THE TROPfCAL AGRICULTURIST 
[September i, 1890 . 
174 
with broad washes of crimson and yellow. Here, 
however, it is not the old, but the young leaves 
which are highly coloured ; and as the older leaves 
are still freshly green on the body of the tree, 
the ends of the branches clad in clear tints of 
white, pale yellow, pink, crimson, or purple, appear 
to support clusters of showy flowers. If all trees 
changed their leaves at the same season, these 
tints would be as famous as these of America. 
The most beautiful are exhibited by Mesiia ferrea 
(bright crimson), the Ti'.ugenice (crimson), Nej^helhim 
Mora (deep red), the Semecarpi (bluish purple), the 
Laari (rich sienna brown) Symplocus (rich brown), 
Garcinim (i\il\ous),Ingabigemina (very pale), a Mesua 
(whitish). Aleurites Moluccana (white), &c., &c. 
The commonest of the indigenous palms in this 
neighbourhood are the kittool {Caryota wrens) and 
the Areca catechu. Both grow almost as weeds in 
the garden, and nothing can be more dissimilar 
than their aspect, — the one bold and massive, the 
other all grace and beauty. The Caryota must 
not be judged by the attenuated specimens seen in 
English palm-hcuses. Here its decompound fronds 
are peculiarly dense and heavy, forming an oblong, 
compact head of drooping, sad-coloured plumes; 
like gigantic hearse-plumes. Its trunk is from 40 
to 60 feet high, thick and columnar, strongly con- 
trasting with the slender Areca by its side, which 
nevertheless rears its glossy plumes to quite as 
great a height. The largest talipot {Corypha um- 
hraculifera) in the garden has a trunk upwards of 
60 feet high to the base of the leaves, and measures 
12 feet at the butt, and 9 or 10 at five feet from 
the ground. It looks exactly like a column of 
solid masonry supporting a leafy crown. 
Several fine clumps of bamboos, like tufts of 
ostrich feathers, 40 to 50 feet high, exhibit the 
family of grasses in their grandest form. The close- 
shaven lawns of England must not be looked for, 
but the grassy slopes of the arboretum, intersected 
by broad gravelled walks and ornamented with 
scattered trees, may well be compared to English 
park scenery. The grounds themselves are natu- 
rally of beautiful shape, and have been well laid 
out. Particularly to be admired is a new road, 
recently opened along the river banks, from one 
point of which is caught a charming view of the 
Petadenia Bridge, spanning the Mahawelle Ganga 
with a light open-work arch of satinwood, the 
garden affording a foreground, with wooded hills 
for a middle distance, and the eye ranging, beyond 
the bridge, far away into the open country. 
But it is high time to speak of the more im- 
portant departments of the garden — namely the 
nursery, the spice-ground, the orchard, and the 
experimental garden. 
In the nursery a stock is kept up of all useful 
and ornamental plants suitable for distribution in 
the colony ; and young plants and seeds are sold, 
at very moderate prices, to the colonists, the pro- 
ceeds being paid regularly into the public chest. 
Flowers and flowering shrubs are in much request, 
both by natives and planters, and the introduction 
of a handsome novelty of this description attracts 
many purchasers. Annual plants of the warmer 
parts of the temperate zone generally succeed well, 
but shrubby kinds are apt to form leafy branches 
only. Svmetbriar grows long and lanky like a 
dog-rose, and rarely blossoms. Fuschias, unless 
care be taken to destroy the lateral leaf buds, do 
not blossom; but the apple-tree is perhaps the 
greatest caricature, existing merely as a root stock, 
which throws up tufts of slender twigs like those 
of a raspberry-bush, like which it is propagated by 
division of the roots. Of course it never flowers.* 
* Half-a-dozen really nice apples were recently 
gathered from a tree on Abbotsford, at 4,700 feet alti- 
tude.— Eti, T. A. 
The spice-ground, about a quarter of an acre 
in surface, is planted with nutmegs, cloves, all- 
spice, cardamoms, and pepper, all of which succeed 
well. At present the nutmeg-trees are laden with 
fine ripening fruit, and are also fragrant with a 
profusion of flowers. 
Six or eight acres are set apart as an orchard, 
and a considerable number of fruits grown with 
more or less success. Among these are the mango ; 
the hog plum (Spondias dulcis); the rambootan 
(Nephelmm lungan)-, the litchi {Nephelium litchi)-, 
the durian ; the bilimbi ; limes, citrons, oranges, 
shaddocks, lemons, and wampi {Cookia punctata); 
the star-apple ; sour-sop, custard-apple, and bul- 
lock’s-heart ; the rose-apple, jambos, guava, and 
pomegranate ; the loquat ; the numnum (Cynometra 
caulifiora); avocado pear; bread-fruit and jack; 
mulberry ; granadilla and papaw ; pine apples ; 
bananas of many kinds; lovi lovi [Flacoiirtia in- 
ermis), which makes a good preserve, Ceylon al- 
mond (Terminalia catappa), and Canarium commune, 
&c. Melons have been frequently tried ; but though 
the plant grows freely, and the fruit swells well, 
the latter rarely comes to perfection. Pumpkins 
succeed much better. 
In the experimental garden new objects of colonial 
culture and new varieties of fruits are raised and 
propagated for future dispersion. The tea shrub 
(r. Bohea) succeeds well, and might be grown to 
any extent at 1000 feet higher, if sufficient labour 
could be cheaply had. The chocolate {Theohroma 
cacao) bears abundantly, but almost every fruit, as 
it ripens, is destroyed by squirrels, which are ex- 
tremely numerous. The Shiraz tobacco, a recent 
introduction, through the garden, to the colony, 
has been grown with much success, and bids fair 
soon to supplant the bad varieties in cultivation. 
Cotton has been long, and is still, under experiment 
here and in other parts of the island ; but it does 
not flourish, apparently owing to an insect which 
attacks the ripening pod, destroying the seed, and 
greatly damaging the wool. The Manilla hemp 
{Musa textilk) grows well, and may eventually be- 
come an important item in colonial export. Arrow- 
root and tapioca, judging from the specimens 
grown in the garden, might be raised to any de- 
sired extent and of the best quality. Mr. Thwaites 
has recently introduced, and is carefully cultivating, 
the best West India ginger, that commonly grown 
in Ceylon being of very inferior quality. There 
have also been procured from Mauritius, and 
recently from Kew, the best varieties of pine apples, 
and great improvement in this fruit may conse- 
quently be anticipated. 
So far for the Peradenia garden out of doors. 
But this notice would be very imperfect were I 
to omit to mention what is doing by Mr. Thwaites 
in his study, and, under his superintendence, at 
his office and in his house. Here a herbarium 
of Ceylon plants commenced by his predecessors, 
but arranged and greatly enlarged by himself, now 
contains about 3000 species ; and novelties still 
come in, and must be expected, till the southern 
provinces of the island in particular have been 
fully explored. Two native draftsmen, in Govern- 
ment pay, are constantly employed in making 
coloured drawings of all the plants, as they flower 
in the garden, or are brought in from the jungle. 
Their work is confined to representing the plant 
of the size of nature ; for all the magnified por- 
tions are drawn, and all the dissections made by 
Mr. Thwaites himself, who devotes the best hours 
of almost every day to this most necessary, but 
laborious ta»k. Many hundreds of carefully pre- 
pared and acurate drawings show what has been 
done in less than four years, and are a promise 
