34 



In 1897 the Government transferred the present Director with 

 Office and Herbarium from Cinchona to Hope, with the intention 

 of malcing it tlie central botanical establishment of the island. 

 Since that time the Garden has gradually been formed and ex- 

 tended.* 



The following plants are grown for experimental purposes, and 

 also for use in teaching agricultural principles, and the best 

 methods of dealing with these tropical crops : — Sugar Cane, Cocoa, 

 Coffee, Tobacco, Banana, Rubber, Nutmeg, Citrus, Grape Vine, 

 Pine Apple, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes, &c. 



Practical instruction is given in the Garden to apprentices, to 

 boys from the Industrial School, to Students at Training Colleges, 

 to Elementary School Teachers in their vacation, to Agricultural 

 Students, and to Planters themselves. 



There are about 8 acres under Sugar Cane of several varieties 

 which are being tested by the Agricultural Chemist and distribu- 

 ted to Planters. Seedlings are grown from seed and are tested as 

 they mature. 



Forastero and Criollo Cocoa are grown, and experiments are 

 being made as to the effect of shade trees, and as to the difference 

 in growth, and yield of crop, when planted close and at wider 

 distances apart. 



Coffee of several kinds may be seen : — Arabian or common 

 Coffee, Liberian, Abbeokuta, Highland Coffee of Sierra Leone 

 (stenophylla), Maragogipe, Golden Drop, &c. 



Tobacco is under cultivation, and the leaf is cured in the to- 

 bacco house close by. The apprentices are instructed in all the 

 details of cultivation, and the technique of curing the leaf for 

 cigar tobacco. A quarter of an acre of Sumatra seed tobacco is 

 grown under the shade of cheese cloth. This tobacco yields a 

 very high-class leaf for the outside wrapper of cigars. 



A collection has been established of twenty-three varieties of 

 Banana from various parts of the world, chiefly obtained through 

 the kindness of the Director of Kew Gardens and the Commis- 

 sioner of the Imperial Department of Agriculture. 



Budded Citrus plants have been planted out for comparison, 

 both of varieties that have proved successful in Florida and Cali- 

 fornia, and also of native seedling trees. Attempts are being 

 made to get a variety of Orange which will bear fruit when the 

 highest prices are obtained in English and American markets. 



Pine Apples of several varieties are grown, and experiments 

 are being made in cross-fertilising different varieties, with the 

 object, for instance, of getting a pine with the flavour of the Rip- 

 ley, the fine appearance of the Smooth Cayenne, and the good 

 carrying qualities of the Red Spanish. 



Rubber plants of various kinds are grown : — Para, Castilloa, 

 Ceara, Lagos silk rubber, Landolphia, &c. 



* ^ee Guide to Hope Gardens by Walter Jekyll. Published by MeBsre. Aston Gardner 

 &■ C"., Kingston. Price, One Shilling. 



