MANUAL OF THIS NILAGIKI DISTRICT. 571 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

 HORTICULTURE.' 



Horticul- 

 ture. 



Origiu of the Ootacamand Gardens. — Mr. Mclvor appointed Superintendent. — 

 Site.— Defective management.— Dr. Wight'.s report.— Receipts and expenditure 

 to t852. — Gai-dens placed under Government. — Mr, Markham's description of 

 the Gardens. — Medicinal plants. — Mr. Jamieson appointed.— Gardens placed 

 under the Ckjmmissioner. — Agri-Horticultural Society. — Recent improvements. 

 — Superintendent's reports. — Receipts and expenditure of each garden. 



In April 1817 it was first proposed to establish a Public CH. XXXL 

 Garden in Ootacamand, the chief promoters of the scheme being 

 Mr. Bell, Bombay Civil Service, and Major A. Grant. A. 



Committee was appointed, and a prospectus issued and widely .": 



circulated soliciting subscriptions and pointing out the advantages OotllTamand 

 which the climate of the Hills offered for the formation of a Gardens, 

 nursery garden which would indirectly benefit all parts of 

 India. At the same time application was made to Government 

 for aid. The Marquis of Tweeddale, then Governor of Madras, 

 approved of the undertaking, and in June of the same year a 

 working Committee was appointed, and Rupees 100 granted by 

 Government towards the expenses of the garden. On the sugges- 

 tion of the Marquis of Tweeddale the Government proposed that 

 the Court of Directors should be asked to send out " a scientific 

 and practical gardener qualified to undertake the management of 

 the gardens, and to sanction a grant of an annual contribution 

 sufficient to meet his salary,^' 



In June 184.7 the sanction of the Court of Directors was Mr. Mclvor 

 communicated, and in January of the following year Mr. William appointed 

 Graham Mclvor was engaged for five years on a salary of £150 denr.^"^^^*^' 

 a year with a leave allowance of £75. It was stipulated that he 

 should not trade, and that he should conform to all the rules 

 relating to the Uncoveuanted Service. Mr. Mclvor arrived 

 in Madras early in the spring, and was ordered to proceed at 

 once to Ootacamand and report himself to the Committee and the 

 Commandant. 



The portion of the gardens first brought under cultivation was 

 the upper and steeper part, a piece of Government shola runnino- 



1 I had hoped to have given a paper on the history of horticulture on the Hills 

 by a specialist, but have been disappointed in ray expectation. 



