7s hs ie 7 
194 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
Pubescent—Covered with soft hairs. 
Rachis—The name given to that kind of flowering branch where the 
flowers are arranged closely together on its sides without stalks or 
pedicils, as in Paspalum, and in the ultimate branches of the pan- 
icle. 
Radical leaves—Those growing from the root. 
Spikelet—The ultimate divisions ef the panicles or flower-heads; the 
may be one-flowered, that is, a pair of glumes enveloping a single 
flower of a pair. of palets (or sometimes one palet) with the inclosed 
stamens and pistil; or they my be two or more fiowered, there being ~ 
but one pair of glumes to each spikelet, whether it be one or many 
flowered. ie 
Sheath—That part of the leaf which clasps the stem; it answers to the 
petiole or leaf-stalk. 
Spike—When the flowers are sessile or without branches, as in Timothy 
grass (Phlewm pratense). 
Stamens—The organs of the flower which contain the pollen, consisting 
of the filament and the anthers. 
Stigma—The extremity of the pistil which receives the pollen. 
Whorl—A number of leaves or branches starting from one line on the 
stem. 
GEO. VASEY, 
Botanist. 
PETER COLLIER, 
Ohenist. 
Hon. Wm. G. La Duc 
aie ? , 
Commissioner of Agriculture. 
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GARDENS 
AND GROUNDS. 
Sie: I have the honor to submit the following report upon matters 
pertaining to the duties of this division: 
RAISING THA-PLANTS. 
In raising plants of the Chinese tea from seed it is recommended, in 
treatises on the culture of this plant, to carefully shade the young plants 
from the direct rays of the sun, and this is evidently an essential point. 
The seeds if kept dry after ripening, soon shrink and become loose in 
the shell, but, when in this condition, if they are sown in moderately 
damp soil they swell, become plump, and germinate in a short time. 
When sown in boxes and placed in the damp atmosphere of a green- 
house, the glass being slightly shaded, the seeds germinate in about four 
weeks after sowing, and the young plants grow rapidly, requiring no 
particular care, except that they are not kept too damp previous to 
germination. But when sown in drills in the open ground, the points 
of the young growths dry up as soon as they reach the suriace and be- 
come exposed to direct sunlight. It is therefore necessary to choose a 
shaded position for sowing the seeds, o7, if it is not practicable to secure 
such a location, a thin sprinkling of short hay spread over the surface 
immediately after sowing the seeds will be found advantageous, allow- 
ing the young plants to push up through the covering. 
