690 



THE AORIGVLTURAL JOURNAL. 



I am verj' anxious, indeed, to further 

 group and classify our plants under glass, 

 and this- is only possible with additional 

 houses. Because of the varying size and 

 difl'erence of treatment of plants it is not 

 practicable to arrange them strictly in 

 natural orders, and the orders in proper 

 sequence, but such an arrangement is my 

 ideal, and I shall strive towards it. The 

 keeping of allied plants together will 

 enable a visitor to see at a glance what 

 we have got— to note our s rong points 

 and our deficiencies, and he will be able 

 to acquire knowledge which can only be 

 gained by a convenient comparison of 

 forms. At present the arrangement of a 

 so-called "miscellaneous house" reminds 

 one of the art of a window-dresser ; effect 

 is chiefly gone in for as in the shop 

 window of a grocer or a draper, and 

 hunting for a plant amongst the display 

 of pretty or interesting things becomes a 

 matter of difficulty. We know ourselves 

 where our plants are, but a visitor who 

 can only occasionally see our treasures 

 often hunts vainly for a plant in the 

 kaleidoscopic changes which are con- 

 stantly taking place in any particular 

 house. 



We have taken the opportunity pre- 

 sented by the laying of pipes to the new 

 house to re-construct the heating arrange- 

 ments in the other houses— to the very 

 great advantage of the plants themselves ; 

 the convenience of working the system 

 being improved at the same time. 



New Buildings (other than plant- 

 houses). — The National Herbarium build- 

 ing, whose structure was described in my 

 last report, was formally handed over to 

 me in the early part of the year. Then 

 the task of arranging the contents of the 

 herbarium and of preparing the museum 

 for the public was entered into in earnest. 

 It was not finished before my departure 

 from the Colony in June, and my assist- 

 ants, Mr. Betche, Miss Hynes, and Mr. 

 Camfield, worked so hard that it was very 

 nearly ready for opening at Ihe end of 

 the year. 



National Herbarium (Phanerogams and 

 Ferns). — Mr. Betche completed the 

 arrangement of the Australian collection 

 during the year. We now know (.ur 

 weak places, and are endeavouring to 

 strengthen them. 



Miss Sarah Hynes, B.A., who jomed 

 the staff as Second Botanical Ass stant 



on 1st July, has done gooi work in the 

 herbarium, her chief duty being the 

 arrangement of the exotics, which already 

 amount to a large number, and are being 

 steadily added to. 



Mr. Camfield has rendered yeoman 

 service in the collection and determina- 

 tion of both Australasian and exotic 

 plants, and continues in the most un- 

 selfish and unassuming way to devote 

 much of his spare time to the develop- 

 ment of the collections of this institution. 



Mosses.— Mr. W. Forsyth, in charge of 

 the moss-herbarium, reports as follows :— 

 " I have pleasure in reporting satisfac- 

 tory progress with the moss-herbarium 

 during 1900. During the months of 

 September, October, and November I was 

 fortunate in making several fine collec- 

 tions of N.S.W. species in the following 

 districts. . 



Alga;.— Mr. A. W. S. Lucas, M.A., the 

 honorary curator of the Algae, reports that 

 he is making fair progress with the 

 naming and arrangement of the Algaj, and 

 regrets that the timfs at his disposal has 

 not permitted him to put the duplicates in 

 order for purposes o£ exchange. 



Fungi.— Mr. Alexander Grant, in charge 

 of the^'collection of fungi, has been as- 

 siduous in the collection of such plants 

 during the year ; has named those sent 

 by a large number of correspondents, and 

 is busy preparing the spirit collection for 

 the museum, and is also arranging the 

 microfungi for the herbarium. A large 

 number of forms have been brought in 

 from the garden, and the collection is not 

 only attaining respectable dimensions, but 

 a beginning has been made in the way of 

 exchanges. 



Licliens— A number of acquisitions 

 have been made to the collection during 

 the year, but the lichen herbarium has 

 not been arranged for want of the assist- 

 ance of a specialist in this group of plants. 



A Laboratory wanted.— Since I re- 

 marked on this subject in my last year's 

 report I have visited the Jodrell Labora- 

 tory at Kew, and other laboratories for 

 plant physiology, &c., on the continent of 

 Europe. I am more than ever impressed 

 with the desirability of erecting a neat 

 building for the purpose within the 

 Gardens, to farther the reseirches of 

 botanists other than systematists, who are 

 already well provided for. 



