250 



[September, 1911. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Minutes of a meeting of the Board of 

 Agriculture, held at the Council Cham- 

 ber at noon on Monday, the 14th 

 August, 1911. 



His Excellency the Acting Governor 

 presided. 



There were also present :— The Ron'ble 

 Messrs. L. W. Booth, Bernard Senior, 

 andC. T. D. Vigors, Drs. J, C. Wiliis and 

 R. H. Lock, Messrs. G. M. Lushington, 

 R. S. Templeton, William Dunuwille, J. 

 H. Meedeniya, James Peiris, Francis 

 Daniel and C. Drieberg (Secretary). 



The Minutes of the last meeting held 

 on April 12th were read and confirmed. 



Progress Report No. 55 was adopted. 



Reports by Mr. vanLeenhoff and Mr. 

 Cowan on the Tobacco Experiment at 

 Mahailupalama were submitted. A 

 discussion followed in which the Presi- 

 dent, Dr. Willis, Mr. Booth, Mr. Vigors 

 and Mr. Lushington took part. On the 

 motion of Mr. James Peiris, seconded by 

 Mr. Daniel, the question as to whether 

 the experiment should be continued 

 under the same conditions was referred 

 back to the Tobacco Committee for their 

 recommendation. 



Dr. Lock read his paper on " Experi- 

 ments bearing on the Cultivation of 

 Paddy," and was accorded a vote of 

 thanks. 



C. DRIEBERG, 



Secretary, C.A.S. 



THE BOTANICAL GARDENS OF 

 CEYLON. 



By Professor Francis Ramaley, 

 University of Colorado. 



" An English glass house glorified " 

 is the description which a British friend 

 of the writer gave to the garden at 

 Peradeniya, Ceylon. And such it truly 

 is. The brilliant foliage, the strange 

 orchids and pitcher plants, the luxuriant 

 ferns, the uncanny screwpines, are just 

 what one might see in a gentleman's 

 conservatory — only more wonderful and 

 luxuriant, grown taller and more fair. 

 As a "show place" these gardens are 

 not equalled anywhere in the world, and 

 as a place of scientific interest to botan- 

 ists there are few rivals. Haeckel, the 

 German zoologist and philosopher, said 

 of his visit to Peradeniya that, in the 

 four days which he spent there, he learn- 



ed more botany than he could have 

 learned at home in as many months of 

 hard study.* 



Ceylon has been described as a "dew- 

 drop on the brow of India, " and, so far 

 as position is concerned, it- is certainly 

 very closely related to the Indian penin- 

 sula. In climate, too, and in the flora 

 and fauna, the northern part of the 

 island is strikingly Indian ; the same 

 may be said of the inhabitants. On the 

 other hand, southern and central Ceylon 

 has a climate of its own, and the people 

 as well as the plants and animals are 

 quite different. 



Peradeniya is* situated in the centre of 

 Ceylon, about seventy miles by rail from 

 Colombo, the capital of the island. 

 There is no town here, but only a post- 

 office and a few scattered huts. The 

 city of Kandy, however, is only three 

 miles distant by rail or wagon road. 



In going from Colombo to Peradeniya 

 the trains are slow, but the traveller 

 does not complain. Indeed, he would 

 wish his journey lengthened, for the 

 trip affords a four-hour introduction to 

 tropical scenery which is nowhere sur- 

 passed. Any one can enjoy the journey 

 whether interested in the world of 

 nature or in his fellow man. There are 

 broad lowlands with coconut trees and 

 fields of rice, alternating with patches 

 of deep jungle in which the natives have 

 cleared bits of ground and built their 

 hues. In the higher altitudes tea fields 

 and chocolate plantations are the rule. 

 But here also are stretches of uncleared 

 forest with trees of all heights and size, 

 frequently some with handsome red or 

 violet coloured flowers standing out 

 boldly amid a mass of dark green. 



The garden at Peradeniya is only one 

 of a number on the island. It is, 

 however, the largest and most import- 

 ant. Here are the offices of the Director 

 of the Gardens, whose duties correspond 

 to those of a Government Secretary of 

 Agriculture. Other gardens and experi- 

 ment 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, or area of natural rain forest, 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, there are furnished the 

 necessary conditions for luxuriant plant 

 growth. A "dry season," extending 



~~* Haeckel, "India and Ceylon," Ch, VI. 



