21 



£2 10s. for carriage of manure from the village to the grounds,'' 

 and at a later meeting in the same year it was resolved: — 

 " That Mr. McKen be authorised to receive from Mr. Evans 

 the sum of £10. kindly lent by him, to be repaid out of the 

 first subscriptions received." By this time the land (25 acres) 

 had been conditionally granted, and at the request of the Com- 

 mittee another 25 acres had been added to it, making 50 acres, 

 which is the present area of the Gardens. In August, 1852, a 

 ploughing match was held on the flat below the Gardens, near 

 where the present Nursery is situated, and about the same 

 time the annual dinner was held at the Royal Hotel, 

 which was, I think, then kept by the late Mr. Macdonald. 

 At the dinner Mr. McKen gave an account of the manu- 

 facture of the first sugar in the Colony at the Estate of 

 Mr. Morewood, Compensation Flat, but no record of either of 

 these events appears in the Minute Book, merely the resolu- 

 tions that these functions should be held, and as the writer 

 was present at both he can certify that they actually did take 

 place. The ploughing match was won by Mr. Anderson, who 

 afterwards settled near Ladysmith and died there a few years 

 ago. At the Annual Meeting, August llth, 1852, the follow- 

 ing were elected Committeemen : — Messrs. G. Gain, X. R. 

 Breede, Churchill, King, Snell, Spearman, Peel, Ashton, 

 Adams, Milner, Miller, de Terrason, Brooks, Forster, S. Piatt, 

 Eckroyd, Jeffels ; and as Maritzburg members Messis. Dick- 

 son, Henderson, Archbell, Cope, and Moreland. In October it 

 wss announced that the Curator had supply of excellent 

 Tobacco seed, and that person wishing to grow this crop could 

 obtain seed on application, and also that a quantity of it had 

 been forwarded to Maritzburg for distribution there. On the 

 9th of July, 1853, it was reported that a sum of £50 had been 

 placed on the Estimates as an Annual Grant to the Society, 

 and at the same meeting Mr. McKen's resignation was accepted, 

 he having received an appointment as manager on the Sugar 

 Estate of Messrs. Chiappini at Tongaat. On August 5th, Mr. 

 Alex Smith was appointed Curator in succession to Mr. McKen 

 at a salary of £50 per annum. At the next meeting on August 

 15th, it was proposed by Mr. Proudfoot and seconded by Mr. 

 Goodricke, " That a sum not exceeding £3 sterling should be 

 devoted to the purchase of a house on the Flat for the 

 Curator." On August 22nd the following new names appear 

 on the list of Committeemen : — President, Dr. Stanger ; Messrs. 

 Grundy, R. Acutt, J. A. Jackson, W. A. Middleton, lYimmo, 

 McArthur, Palmer, Brickhill, and Currie. On September 2nd, 

 a visiting Committee was appointed, and at irregular intervals 

 these gentlemen visited the Gardens, and left records of their 

 visits in a book provided for that purpose, but which is now in 



