762 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1886. 



.'t still leaks a little. The erection of a cattle-shed on 

 'he liigh load below the Garden, for the sake of obtain- 

 ing the iiiaunre. has been carried out. It has been 

 strongly built (by the Garden coolies) and shoiild last 

 many years. It is already frequented by cartmen, and the 

 Garden deriving the benefit contemplated. A site for 

 new cooly lines was selected, and the framework and 

 \-oof of the building has been put up and thatched. 

 But it has not been found impossible to spare from the 

 necessary work of the Garden labour sufliciont to 

 finish it. I have selected the following extracts from 

 Mr. Nock's comprehensive report on the Gardens : — 

 " Iruads mill Paths. — The Carriage Drive from the 

 bungalow to the entrance gate was thoroughly re- 

 ;)aired in January, and the grass verges made 

 complete throughout the whole distance. Near the 

 lower end of the fernery, the old drive made a 

 very sharp and ugly bend to avoid a bank, some 4 

 ft. high. This bank has been cut away for about 12 ft., 

 and the road made of abetter curve and an easier 

 gradient for a distance of H4 feet. New patlis, 4 feet 

 wide, have been made in various parts of ail garden,— in 

 165 yards, — as well as 27'2 yards of narrow .S-feet 

 ones in the herbaceous groinid ; and Ii:-i7 yards of turf- 

 edging has been laid down along the sides of paths. 

 108 square yards of turf have also been laid down 

 to form a lawn near the rose garden and on the bank 

 below the new pond. 



"Ferueri/. — I am glad to be able to report that 

 the plants in the fernery have done well all through 

 the year. Sonic of the foreign species have made re- 

 markable growth, and are now quite established. The 

 New Zealand " Silver tree-fern," Cijat/n'a (Italhafa " 

 has already begun to form a stem, and has now 25 

 .ronds. The Australian tree-ferns, nicl;>onia anfarfica 

 mentioned in last year's report, have also continued 

 to thrive; and the groups of the lovely indigenous 

 -ree-fern, Ahophtla cniiita, have made excellent 

 ■ rowth during the year, and have been much admired 

 Oy Australian and European visitors. 



" liiinl-sheih mid .Xiirseries. — In the plant-sheds 

 and nurseries, a large and varied stock 

 of plants has been kept up for distrib- 

 ution, and for the supply of the Garden. The 

 greater part of the nursery has been liberally dressed 

 with manure and though some parts of it are still 

 very poor, the soil generally is in much better heart 

 and the plants have in consequence grown more 

 freely, and have given greater satisfaction; 35,300 

 seedling plants were pricked out during the 

 year and 55,400 cuttings put in. The propag- 

 ating-housc continues to be most useful for strik- 

 ing cuttings of the more delicate sort of 

 plants, and for raising seeds, &c. "Without it, I feel 

 sure, I could not have saved the one straggUug ger- 

 minating shoot of the new and valuable AVcst Ifidian 

 vegetable, Sciliium cli'le, which has, I am glad to state, 

 now been successfully established. 



'* Hai'dds and Shri'liheries. — A great amount of work 

 has been done to the borders and slirubberins in the 

 way of m;iuuring, planting, and re-planting, and thin- 

 ning out and pruning. Altogether 3S,500 plants and 

 seedlings of various trees, .shrub, and garden plants 

 have been planted out during the j'ear, the greater part, 

 of course, being showy herbaceous garden plants and 

 annuals. Tlirce new borders have been made near the 

 lower entrance to the fernery, — one will be devoted 

 entirely to Fuchsias, and the others planted with mixed 

 plants. Two mere borders were also made between the 

 edge of the new pond and the carriage drive, A 

 l)clt of six rows of different conifers and one row of 

 Aciuia imlaniixiilim has been planted on the patna land, 

 near entrance fjate, at the back of the junipers planted 

 there last year. In July and August the upper por- 

 tion of the old ilncJiona Lrdi/iiiina plantation was 

 cleaned up and phinled with J'hiits shuiisis, and on the 

 lower side enough ground was cleared for and planted 

 with two rows of rim's luiif/ifoliu, and one oi I'ijtus 

 Khitspa. The first two named are doing well, but a 

 good many of the last, besides dying out in the hot 

 dry wi athi r, wc'-e destroyed by elephants ; and I tv.- 

 grct to say we have no more plants of tliis kind to fill 

 up the vacaucies. 



