572 



MANUAL OP THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT, 



CH. XXXI. 



Horticul- 

 ture. 



Site. 



Defective 

 management. 



Dr. Wight's 

 report. 



Receipts and 

 expenditure. 



Garden 

 placed under 

 Governuieut- 



down a shallow raviue between two spurs of the Doddabetta 

 range. The lower and more level portion of the ground which 

 now forms the approach to Government House was not added 

 until the year 1851, when its purchase from Mrs. Kyan was sanc- 

 tioned by the Court of Directors at a price not exceeding Rupees 

 50 a cawny. 



The site is well chosen both as regards aspect and soil, and 

 much of the present beauty of the gardens is due to the happy 

 manner in which advantage has been taken of the picturesque 

 lay of the land and of the trees and rocks with which it abounds. 

 Bits of fine old sh61a still nestle undisturbed in nooks and 

 corners of the grounds, though they are now connected by gravel 

 paths and grassy slopes intersected by beds of flowers. To 

 Mr. Mclvor the greatest credit is due for the taste and judgment 

 displayed in the laying out of the grounds. 



For the first four years of its existence, however, the progress 

 of the gardens appears to have been unsatisfactory, and in May 

 1852 Mr. Mclvor was called upon to report on its state and 

 prospects. The result of this report was the formation of a 

 working Committee of three members. The Committee also 

 determined to devote a sum of Rupees 100 a month to higher 

 horticulture, the gardens having been utilized up to this time 

 mainly for the cultivation of vegetables for the benefit of sub- 

 scribers. 



Little improvement appears to have been made in spite of 

 these changes, chiefly owing to the want of unanimity between 

 Mr. Mclvor and the Committee. Dr. Wight's report a few mouths 

 later^ in which he supported Mr. Mclvor, led to the abolition of 

 the original Committee. The gardens were placed entirely in 

 Mr. Mclvor's charge, with an ex-qfficio Committee having the 

 Collector of Coimbatore and the Commandant among its members. 

 The receipts and expenditure up to this time were as follows. 

 Expenditure from October 1847 to June 1852, Rupees 16,122 

 exclusive of Mr. Mclvor's salary. Receipts for the same period 

 Rupees 14,600, that is. Government allowance Rupees 4,800, 

 private subscriptions Rupees 9,800. 



In 1854 the ex-ojficio members of Committee again saw fit to 

 form a Committee of Management, to whom Mr. Mclvor was 

 instructed to submit his accounts, and it was not until November 

 1855 that Lord Dalhousie recommended that the gardens should 

 be taken over by Government. A Committee, however, appears 

 to have existed under one form or another, although tacitly 

 abolished, until September 1857, when the gardens were placed 

 under the control of the Conservator of Fi)rests, Dr. Cleghorn, 

 the Commandant being still required to check the accouuts. 



