^li 



THE TfJOPICAL AGRICOLTaftiST. fJt^Mft x, l88^ 



quarter of a mile from the Garden, viz., where the 

 hue crosses the Deltota-road. Tr;uus have already 

 several times fouud it convenient to stop here on the 

 occasions of the annual Peradeiiiya races and school 

 treats in the Gardens, and I helieve that if a perma- 

 nent station were placed her^ a lar^e local passen- 

 ger trafric would result between K;indy and the Gar- 

 dens, IN.B.— Ed.] 



Weather. — The rainfall was much as usual, but 

 August appears to have been remarkably wet. Mr. 

 Clark's record is given below : — 



188G. Rainfall. Kainy Days. 



January ... 5-10 ... 8 



February ... 075 ... 2 



March ... 3-84 ... 5 



April ... 861 ... 13 



May ... 11-24 ... 10 



June ... 802 .. 11 



July ... 11-66 ... 14 



August ... 12-88 ... 17 



September ... 1163 ... 12 



October ... 8-00 ... 16 



November ... 774 ... 10 



December ... 1-99 ... 9 



Total ... 91-26 ... 127 



The heaviest fall in any 24 hours was 5-82 in. on 

 August G-7. 



2.— Hakgala Garden. 

 The alterations and improvements commenced in 1882 

 have now been almost wholly carried out under the 

 zealous superintendence of the Superintendent, Mr. 

 Nock. By the gradual way in which they have been 

 effected, scarcely any extra cost on the whole depart- 

 mental vote has been involved ; yet we have at length 

 what in my Report for 1881 I set before me as the ob- 

 ject to be attained, — an interesting and beautiful bot- 

 anic garden, well stocked with the useful and orna- 

 mental plants of the sub-tropical and warm-temperate 

 regions of the world, and possessing some facilities for 

 their culture, propagation, and distribution. Much of 

 course remains to be done, but it is with great satis- 

 faction that I see the increasing utility of the Garden 

 and the public interest taken in its welfare. The car- 

 riage drive through the Garden has been finished during 

 the year : the whole metalled and gravelled, the em- 

 bankments and verges turfed throughout, and several 

 culverts and drains put in. This has beeu a heavy piece 

 of work, and as usual labour has been lent from Pera- 

 deniya to cirry it out. The additions and improve- 

 ments to the Superintendent's bungalow have been 

 finally completed, and the building is now in very good 

 order. The long verandah has been fitted with flower- 

 stands, and now gives considerable additional accommod- 

 ation for pots, which was much needed. All the smaller 

 buildings were re-thatched with maua-grass during 

 the year. The new cooly lines commenced in 

 1885 were completed. They are much better placed 

 than the old ones, and contain ten rooms. The old 

 lines will now be pulled down to allow of an exten- 

 sion of the nurseries and kitchen garden, which are 

 too small, and have much deteriorated in soil. The 

 glass propagating house has been re-painted, and a 

 coating of cement laid over the brick floor. This small 

 house requires to be supplemented by a few brick 

 frames or pits, so as to enable sufficient plants to 

 be raised to keep up a succession of flowers in the house, 

 which at present has to be itself mainly employed 

 for propagating purposes. I purchased in London a 

 small " Easy " lawn-mower for Hakpala ; this ha.s 

 proved of great use, and saves much labour. Several 

 other garden implements would be supplied if my 

 resources were larger. The small vote for labour 

 renders it especially desirable to employ means of 

 rendering rapid and easy the work of the labourers. 

 I extract for publication the followinEC portions of 

 a very comprehensive report of the Superintendent 

 for the year : — [We give only a few paragraphs here. — 

 Ed.] 



" No less than 45,948 cuttings of various plants have 

 been put in the nursery beds and propacating-house 

 24,600 seedling plants picked out in pots and pans 

 5,472 plants potted or re-potted, and 4';6 pans o 

 peds sown. 



