

 there is a constant supply of water, and the locality 

 is convenient for the Garden OflSce and Stores. This 

 nursery is 350ft. long by 70ft. wide, and contains 132 

 beds 28ft. long. 



A raised bed has been made round the interior of one 

 half of Plant Shed No. 3, for plunging pans with ger- 

 minating seeds. 



The Herbaceous Ground in the South Garden has 

 been taken in hand and well manured. This is very 

 exposed, and it is found that only a limited class of 

 plants will grow in it ; a large additional number 



been planted during the 

 the beds is improving, 

 great number of species 



of species have, however, 

 year, and the condition of 



In the Orchid House a 

 have flowered during the year. Blr. Clark has effected 

 an improvement in the cultivation of these plants, 

 by obtaining Irom Horton Plains— the only locality 

 in Ceylon — some sacks-full of Sphagnum zeylanicum 

 This useful moss is, however, so rare, that it will not 

 I fear, be possible to use it generally. I contemplate 

 if funds will allow of it, the erection of a new and 

 more suitable house for the cultivation of Orchids, 

 as it is found that the present glass-roofed structure is 

 too hot and dry for most species. 



Much attention has been paid to the flower-beds and 

 borders during the year, and a very large number of 

 new plants have been put out. The circular bed near 

 the Garden Office was planted at the end of the year 

 with a collection of varieties of Hihiscus. 



The paths of the Ferneries near the Plant Sheds have 

 been laid with a gravel of broken white quartz, wiiich 

 has a clean and cheerful effect. 



Labelling. — The new teak labels are gradually tak- 

 ing the place of all other kinds, and prove the most 

 durable yet tried. About 250 have been put in position 

 during the year. I have now a man constantly em- 

 ployed in painting the names, and the work will be 

 more rapidly pushed forward. 



Visitors. --The Gardens are becoming increasingly 

 popular, but are perhaps better known to travellers 

 from abroad than to the residents in this country. No 

 numeration of visitors is attempted, but a bi^ok is kept 

 at the lodge, in which those Europeans who are not 

 known by sight to the gate-keepers are invited to enter 

 their names. In 1886 as many as 1,090 such visitors 

 signed in this book. 



I feel sure that these beautiful grounds would be 

 much more frequented if access from Kandy were 

 easier. The distance (four miles) is beyond a walk for 

 the majority of persons, and the road hot, glaring, 

 and dusty. The railway station called Peradeniya is 

 a mile from the Garden gate ou the opposite side of 

 the river, and awkward of access. To get thence to 

 the Garden involves the payment of a heavy toll for 

 horses or carriages at the Satinwood bridge, and 

 neither the one nor the other are to be obtained at the 

 station unless previously sent out from Kandy. Since 

 the formation of the loop Hue this station has ceased to 

 be a junction, and is no longer on the main line from 

 Colombo to Nanu-oya, but merely a station on the 

 Kandy branch; and I would wish to represent that 

 the public would be better served if it were moved 

 from its present position on the Ganipol;i-road, where 

 it now serves no useful purpose, to a point within a 



