T II E 
Vol. X. COLOMBO, APRIL ist, 1891. [Xo. 10 . 
H|THES;BOTANICjpAIlDENS®OF,^^YLON. 
ROM ^Dr.'^ Trimen'a interesting 
Report, of which we give the 
main portions as a special 
“Supplement with this issue of 
the Tropical Agriculturist, we 
gather, that during 1890 quite 
a number of plants, which 
are enumerated, flowered for the first time in the 
Peradeniya Gardens. Amongst these was that 
wonder of the vegetable world, the Ooco-de-mer palm, 
ohona Plantations to yield a superior fuel when 
quite young, and this species will be tried in 
Ceylon, as we had received notice of the posting 
to our address of 6 lb. of the acorns, just before 
we sat down to pen this notice. An Indian oak 
having given such results, the English oak is surely 
worthy of a trial. It is here, of course, of quicker 
growth than in its native habitat. When are we to 
see the Forest Department utilizing on a large 
scale, for arboreal experiments, the vast tracts of 
patana laud stretching in all directions from Hakgala 
and Nuwara Eliya ? 
to which the eccentric speculations of General 
Gordon have added a new interest. The abstraction 
of the flower is discreditable and vexatious. Some 
readers may need to be reminded that the seed 
of this palm takes no less than ten years to ripen 1 
A specimen of the most imperial of all the palm 
tribe, the talipot, is, visitors will be glad to learn, 
in full blossom in the Gardena at Peradeniya. 
The rainfall at this place, 1,600 feet above the 
level of Colombo and on the banks of our greatest 
river, was 82-18 inches, or about 2j inches under 
the average, that average itself being lower by 
2i inches than that of the Colombo rainfall. The 
visitors to Peradeniya (mostly strangers) numbered 
1,454. A new and enlarged edition, the 3rd, of 
the interesting Handbook has been prepared. 
Large space is devoted to the beautiful mountain 
gardens at Hakgala, for which Mr. Nock has done 
so much during the nine years of his incumbency. 
A bed of the comparatively rare and striking red 
balsam, Impatiens Walkerii, has been added to the 
attractions of the Gardens, and the grand fernery 
has been entirely remodelled and greatly improved. 
With reference to the complaint that there is no 
demand for 3,000 plants of English oak which are 
available, and that the Botanical Department has 
not sufficient means to plant them out, surely 
this is a work which the Forest Department ought 
specially to undertake. Planted pretty closely, the 
trees might be thinned out and their quality as 
fuel tested. An Assam oak, Quercus serrata, has 
been found by Mr. Gammie of the Darjiling Cin- 
As we noticed at the time. May 1890 
was remarkable at Hakgala for a wealth of 
floral beauty. On one day 610 distinct species 
and varieties were in flower, including 60 distinct 
varieties of roses of which some had hundreds 
of flowers. Tourist visitors have greatly increased, 
the names for 1890 numbering 1,319. Elk, porcu- 
pines and hares have waged annoying warfare 
against some of Mr. Nook’s plants, and sportsmen 
ought to wage war against these specimens of our 
fauna in turn. The monsoon weather of the year 
was abnormally light in wind and rain, with more 
thunder, however, than had been observed for 9 years. 
The air temperature went down to 40° on 23rd 
December, the thermometer on the grass marking 
37°. Sharp frosts occurred at Sita Eliya, close by. 
The maximum temperature of the air was 78-2 on 
May 12th. The mean temperature ranged from 
58-6 in December, to 66-2 in May. The rainfall for 
the year was only 79'97 inches, less by 16’55 
inches than the average. Interesting details are 
given regarding the Tropical Gardens at Henarat- 
goda, with a climate hotter by nearly 20° than 
that of Hakgala, and in connection with the dying 
of plants in the Anuradhapura Garden, we get a 
vivid idea of the series of “terribly” dry years, 
which have nearly evaporated Kalawewa to dryness 
and left the tanks at Anuradhapura to suffer in 
sympathy. The Badulla Garden is fast becoming 
attractive, the one drawback being the ravages, 
especially in nurseries, of the termites — the “white 
ants” of non-scienlifio parlance. Interchanges of 
plants and seeds have been on a diminished scale, 
and Dr. Trimen expresses anxiety to see private 
nurserymen relieve his department of the task of 
making up wardian cases of plants. The wonderful 
progress of tea is contrasted with the decadence 
of coffee, of which only 86,000 cwt. were shipped 
from Ceylon in 1890. Twenty years previously the 
culminating export of over one million of cwt. was 
reached and simultaneously the fatal fungus began 
its deadly work. Much interesting information is 
given regarding cacao, and Dr. Trimeu com- 
plains of the absence of visible results from 
