1921] WILSON, NOTES FROM AUSTRALASIA, III. 53 



grounds and their attractiveness as a public resort. The staff consists 

 of a Superintendent, head gardener, five laborers and one female clerk, 

 and the total grant for maintainence, including all salaries is £1350 per 

 annum. The annual rainfall of Hobart is only some 24 inches yet the 

 only water supply of the gardens is 1050 ft. of 2-inch piping, a certain 

 amount of 1-inch piping which does not function and a small pond virtually 

 dry during the summer season. In 1920 the gardens were completely 

 without water save that used for the few pot plants in the tiny green- 

 houses. The gardens need a 4-inch water-main and an annual allowance 

 of £2500. They could then fulfill their functions properly and be a de- 

 light to visitors and residents. 



The time of my visit was Easter, 1921, and being autumn most of the 

 deciduous-leaved trees and shrubs were leafless. On a sloping flat near the 

 superintendent's cottage some tiny lawns of Buffalo-grass were being 

 kept green by aid of a sprinkler, and beds filled with Dahlias, Petunias 

 Asters, Marigolds, Geraniums, Verbenas, Salvias, Penstemons, Del- 

 phiniums and a few other herbs were gay with flowers. A few belated 

 Roses, a bed of Blue Hydrangeas and a fine clump of the rose-colored 

 Stat ice rosea Sm. (S. Dicksoniana Hort.) from Natal w r ere virtually the 

 only other flowers. Some of the shrubs and small trees like the Bar- 

 berries, Crabapples, Thorns and Service Tree were nicely in fruit. The 

 garden everywhere was tidily kept, but in general it was virtually burnt 

 up and except the lawns mentioned not a blade of green grass was to be 

 seen. Many of the trees and shrubs were dead, more were dying and 

 all for the want of water. 



The collections, especially of woody plants, is still considerable, the 

 labelling is creditably done, though, as might be expected the nortli 

 hemisphere plants are often mis-named. Some of the larger groups 



like Conifers, Oaks, Thorns, Crabapples and their relatives are grouped 

 together and a certain amount of geographical order is observed, there 

 being beds devoted to New Zealand and Australian plants. The Coni- 

 fers occupy the upper terraces and serve as windbreaks. 



The entrance is through ornate iron gates approached from the main 

 road by a short drive which is flanked by conifers and a few broadleaf 

 shrubs and trees. The landscape effect of fairly steep li ill-slopes laid 

 out in terraces with winding paths and the broad river at the foot is de- 

 cidedly good but over-crowding is a marked feature. On the whole the 

 deciduous trees of the northern Hemisphere do not thrive. A few Thorns 

 including the Washington Thorn {Crataegus phaenopyrum Med.) and 

 Douglas Thorn (C. Douglasii Lindl.) flourish but not so well as the com- 

 mon English Hawthorn. Quantities of the English Oak (Quercus robur 

 L.) have been planted in Tasmania but neither in the Botanic Gardens 

 nor elsewhere does it grow into a handsome tree; it is stunted in habit 

 and so too is the Red Oak (Quercus boreal is var. maxima Ashe, Q. rubra 



