PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. SECTION C. 51 



advantages as a Botanic Garden site. It is historic ground and 

 in the eves of the pubhc is not merely a perpetual memorial of 

 .a great man, but it stands for a great ideal whose realisation 

 would be brought nearer by the influences which would 

 emanate from a National Garden. It has been said 

 that the idea of establishing a National University in Groote 

 Schuur is favourably entertained by the Government. If this be 

 so, what could be more appropriate than that these two national 

 institutions, designed to raise the standard of culture and to 

 contribute to the material prosperity of the South African 

 nation, should both be overlooked by the Rhodes Memorial? 

 The direct or indirect association of University and Botanic 

 Garden is nothing new; it has been endured for centuries in 

 many European centres of learning. As an aid to education — 

 not merely the acquisition of botanical knowledge — the botanic 

 garden is an invaluable asset to a Universitv and, on the other 

 hand, the staff of a University Botanical "Department can con- 

 tribute very effectively to the research work carried on in the 

 Botanic Garden. 



Even so general a view of this question as I have attempted 

 to put before you must include some reference to its financial 

 aspect. But this is not the occasion, nor do we possess the 

 necessary data, for its presentation in any detail. We may, 

 however, learn something of the staff and equipment required 

 from a consideration of a similar system of botanic gardens 

 in another British Colony. For this purpose the island of 

 Ceylon furnishes a useful parallel. I choose Ceylon because T 

 can speak of it with confidence, having studied in its gardens 

 and obtained some knowledge of their administration. 

 Although it is a tropical island, its considerable range of alti- 

 tude and climatic conditions and the varietv of its agricultural 

 pursuits, render it more suitable for comparison with South 

 Africa than would perhaps appear at first sis^ht. 



Ceylon has an area of 17,307,000 acres, of which onlv 

 ,3,650,000 are at present under cultivation. Its population in 

 1907 was given as 



Europeans . . . . . . . . 6, ^00 



Eurasians .. .. .. .. 2^,000 



Natives 3,500,000 



The first^ public garden was established in Colombo during the 

 Dutch regime. The parent of those which exist to-day was 

 laid out. also in Colombo, in 1810; it owed its inception \o Sir 

 Joseph Banks. Various changes and extensions during the 

 ■century have resulted in the existing system of botanic gardens, 

 seven in number, distributed as follows: — 



I. The central garden, from which all the rest are adminis- 

 tered, situated at Peradeniya (i,6ooft.), on the out- 

 skirts of Kandy, the capital." It is 143 acres in extent. 

 It includes a large area devoted to the ornamental 

 treatment of native and exotic plants, as well as experi- 

 mental plots. Within it are laboratories, herbarium, 

 library, museums, administrative offices and residences 

 for certain members of the staff. 



