90 ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 



The offices of the director of the gardens are located at Peradeniya, 

 whose duties correspond to those of a government secretary of agri- 

 culture. 



Other gardens and experiment stations, five in number, are estab- 

 lished in parts of the island where differences in climate furnish 

 altered conditions for plant life. 



The Peradeniya garden is in the wet zone, at an altitude of 1,600 

 feet above the sea, with an annual precipitation of about 90 inches, 

 and a mean temperature of 75° Fahrenheit. 



13. XUWERA ElIYA AND HaKGALA. 



[Extracts from A Traveler's Notes, James H. Veitch. Published by James Veitch & Sons, 

 Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, 1896.] 



550 acres, only 8 acres of which are really kept up. 



Nuwera Eliya is about 6,200 feet above sea level. 



Hakgala a few hundred feet lower. 



The former is about five hours by train from Kandy. 



The gardens at Hakgala are attached to the main garden at Pera- 

 deniya. and are used for the cultivation of plants requiring less heat 

 and moisture. 



14. The Botanical Gardens of Santiago, Chile. 



I From " Visitor's Guide to Santiago."] 



The Quinta Normal, as the Botanical Gardens of Santiago, Chile, 

 are known, is an exceptionally pretty park, located on the extreme 

 western edge of the cit} 1- . Its chief object is the Agricultural College, 

 but there are also within its confines the Natural History Museum, 

 the Astronomical Observatory, the Art Gallery, the Zoological Gar- 

 dens. It was founded in 1845 by President Don Manuel Bulnes, with 

 the object of giving practical education in agricultural subjects to 

 Chilean subjects. 



15. Botanic Garden at Hongkong. 



I From !miI< j s furnished by Mr. W. T. Swingle.] 



20 acres in area: established 1862. Because of the limited space 

 on the island of Hongkong the gardens are small. They are, 

 however, remarkably beautiful, and have many fine specimens of 

 tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs, either of economic interest 

 or interesting 1 >ecause of beauty of the flowers or foliage. Many local 

 Hongkong plants, some of them of great beauty, have been preserved 

 from destruction by being planted in the botanic garden. The cli- 

 mate of Hongkong is cold and cloudy during the winter months, so 

 that strictly tropical plants do not thrive. It has been found that 

 many of the species that thrive in Hongkong do well in south Florida. 

 The botanic garden has a good library and herbarium, the best in 

 the south Chinese region. 



Except for two artificial terraces, they are on the side of a some- 

 what steep hill. 



