THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July j, 1881. 
by the draftsman of this establishment. A small grant has enabled this and other press- 
ing repairs to be carried out. The clerk's and gardener's offices, the store, and the entrance 
lodge have all been put into good order, and a new and substantial carpenters' shed and a 
new plant-shed erected. Repairs have also been made in the houses of the head gardener 
(lately in occupation of the draftsman) and the plant-collector, and the more pressing 
wants of the " Assistant Director's" bungalow (occupied by the Cryptogamist) have been 
supplied. The roof of this house is however in a very unsubstantial condition, and requires 
thorough renewal. The roof of the herbarium building is also in a leaky state, and needs 
further attention. 
The young plants and cuttings in the plant-sheds suffering from want of light, windows 
or sky-lights of glass, so far as it could be obtained, have been inserted in the roofs, and 
shelves and trestles erected. 
Improvements at Entrance.— The approach to the gardens from the high-road was 
(as remarked in the Report for 1870) inconvenient and unsightly. It afforded access only 
from the Kandy direction, and turned into the gate at a dangerously sharp angle. In the 
Peradeniya direction was a foot-path only, made four years ago. Both these have been 
enclosed, dug up, and grassed over, and two short carriage roads of easy gradient and sym- 
metrical curves have been formed from the high-road to the gate. The triangular space 
thus enclosed has been levelled and turfed, and the hedge replaced by an iron fence sixty yards 
ong. In thus forming an entrance more worthy of the garden it was necessary to sacrifice 
ltwo of the trees of Ficus elastica on the right hand of the gate ; the effect has been greatly 
to enhance the striking appearance of the grand avenue of the same species on the left 
hand side, so much admired and now much better seen. The fine mahogany and 
star-apple trees remain as before, and some fresh ornamental trees have been planted. 
The steep bank which here forms so good a protection and screen to the gardens has 
been draped with large ferns and foliage plants. 
The well-kuown palm-grove just within the entrance (as well as the newer one in the 
circular road) has been carefully gone over. Its beauty had become somewhat impaired 
from the great height many of the trees have attained. The bare dead stem of one of the 
talipot palms which flowered in 1877 has been felled and its base converted into a seat; 
it measured sixty-eight feet in length and twelve feet in circumference. A few other 
specimens have been taken out, and brushwood and undergrowth removed ; and two young 
talipots and several specimens of other and fresh species planted. The ground under the 
trees has been carpeted with small ferns and selaginellas. 
Ornamental Lake. — A principal want here has been a piece of water suitable for the 
growth of aquatics and as an ornamental feature. The new water supply, completed last 
year, has now allowed the transformation of a small muddy pond in the southern part of 
the garden into some approach to an ornamental lake. It has been cleaned out and 
enlarged, the banks sloped and turfed, maDy trees and bamboos surrounding it cleared 
away, and an unsightly piece of jungle and a rubbish heap in the neighbourhood removed. 
A constant supply of water, brought by an open channel 650 ft. long, falls into this little 
lake which is about 30 ft. above the river,from which it is only separated by a steep wide bank 
probably permitting some soakage. Several of our more ornamental native water plants are 
now growing here, and it is hoped that some more striking exotic species will soon be added. 
But unless the water can be emptied out, and the bottom, which is very foul, be properly 
puddled to an uniform depth, little success can be hoped for. 
Grass. - The fine stretches of grass which give such a park-like aspect to the garden 
are a source of heavy and constant expense. More than one-third of the whole expenditure 
on labour is absorbed by grass-cutting, which is nearly always going on. It is wholly 
effected by the primitive method of reaping with heavy grass-knives and never succeeds in 
producing anything like a turf, as it is impossible to do it with sufficient frequency. ISlothing 
would more tend to improve the grounds than greater attention to the grass: were this 
nee properly levelled, cleared of stones and weeds, and the coarse grasses and other plants 
kept short and never permitted to become rank or to seed, the wild untidy portions could be 
eadily and quickly replaced by fine dry lawns of short tuft. I therefore urgently request 
; 'i be provided with means to purchase a large mowing machine for bullocks, and I feel 
onhdent that the large first cost will be quickly repaid by the saving of labour, which 