" Flower Garden. — The beds here have for most part 

 of the year been filled with showy temperate plants, 

 which, on the whole, have done well, though loth 

 here and in the borders in the other pans of the 

 Garden it has been impossible to obtain that uniform 

 appearance so much desired, on account of an un- 

 usually large number of grubs and slugs which have 

 attacked almost everything put out this year. 



" Hose (I'aiileii. — White gravel has been laid on the 

 paths in this garden ; and the ground on the upper 

 side of it has been made level and planted with 

 English grass, which has now covered the whole 

 surface, and forms a nice fresh-looking turf. A few 

 new roses have been added by exchanges, and nearly 

 all have grown well. Considering the jilauts have been 

 set out only just over a year, some remarkably fine 

 blooms have been produced. I may mention that 

 one bloom of "PaulNcron" measured Ik inches in 

 diameter, and was as richly-scented as any I have ever 

 grown. September produced the greatest number of 

 blooms, and the size and coloiu'iug of the flowers were 

 very satisfactory. 



"Herbaceous Garden. — It has been found that the 

 herbaceous gnrdeu made three years ago is far too 

 small for the number of species we now have, and as 

 it is not practicable to extend the garden there, it was 

 decided to form an entirely new one ou a site adjoin- 

 ing the rose garden. This site has been cleared of 

 jungle, roots and stones removed, the ground made even, 

 and laid out in sixteen beds 4 feet wide, with a 

 path between each bed 3 feet wide and a grass verge 

 on each side 1 foot wide. The average length of the 

 beds is 50 feet. The monocotyledons will be placed in 

 the beds nearest the rose garden, and already 100 species 

 of them have been planted out. 



" T'isito/s. — The increase of visitors is remarkable, 

 being 475 more than in lSs4, when there were 539, 

 against 1,014 during this year. April gave the largest 

 number (192), and June the smallest (2S). 



We quote also what Dr. Trimen says about tea 

 and cocoa : — 



Tea. — Oeylon has exported over 3J millions (3,796,534 

 lb.) of tea during the year, a rise of 1} million, but yet 

 somewhat less than was anticipated. The area under 

 this cultivatiou (roughly estimatfd last year as G5,000 

 acres) is now calculated, with as much accuracy as can 

 be attained, at 101,095 acres. This is ii very large ex- 

 tent, but it must be remembered that fully half is mrt 

 yet in bearing, uud much more still very yoimg. It 

 has been estimated that this existing aci i'ag« 

 should yield in four years' time an export of 

 not far oft 30 millions lb,, and to that will 

 have to be added the yield of the bushes of the 

 next two years' planting. Such predictious, which 

 take into account no accidents, have not any great 

 value ; but allowing this to pass, I must confess, that, 

 however encouraging in one aspect these figures nniy 

 appear, they have to mj' mind a serious aspect also. 

 For the present, however, prices are well maintained 

 and our trees .are free from any serious blights or 

 insect ravages.* liut it cannot be too strongly urged 

 upon planters to endeavour to occupy such a strong 

 position b}' the cultivation of other products, that 

 they may be able to hear the chauges ju these res- 

 pects which are but too likely to occur. 



It has been suggested— and the question is likely 

 to be more discusseil — thai the cultivation of tea by 

 the small native landholders in the villages iidght 

 well be encouraged by Government : and during the 

 year olticial applications for plants and seed have br;en 

 referred to me. It is certainly very much to be desired 

 that Sumo cultivation could be found f(>r the villager 

 to take t ho place of his coffee now almost totally des- 

 troyed by leaf-disease; a little consideration will how- 

 ever, 1 I liink, show that this cannot be done by t-ea 

 at least under jirescnt cireiunstances. Vt'hat has becu 



* UcloiH-his has done some slight diunage in a few 

 estates, the fully-developed insect siud;ing the young 

 leaves. This has been, so far as I have seen, where 

 cacao is grow n along with tea, a couibiuatiou perhaps 

 bettor avoided. 



