REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC GARDENS AND PLANTATIONS, 

 JAMAICA, FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1893. 



HoPK G.VKDENS. 



Expeiulitut'c. — ^The work of extension of the Grurdens has been prevented by several expenses. The 

 water-pipes hiid down in 18^8-89 have been paid for by anniial instalments of £150, but during the 

 year l892-9i?, £300 was paid, completing the amount. Mr. John Campbell was acting as clerk at 

 Hope, and was paid from the Hope Vote a salary of £100. Two Cart mules were purchased for £52, a 

 tilting cart for £11, and £30 was spent for Flower Pots. Another sum of £30 was spent on "Water- 

 pipes for the Rose Garden. In forming this part of the Garden, sufficient pipes and bib-cocks were 

 put down to enable the workmen to water any part of it without having to use more than one length of 

 50 feet of hose. This is an economical arrangement, as galvanised iron piping costs less than 9d. 

 per foot for all expenses, and will last probably 25 years, while rubber hose will not last more than 3 or 

 4, and costs more than double the price of pipes. Besides, when long lengths of hose are lifted and 

 pulled about over plants, many of them arc injured and broken down. It was also necessary to put 4 

 new bib-cocks in the Nursery for convenience in watering the Nursery stock. 



These expenses left only about £500, and Nursery and ordinary garden work absorbed this amount. 



Nuraery. — The Nursery is the most important part of the garden, for in it plants are propagated, 

 and tended until they are distributed. During the year, over 27,000 plants have been distributed from 

 Hope, and the labour implied in this fact is not always realised. To take Roses, for instance, a bed 

 must in the first place be prepared for them with properly mixed soil, a substantial shading is erected, 

 and the wood is taken carefully from the stock plants for the cuttings. To ensure 1,500 young plants, 

 at least 3,000 cuttings ai^e made. The bed must be carefully watered every day, sometimes twice a day, 

 for eight or ten weeks. Then each plant is potted off and 1,500 names are written on labels. Similar 

 work goes on with all cuttings of other plants. Raising plants from seeds involves quite as much 

 laboiir. Sometimes, e.g. in the case of many palms, the seeds take months before^they germinate, and 

 haA'e to be watched and Avatered all that time. When thej- germinate, the state of the atmosphere has 

 to be considered. If there is too much moisture in the air, the seedlings are apt to damp off and perish 

 by hundreds. If the air is too dry, they die from want of atmospheric .moisture. Means are devised to 

 remedy the defects of surrounding air. Another glass-roofed house however is much needed for raising 

 seedlings. Eucalypti must be potted before they are an inch high. This work can be trusted only 

 to the most careful coolie, and naturally it proceeds very slowly. Other plants are equally troublesome 

 When the seedlings are safely potted off and are growing vigorously they have to be watched to 

 prevent their roots growing through the pots into the ground. Cocoa plants for instance, are shifted 

 into new pots once a fortnight, otherwise the roots would take such firm hold of the ground that on 

 removal they would be useless. 



The stock of plants has been considerably increased, reaching a total at the end of the year of 

 more than 60,000 plants, every one of which must be handled at least once in five weeks, rotten pots 

 I'eplaced by new pots, &c. 



Pi t plants. — A new stage has been erected for growing pot plants of all kinds, — it consists of three 

 shelves, each 60 feet long, and 15 inches wide. 



The collection of Tree Ferns under the large Divi-divi trees is in magnificent form some of the 

 plants being twenty feet across. The general collection of Crotons and other pot plants consists of about 

 2,000 plants, and they are all in good condition. As there was some demand for larger plants growing 

 in clay pots, a supply of them was prepared, and 191 large plants were sold. 



Rockeries. — Two large rockeries have been made at the bottom of the Divi-divi walk, the one on the 

 Western side being planted with Adiantums, and the one on the East with Gymnogrammes. Ihese ferns 

 have grown exceedingly well. The following are the names of these ferns. 



On west rockery On east rockery, 



Adiantum cristatum. Linn. Gymnogramme calomelanos, Kaulf. 



A. trapeziforme. Linn. G. sulphurea, Desv. 



A. fragile, Sw. G. trifoliata, Desv. 



A. tenerum, Sw. G. rufa, Desv. 



A. concinniun H.B.K. Pteris quadriaurita, Retz. 



A. macrophyllum, Sw. Hemionitis palmata, Tiinn. 



A. " var bipinnatum, 



A. Kaulfussii, Kunze. 

 A. obliquum, Willd. 

 A. hispidulum, Sw. 



On both Rockeries, Selaginella VVildenovii, Bak. 



S. serpens, Spreng. 