" Seven hundred and twenty plants of various species 

 of eucalyptus were planted in the patana round about 

 the new lines. Of the plants planted on the patana 

 above the road by the entrance gate, the junipers, 

 Cfl^j/f-MMs torulosa and Irenela rhomhoidea are doing 

 very well indeed, but the species of pinus have nearly 

 all died. Cri/ptomeria japonica is doing fairly well here. 



" The little dwarf variegated bamboo {Bamiusa For- 

 tuiiei), which was brought by the Director from the 

 Darjiling gardens three years ago, has now become 

 quite established. It grows only about 4 in. high here, 

 and forms a very pretty edging plant. 



" Visitors. — The number of visitors during the year 

 was 1,011, April again showing the largest number 

 (193) and July the smallest (35j. 



" The total rainfall for the year was 86-43 in., which 

 fell on 211 days. The greatest fall in any 24 hours was 

 3-92 in., which fell from the 7th to the 8th of August.'' 

 Henaratgoda Garden. 



This garden suffered severely from drought 

 in the earlier part of the year, and several 

 palms, cacao trees, and one of the cow trees 

 (Galactodendron) died as well as the majority of the 

 foliage plants and flowers in the borders ; a fresh sup- 

 ply of all these was, however, planted up in the S. W. 

 monsoon, and the opportunity taken for raising and 

 manuring the beds. A new fernery was also made in 

 a more sheltered position. 



An improvement of that part of the garden near 

 the river has been made by the formation of a new 

 path to the mangosteen plantation through the strip 

 of wild jungle. 



The old plant-shed being in a decayed condition 

 a new one of a more permanent charactf'r, with brick 

 pillars, has been put up, but is not yet finished. 



The various tropical plants of interest in this 

 Garden are for the most part in a flourishing condi- 

 tion, and notes on several of them will, as usual, be 

 found in the section referring to economic plants. 

 I regret that no more of the Lodoicea seeds have 

 germinated, and I fear that, as it is nearly three 

 years since they were planted, there is now httle 

 chance of their doing so. The one which sprouted, 

 looks vigorous, and has sent up a second leaf, stand- 

 ing about 6 ft. high. A considerable distribution of 

 seeds of economic plants, such as Castilloa and 

 Hevea rubbers, cacao and shade trees, pepper, ^'c, 

 has been made during the year, but the demandfor 

 such does not increase. The Muhandiram in charge 

 continues to give complete satisfaction. He com- 

 plains of a great falling-olf in the number of visitors 

 to the Garden, and indeed there were scarcely any in 

 1886. This diminution is obviously due to the 

 new train arrangements, by which only the 

 slow trains stop at the Henaratgoda station. I 

 would venture to suggest whether it would not be 

 a matter of easy arrangement, that (as is the case at 

 many small stations in England) the quick trains might 

 stop by signal to take up or set down passengers here. 

 The stoppage, which would not very frequently be 

 required, could not delay the train more than two 

 or three minutes. 



An'uradhapuea Garden. 



The rapid growth of most plants in this Garden 

 is remarkable, and strikingly exhibits the great capa- 

 bilities of the soil for varied cultivations, given only 

 a water-supply and ordinary attention. Though only 

 in the fourth year of its existence, the Garden already 

 begins to look stocked. As was expected, however, 

 many of the economic products so freely grown in 

 the south of Ceylon will not thrive here, and no fur- 

 ther attempts to grow to any advantage tea, cocoa, 

 rubbeii, nutmegs, cloves, etc., need be made. On the 

 other h.md, several plants belonging to the same class 

 appear to he fairly well suited here, such as cinna- 

 mon, breadfruit, pepper, cashew-nut, and Liberian 

 coffee. Of the latter, there are numerous bushes crop- 

 ping well, and if this cultivation prove to be per- 

 manently successful, no more useful introduction to 

 the villages of the North-Central Province couldbe 

 found. Of plants native to the drier tropical countries, 

 many succeed here much better than atPeradeniya 

 or Henaratgoda, such as cotton, tobacco, and numer- 



