254 



HORTICULTURE. 



March 2, 1907 



and on board were found many exceedingly useful 

 economic plants. They were sent to the botanic garden 

 at Gordon Town and were found to comprise many new 

 introductions such as mango, cinnamon and jack fruit. 

 In 1829 the botanic garden at Bath was increased by 

 three acres of land. Later on in 1846 and 1847 Sir W. 

 J. Hooker, director of Kew Gardens was much interested 

 in Jamaica and sent many new plants such as mangos- 

 teen, Durian and Musa Cavendishii. Poinciana regia, 

 Spathodea, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Amlierstia no- 

 bilis, and Assam tea were introduced in 1849-1850. 



In 1860 the land for Castleton gardens wa« pur- 

 chased and in this same year seeds of Cinchona suc- 

 cerubra, C. nitida, and C. micrantha, were sent from 

 Kew by Sir W. J. Hooker, and many plants were raised 

 from them. During Sir John Peter Grant's adminis- 

 tration in 1868 the cinchona plantations were begun and 

 he assigned 600 acres of virgin forest land for this pur- 

 pose on the southern slopes of the Blue Mountains rang- 

 ing from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. We find 

 at this time that Gov. Grant was very much inter- 

 ested in the gardens and through his influence with Sir 

 Joseph Hooker many new plants were received from Kew 

 which greatly enriched the gardens. Many of the fine 

 plants in Castleton were planted during liis administra- 

 tion. Sir John also began the wonderful irrigation 

 plant on the Eio CobiC river at Spanisli Town where 

 today can be seen the finest bananas in the island of 

 Jamaica or perhaps in the whole world. Quite a large 

 amount of money was sjjent on this fine irrigation sys- 

 tem. The governor, who had spent many years in the 

 East Indies, was well posted in all that belonged to irri- 

 gation, and he knew well the effect it would have on 

 the vegetation on the plains. The people were slow to 

 take to the new idea of irrigating the land and the 

 governor never saw the effect on the crops that were 

 grown on the irrigated soil. 



At this time another great piece of work was under- 

 taken, the planting of the Palisades with cocoanut palms. 

 The Palisades is a narrow strip of land with Port Royal 

 at one end, and this narrow strip of land makes a nat- 

 ural breakwater to the beautiful harbor. It took over 

 twenty thousand cocoanut palms to plant this piece of 

 land. The plants grew well and greatly improved the 

 natural beauty of the harbor. However, I am afraid 

 that most of the plants perished in the dreadful earth- 

 quake of January 14th. 



Another garden of great importance to the city was 

 begun at this time. It is known as Parade Garden and 

 is situated in the centre of Kingston. It proved a great 

 boon during the last earthquake as it was the only place 

 where the people could escape from the falling 'buildings. 

 The governor at this time was much interested in sugar 

 cane and ordered that every species and every true dis- 

 tinct and permanent variety should be procured and 

 space given to them at Castleton gardens. Very soon 

 the gardens had over sixty new varieties of sugar cane, 

 most of them coming from the Mauritius botanic gar- 

 den. Tine government, about 1873, obtained possession 

 of about 200 acres of land at Hope, a place about five 



or six miles from Kingston. Very soon the collection of 

 sugar canes at Castleton had to be transferred to Hope 

 and this was the beginning of one of the most interest- 

 ing of all the gardens in Jamaica. 



These gardens are more than botanic gardens, in fact 

 thev do the work that we are doing in this country at 

 our experimental stations, and have been of great service 

 to the people. They introduce new plants, propagate 

 them and send them out to the people. They pay par- 

 ticular attention to economic plants. Much time has 

 been spent in raising sugar cane seedlings and they have 

 raised some fine promising ones. Some of these have 

 been tested and they produce a much larger quantity of 

 sugar per acre than the old varieties did. 



Before concluding these notes it would be unfair not 

 to give credit to a man who took charge of most of the 

 practical work done at Castleton in its early years, plant- 

 ing the Palisades and starting the cinchona plantations 

 and gardens in the Blue Mountains. This gentleman's 

 name I found in the visitor's book at Cinchona Gardens 

 last January and above his signature I was pleased to 

 read the following note: "I made and planted this 

 garden thirty-seven years ago, and I am pleased to see 

 how beautiful and well it looks today, Oct., 1906. 

 Robert Thompson." 



You will also notice in these notes that during Sir 

 John Peter Grant's governmentship that much was done 

 to the gardens and plantations. I was very deeply inter- 

 ested in his work and made much inquiry, because I 

 was brought up on his estate in Scotland and worked 

 in his garden. He made a good governor for Jamaica 

 and was a good laird in Scotland. 



The happy recollections of the rich and varied land; 

 the luxuriant vegetation; the wonderful scenery, and 

 the pleasant people of this island, where only a few 

 weeks ago I traversed these delightful mountains, are 

 still fresh in my memory. I was shocked when I learned 

 of the terrible calamity which had destroyed the lovely 

 surroundings of Kingston. Only a few days before I 

 had climbed those mountains, up 6.000 feet, and I mar- 

 velled then at their wonderful formation and also 

 thought of the terrible things that must have happened 

 when they were formed. At a time like this a person 

 wants to find out the meaning of the word earthquake 

 and what it is, and turns to Geikie and Shaylor to get 

 information; but these great sages can tell very little of 

 the stupendous things that take place in the centre of 

 I lie earth. Anyway, one thing that comes right home 

 to a person who has travelled and observed in these won- 

 derfully formed mountains is that this great calamity 

 which recently befell the island is only as a flea bite 

 compared with the things that have taken place there 

 in the millions of years that have passed. 



The day I left the city of Kingston it was all aglow 

 with bunting and flags, cannons boomed, bands played, 

 every one rejoiced to greet and meet men who had come 

 to visit them from various parts of the world on the 

 occasion of the Agricultural Conference, and who had 

 done much for their beautiful island. How little we 

 know in the midst of our rejoicings what may happen to 

 us ! Two days later the whole world shuddered at what 

 look jjlace in a few minutes' time in Jamaica. 



In other articles I should like to tell you and show 

 you v,-hat these gardens contain and what they are doing 

 in them. 



