

BOTANICAL, GARDENS OF JAMAICA MAXON. 527 



inches and an annual mean temperature of 76°. Across the island 

 at this point runs a good road, leading from Annatto Bay on the 

 north coast to Kingston on the south. Castleton lies 11 miles from the 

 former place, 19 from the latter. Approaching from either direction 

 the drive is through a most beautiful and picturesque country, much 

 of it under cultivation. 



No description or series of photographs can do justice to Castleton ; 

 it is a place which must be seen to be put at its proper value. The 

 ground is somewhat broken, the declivities such as readily to permit 

 the natural grouping and arrangement of plants according to their 

 affinities or special requirements of habitat ; and so completely is the 

 planting in harmony with the terrain and with the beautiful sur- 

 roundings that there is no suggestion of a heterogeneous assemblage 

 of exotics brought to exhibition from the four corners of the world. 

 Nevertheless, in these 30 acres more kinds of East Indian trees have 

 been introduced and grown to maturity than in any other American 

 garden. 



The importation of plants for Castleton was at first not rapid ; but 

 after a few years it was determined that the distance of the garden 

 from Kingston offered no serious obstacle to its development, and 

 in 1869 no less than 100 species of plants, either new to the island 

 or otherwise interesting or valuable, were introduced from the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, then under the direction of the late Sir Joseph 

 Hooker. Among these were the Brazil nut {B ertholletia excelsa), 

 teak (Tectona grandis) — one of the hardest and most durable of all 

 shipbuilding woods — the Tonquin bean (Dipteryx odorata), addi- 

 tional plants of the mangosteen, several varieties of cacao, the 

 ceriman (Monstera deUci&sa), and over 30 species of exotic palms. 

 During the same year two lots of grafted mangoes were received 

 from India. In 1870 upward of 200 additional species new to Ja- 

 maica were introduced, and in addition selected varieties of oranges, 

 pineapples, grafted mangoes, and other fruits. The nutmeg trees, 

 introduced earlier, had already come into bearing. At this time, 

 as in later years, the objects sought, though primarily economic, 

 were recognized as being closely dependent upon precise knowledge 

 to be obtained from an adequate botanical establishment, and to this 

 broad view is due very largely the enviable agricultural and hor- 

 ticultural success subsequently attained. 



To the botanist no less than the casual visitor the single feature 

 of greatest moment will be the wonderful collection of palms, to the 

 number of nearly 200 species, grouped or scattered over the gentle 

 slopes. Some of these deserve special mention, as the betel nut 

 (Areca catechu), the ivory nut palms (Pkytelephas spp.), the Ma- 

 layan sugar palm (Arenga saccharifera) , the tucum palm of Brazil 

 {Astrocaryum vulgare), the cohune of Central America (Attalea 



