4 



In 1851 there was some intention of moving the site of the gardeiF 

 elsewhere, and Wilson, referring to Bath, says in his report for that 

 year : 



I would most unhesitatingly say that a more congenial climate for the^ 

 growth and propagation of plants is not to be met with in the island. Th^ 

 humidity of the atmosphere is proverbial and suitable to a peculiar degree^ 

 for plants in general. 



In 1856 the Sulphur river inundated the garden for the fifth time- 

 since 1848 and destroyed half an acre. These floods and the impossi 

 bilily of extending the garden for the growth of additional plants were 

 constant difficulties with Wilson, and in 1858 he says : 



The attention of the executive has of late been pointedly directed 

 towards it [the garden] with a view not only to place the establishment 

 on a scale of permanent efficiency, but in a more central locality, accessible 

 from all parts of the island .... The want of a more central and exten- 

 sive depot has long been felt, particularly at the west end and north side 

 of the island, where distance renders it impracticable to convey plants 

 safely, and where industrial institutions and experimental gardens are 

 springing up. 



In 1860 the legislature appropriated money for the purchase oL 

 Castleton, and Wilson was entrusted with the formation of a garden 

 there, on the understanding, however, that the garden at Bath was to 

 be maintained for supply of seeds to Castleton, and plants for general 

 distribution. In his report for 1861, he states that Sir W. J. Hooker 

 had sent out the previous year seeds of Cinchona succiruhra. C» nitiday 

 and C. micrantha, and that several hundred plants were ready for 

 planting out. At this time the market price for succirubra bark was 

 6s. per lb. In 1862-63 an assistant to Mr. Wilson was appointed, Mr. 

 Robert Thomson, and the formation of the garden at Castleton was 

 commenced. 



Experiments were made in planting out cinchona in different parts 

 of the Blue mountains, and at length in 1868, during the governorship 

 of Sir John Peter Grant, the cinchona plantations were started under 

 Mr. Thomson as superintendent of botanic gardens" in succession to 

 Mr. Wilson. 



Six hundred acres of virgin forest land were assigned for planting 

 cinchona by Sir J. P. Grant on the southern slopes of the Blue moun- 

 tains, ranging from 4000 to 6000 feet above sea level, and a commence- 

 ment of work was made in the same year (1868) by planting out forty 

 acres with five species of cinchona. Now also a first beginning was 

 about to be made to realize the conception of Sir Basil Keith of nearly 

 a hundred years before to have a " European garden" in a temperate 

 climate. A small plantation was made in 1869 of Assam tea, and after- 

 wards of a hybrid between the Assam and China. Eucalyptus globulus 

 from Australia, Cupressus macrocarpa and Pinus insignis from Cali- 

 fornia, and Pinus excelsa from the Himalayas are among the forest 

 trees planted out and flourishing in later years. In 1869, 40,000 plants- 

 of cinchona were offered for sale at rates of £5 to £7 per 1,000. 



