424, QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Dec., 1902. 
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR, BOTANIC GARDENS AND 
GOVERNMENT DOMAIN. , 
The Botanic Gardens and Government Domain, under my management, have been 
maintained during the past year as well as the reduced vote and the protracted 
drought would admit. 
he vote has been gradually reduced during the past few years, until last year it 
stood at £350 less than the average for the preceding twenty-one years; and I have 
now received instructions that it is to be still further reduced by about one-fifth as 
a part of the general scheme of retrenchment. It is, perhaps, superfluous to add that 
I am straining every nerve to preserve the Gardens as far as possible under the 
depressing conditions until the return of better times. A glance at the Estimates for 
the past few years will show that I am now charged with the duties and responsibilities 
formerly engaging the attention of four officers; and I feel that this will be 
regarded as a fairly reasonable contribution to the general measure of retrenchment 
sought to be effected. 
It is difficult to write calmly about the want of a water supply after 
viewing from day to day the havoc wrought by the absence of that abundant 
supply which the trees and shrubs enjoyed until within the last few years, and 
which alone made their growth here possible. For many years the Gardens 
had a very fair supply of water. The Works Department paid the Board of Water- 
works £100 per annum for all the water used. A few years ago, however, the Board, 
being of the opinion that a larger sum should be paid for the water which was being 
used to enhance the beauty and value of the People’s National Gardens, decreed that in 
future the water should be measured through meters, and paid for atthe rate of 1s. for 
every 1,000 gallons. ‘lhis limited the consumption to 2,000,000 gallons yearly. This 
may sound large to persons not accustomed to deal with water supply matters. It really 
means 2 inches of water spread over the Gardens, or about one day’s steady rain. 
A pond 77 yards square and 1 yard deep holds 1,000,000 gallons approximately. A 
better idea may perhaps be formed by remembering that 100,000 gallons will cover 
an acre 43 inches deep. The Botanic Gardens at Adelaide use every year 40,000,000 
gallons for an area similar to that with which we have to deal, and this in a normal 
year, when no drought has to be fought. Imagine then what chance one has ina 
drought like this, with 2,000,000 gallons. But last year, in the face of the greatest 
drought on record, this was reduced by 25 per cent., or to 1,500,000 gallons, for at the 
commencement of this year the Works Department declined to pay for any more 
water for the Gardens, as it was not required for public buildings, and the already 
reduced vote of the Gardens had to eam the cost. Itis very hard to see the plants 
perishing, the ponds empty. the waterfowl dying, and a general state of desolation 
prevailing, and at the same time to see the water, which would save so much, being 
used to water the streets and to flush the sewers, a duty which, one would imagine, 
might just as well be performed by sait water from the adjacent river. In my anxiety 
I waited informally upon the Board of Waterworks and asked for at least a reduction 
in the price in order to enable me to distribute a little more water amongst the starving 
plants, but to my infinite regret, learnt that the Board could not afford it. It will be 
seen that I have done all in my power to prevent the damage which has already 
accrued, and to avert the preventable calamity which threatens the Gardens through 
the want of a tolerable water supply. JI ask that a free water supply be granted to 
the Gardens as formerly, in the interests of one-fourth of the inhabitants of Queens- 
land who live within a few miles of them, and of the Gardens as a national institution. 
During a recent water scare in Sydney, the Government and people of New South 
Wales insisted that whatever private gardens went short, or whatever economies were 
enforced, the supply of water to the National Botanic Gardens in Sydney should not 
be reduced below a safe limit. The lily ponds and lagoons, which contained fine 
collections of aquatic plants are completely dried up for the first time in forty years, 
and could not have been replenished, except at a cost which was utterly Pepi ye) 
considering the circumstances referred to above. To have kept water in them would 
have necessitated the payment to the Board of Waterworks of the entire vote. 
A change has taken place in the management of the refreshment kiosk during 
the past year. This institution was established in 1891 for the purpose of providing 
light refreshments for visitors, and a ground rent of £25 per annum was charged for 
the privilege of selling such refreshments. The lessee gradually extended his 
business to include luncheons and the like, and largely extended his premises, and 
the area of the land occupied by him. No objection was made to these extensions, 
and his rent remained the same. When, however, he had enjoyed this monopoly for 
eleven years, and the pressure of circumstances necessitated the dismissal of several 
of the Gardens’ staff, it was felt to be only right that a fair rent should be obtained 
