3 
of these plants is remarkably difficult. In order to keep the orchid-house as full of 
flowering plants as possible, other bouses and sheds have been built in the Gardens, in 
which the young plants can be cultivated, and more will soon be put up. Some. of 
the old sheds and stagings, have been destoyed, as the planks and posts were quite 
rotten, and are being reconstructed The demand for orchids still increases, and it 
is necessary to have & a large number, both for supply to correspondents and also to 
keep a good show in the house. At present there are upwards of 5,000 orchid 
plants, exclusive of those planted out on trees or in beds in the Gardens. 
5. The large plant-house has been kept well filled, and on the removal of the 
orchids to the new house the empty tables were filled with pot plants of various kinds, 
such as annuals, Bromeliads, Sonenlas, Ardistas } Didymocarpi , Acanthacece, &c. 
A number of succulents, such as Cacti, Agaves , Stapehas , Htjemanthi, weie obtained 
from Natal and from the Hongkong Gardens, and have thrived very well. The Gardens 
were previously very deficient in this class of plants. A plant of Brugmansm Lown, with 
one open flower and a bud, was sent alive from Borneo by Mr. Everett, and. was 
on view for some time. This very rare and extraordinary plant has probably not 
hitherto been seen alive in any Botanic Gardens. Further attempts will be made 
to introduce this and others of the order Rajjlesiaceee. into the Gardens. 
I regret to have to state that white ants have attacked and burrowed up the 
centre of some of the supporting pillars of tl* house. Attempts are being made to 
destroy them, and prevent a renewal of their attack. A large number of the plants in 
this house require already to be re-tubbed. There is great difficulty in getting here 
any wood suitable for making tubs, other than Seriah, which resists but little the 
attack of damp and white ants, and very soon decays. An attempt is being made 
to get larger earthenware pots made capable of containing shrubs in place of tubs. - 
Buildings . 
6. The most important building besides the orchid-house erected thih year is a 
carpenter’s shed, which was much needed. It occupies the same ground as the old one, 
and consists of a shed sixty-five feet long and twenty-three broad with cement floor 
and pillars formed of tram rails, bent so as to support a tiled roof. At one end is. a 
store-room, in which tools, &c. can be kept under lock and key. 
It having been decided that the house occupied by the Forest Overseer was un- 
healthy, and "not worth repairing, it has been destroyed, and the timber utilised for 
various purposes in the Gardens. The ground thus cleared will be covered with plant 
sheds and frames. ^ 
Beds and Shrubberies. 
7. The beds have been replenished, from time to time, and kept as bright as pos- 
. sible, but it will probably always be difficult here to procure .plants suitable for making- 
good flower-beds, on account of the heavy rainfall, which injures the flowers so much. 
The only new beds which have been made are some small additional ones in the 
Amaryllid beds, to make the design there more symmetrical, and a V shaped bed 
in a bare-looking spot near the large Meranti tree. 
In the Shrubberies, a winding path has been opened through the bushes on the 
left of the long border looking west, and’ here a number of shrubs and trees have 
been planted, both native and foreign. 
A walk has been made from the steps near the Amaryllid beds through what was 
a tangled overgrown bit of jungle, into the fernery. The entrance is through an 
arch of iron hoops covered with creepers*, which are growing well. The sides of the 
walk are planted with a collection of Aroids, both terrestrial and scandent, and illus- 
trate the various forms in that order. All have grown remarkably well. The 
juncde there has been cleared, and suitable plants, such as Ixoras, Rattans, Clusias 
and^Pandani planted in it. The walk passes through a depression formerly full of 
rubbish, which has been cleared away, and the whole planted up with Maidenhair, 
Alsophilas and other ferns, and Selaginellas. Upwards of a hundred tree ferns have 
been planted about, so as eventually to make a grove of these plants. 
A large portion of the creeper Thunbergia laurifolia climbing over the trees 
near the band-stand fell down, owing to the destruction of the supporting tree-stem 
upon which it grew, by white ants. With much difficulty it was raised again upon 
an adjoining free, and though it looked shabby for a time, is now covered again with 
leaves and young shoots. 
A number of the trees in various parts of the Gardens have been cleaned 
of dead and unnecessary branches and parasitic and epiphytic plants. This work 
had hitherto been somewhat neglected, and was very much required. Still some 
remains to be done. At the upper end of the lake, a rockery of succulents and rock 
