REPORT. 
•o- 
Melbourne Botanic Garden, 
24th October, 1858. 
Sib, 
I have the honor of transmitting to you my Annual Report on the progress of our 
labors in the Botanical Garden. 
Of the ground destined for an arrangement of plants according to their botanical 
affinity, two acres were trenched, and by gradually securing the requisite genera and 
species, more than one hundred of the principal exogenous orders are now represented in 
this plantation by about 1700 plants. This class-ground cannot fail to become still a 
greater source of instruction to the botanical enquirer than it has been already, especially 
when extended over the endogenous orders, and when its plants are more advanced in 
growth. 
A further increase of the cultivated ground has been effected by the enlargement 
of several borders and by laying out a new nursery of plants on the slopes of our southern 
valley. 
The barren declivity which fronts the western portion of the lagoon has been planted 
for the formation of a future Pine forest, with lines of Aleppo pine, with rows of Moreton 
Bay and Norfolk Island Araucarias, and with groups of miscellaneous Coniferse, comprising 
226 trees, many of great rarity, and all equally calculated to beautify the spot and to 
become an ornament in our landscape. In planting this Pinetum the silurian rock had to 
be replaced by trap soil from the banks of the Parra, and was used in raising a new 
walk on the south-western side of the lagoon. 
During the summer and autumn season an effectual system of draining was adopted 
throughout the greater portion of the cultivated ground, by laying numerous lines of lasting 
underground drain-pipes, varying from four inches to nine inches in width, and by lining 
many of the walks and borders with brick or stone gutters, the material for the latter and 
for the largest drains being obtained in our quarry. Thus mlich labor formerly lost m 
repairs, after those devastations which every rainstorm left on the undulated ridges of our 
garden, will henceforth be saved. 
The whole of the cultivated ground, extending now over about eighteen acres, has 
been dug this season, and many improvements have been effected by additions to the 
variety of plants in the shrubberies, by their occasional re-arrangement, and by the 
completion and partial renewal of the edges. 
In order to afford the shade necessary for the enjoyment of a pleasant walk, m a 
climate like ours, avenues have been planted through most of the lawns. The quick-growing 
Moreton Bay Grevillea (Gr. robusta) and the Maple-like Flame-tree of Illawarra 
(Brachychiton acerifolium), were principally chosen for this purpose, not only as being 
readily available, but also as combining a beautiful evergreen foliage with ornamental 
flowers. The soil for planting these trees had also to be brought from a const era e 
distance. The lines of Blue Gum trees (Eucalyptus globulus), planted along the banks o 
the Yarra towards the city and along the St. Kilda road, have been extended over the 
southern limits of our ground. 
