116 
DECEMBER. 
The flower garden looks very well this month in spite of the 
great heat (80 degrees in the shade), and one cannot help seeing 
a very fine specimen of the Grevillea robusta, order Proteacex, 
which just now is in bloom in the gardens. 
Budding apple trees is started this month. There are five 
points to be remembered in budding— 
1. The sap must be free. 
2. The root action good. 
8. The work done cleanly. 
4, The binding not too tight. 
5. The stock or stem not cut back the same season. 
The students this month are occupied in disbudding peaches. 
Planting dahlias in the nursery is now going on. The best 
sorts are—Zulu, Mr. A. W. Tait, Yellow Pet, Sunshine, Empress 
of India, and many other varieties too numerous to mention. 
The cherry slug is now getting troublesome, and has to be kept 
. under by constant spraying with hellebore mixture. 
Hoeing up weeds in the medicinal plots has to be attended to, 
We started picking fruit this month—gooseberries, currants, 
and plums. ‘The varieties of plums are Red Cherry Plum and 
St. Etienne. 
Meteorological instruments have been carefully attended to 
during the year, and the rainfall has been unusually heavy. 
Mr. L. T. Chambers gave a very interesting lecture on “Bee 
Culture,” which was well attended by the public, the Horticultural 
Board and students also being present. 
The students are now looking forward to their usual Christmas 
holidays, and are working with a will to tidy up the grounds. 
