May I, 1883.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 91 i 



ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS. 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR FOR THE YEAR 1882. 



L— THE GARDENS. 



1. — PjilRADEOTYA GARDEN. 



A GREAT deal of heavy work has been got through during the year, nearly everything 

 planned at the close of the previous one having been carried out. 



Roads and Paths. — It was mentioned in my last report that extensive repairs had become 

 necessary to nearly all the main driving thoroughfares in the garden, and accordingly much of 

 our labour during 1882 has been expended on this work. Those in tlie garden itself are now in 

 good order, and the remainder in the old arboretum, which need much remaking, will be put into 

 proper condition in the coming season. The roads by the fernery, round the small circle, near 

 the stores and the Director's house, have been completely remade, as well as those at the entrance 

 and from thence to the lake. Culverts have been put in where necessary, and opportunity taken 

 to make some alterations in their course and to remove old trees and straggling vegetation in too 

 close proximity. The long drive in the new garden was completed early in the year. 



Two new footpaths have been made — one from the fernery to the small circle, the other along 

 the course of a long disused drive by the old nursery and bordered by a grove of very fine old 

 specimens of Java almond trees {Canarium commune). These open up parts of the garden not 

 previously accessible to visitors. 



Buddings. — An estimate for necessary repairs to the Assistant Director's bungalow — now 

 for a year unoccupied— has at length been sanctioned, but these have not yet been commenced. 



The little monument erected in 1855 as a cenotaph in memory of Mr. Gardner — the well- 

 known botanist and traveller who preceded Dr. Thwaites as Superintendent of the garden — had 

 fallen into very bad repair and is now undergoing renovation. This I have been enabled to 

 undertake with the aid of a small balance of the sum originally subscribed, which had remained 

 in Dr. Thwaites' hands. It is hoped that sufficient may remain to obtain and affix a small memo- 

 rial tablet as originally intended by the subscribers. 



The glass-roofed plant-shed i)roposed in my last report has been built during the year. It 

 is 40 feet long by 15 feet wide, and the roof is supported by ten cylindrical red brick pillars ; the 

 floor is also of brick and is well drained. The appearance is very light and ornamental, and will be 

 more so when the staging and blinds are put up. This has been a rather expensive building, but 

 the cost has been entirely met out of tlie ordinary votes for tlie garden. It will be used for the 

 safe keeping and exhibition of the choicer pot plants, orchids, etc., which are easily lost when 

 planted out amidst the exuberant vegetation of the garden. 



The old carpenter's shed having fallen in during the extremely wet weather of July, a new 

 and substantial brick-pillared and tiled building has been erected for the use of the carpenter and 

 his assistant. In this case also there has been no application to Government for funds. 



Lawns. — A special %'ote having been included in this year's estimates for the purchase of a 

 large mowing machine, I took advantage of a visit to England to make the necessary inquiries, and 

 ultimately selected Messrs. Samuelson's "P. Balance Draught" grass-mower, with certain modi- 

 fications to fit it for traction by bullocks. This machine has arrived, and I anticijiate a very great 

 saving of labour by its use. 



It is necessary, however, to first bring our extensive tracts of grass into a fit condition, and 

 the whole will be gone over carefully with this object. The stumps of old trees and bushes have 

 to be dug out as well as numerous ant-hills, much levelling is necessary, and quantities of stones 

 and rubbish have to be removed. When this is finished, and the grass regularly cut and attended 

 to, very fine lawns will be produced. 



Propagation and Planting. — The planting up of the new arboretum formed a principal part 

 of the work during the wet season. The unusually prolonged rains during the jiast year have been 

 very favourable for this, and very few plants have been lost. The trees of the natural families — 

 SapotacecB, Ebenacece, Bignonlacece, Verhenaccce, ^'c. — have been planted in their position in the 

 new garden where the Bixaccce, P'dtosporacece, RutacecB, aud Capparldece have been also allocated. 



