Royal Botanic Gardens, Ceylon

THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. i ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, CEYLON. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR FOR THE YEAR 1880. I t o o k over the charge of the Gardens on 20th February, a few days after Dr. Thwaites's retirement. During the remainder of the year the ordinary routine duties of management and maintenance have oeen carried on, and require no further mention here. Since, how ever, some new departures have been made and changes introduced, it may he well to put on record the character and condition of the Gardens, and the directions in which I am desirous to further develop them and have already commenced to do so. I.—P& r A d e n i y a G a r d e n . The principles of management consistently carried out in these gardens for many years past aimed at the preservation, to as great an extent as possible, of their natural character. The result has beeu all that could be desired in that respect, and their luxuriant and tropical wild beauty has been a characteristic feature of the gardens. Trees were rarely felled but allowed to decay, new ones were planted without regard to their surroundings, crowded together and never pruned, and the struggle for existence permitted to go on almost unchecked. The result of this was naturally the predominance o£ some plants and the more ot less complete destruction of others. Few were able to exhibit their full proportions and complete development; even the flower-beds, never weeded, formed dense thickets under the shade of large trees, where it not unfrequently happened that rare and interesting species were choked and barely alive from the inordinate luxuriance of some dominant but worthless weed. The same principles forbade any arrangement or systematic classifi cation of the plants in accordance with their affinities, or the attachment to them of any explanatoTy labels. In short, many portions presented more the appearance of a beautiful wild jungle, where plants from the tropics of all latitudes strove for the mastery, than of a scientific garden for the public utility. My first duty seemed to be to ascertain the contents of the garden, but in the absence of labels, of any fairly complete or properly arranged catalogue, and of available detailed records referring to the past, this work will be one of some duration, and is only partially carried through. During the explorations necessary for this purpose, several successive portions of the garden have been opened out and greatly improved. The accumulated debris has been taken away, numerous dead, dying, and unsightly trees and shrubs have been removed, and those harmful from shade felled. The greatest care has however been taken to conserve every specimen of interest, and of course all unique specimens ; some have been re-planted in more favourable positions, and thus others have had the opportunity afforded them of attaining their true development and taking their natural form. By the sacrifice of common and often-repeated sorts room has been also gained for planting additional species. Much more simjlar work has yet to be done. The grand scenic character of the gardens is due largely to the magnificent trees— palms, bamboos, and figs especially—which they contain. Effective objects of this kind it has been my endeavour to isolate and enhance in value in the landscape; and I have not hesitated to take off unsightly or superfluous portions, and to clear away native wild vegetation and inferior specimens which destroyed their symmetry or hid the proper display of their beauties. Roads.—These are numerous and remarkably well planned and constructed. By far the greater part are adapted for carriages, a point of some importance in a tropical garden. It is worth putting on record that the total length now open extends to nearly four miles of carriage drives and one and a-lialf mile of foot-paths. All are in excellent repair, but require constant attention, especially after heavy rain. In places a better system of drainage will have to be employed. Buildings.—An addition to these is the house lately vacated by a clerk in the employ of the Public Works Department, which has been put into thorough repair, and is now occupied 19 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. • * ' • by the draftsman of this establishment. A small grant has enabled this and other press ing repairs to be carried out. The clerk’s and gardener’s offices, the store, and the entrance lodge have all been put into good order, and a new and substantial carpenters’ shed and a new plant-shed erected. Repairs have also been made in the houses of the head gardener (lately in occupation of the draftsman) and the plant-collector, and the more pressing wants of the “ Assistant Director’s” bungalow (occupied by the Cryptogamist) have been supplied. The roof of this house is however in a very unsubstantial condition, and requires thorough renewal. The roof of the herbarium building is also in a leaky state, and needs further attention. The young plants and cuttings in theplant-sheds suffering from want of light, windows or sky-lights of glass, so far as it could be obtained, have been inserted in the roofs, and shelves and trestles erected. Improvements at Entrance.—The approach to the gardens from the high-road was (as remarked in the Report for 1870) inconvenient and unsightly. It afforded access only from the Kandy direction, and turned into the gate at a dangerously sharp angle. In the Peradeniya direction was a foot-path only, made four years ago. Both these have been enclosed, dug up, and grassed over, and two short carriage roads of easy gradient and sym metrical curves have been formed from the high-road to the gate. The triangular space thus enclosed has been levelled and turfed, and the hedge replaced by an iron fence sixty yards ong. In thus forming an entrance more worthy of the garden it was necessary to sacrifice ltwo of the trees of Ficus elastica on the right hand of the gate; the effect has been greatly to enhance the striking appearance of the grand avenue'of the same species on the left hand side, so much admired and now much better seen. The fine mahogany and star-apple trees remain as before, and some fresh ornamental trees have been planted. The steep bank which here forms so good a protection and screen to the gardens has been draped with large ferns and foliage plants. The well-known palm-grove just within the entrance (as well as the newer one in the circular road) has been carefully gone over. Its beauty had become somewhat impaired from the great height many of the trees have attained. The bare dead stem of one of the talipot palms which flowered in 1877 has been felled and its base converted into a seat; it measured sixty-eight feet in length and twelve feet in circumference. A few other specimens have been taken out, and brushwood and undergrowth removed ; and two young talipots and several specimens of other and fresh species planted. The ground under the trees has been carpeted with small ferns and selaginellas. Ornamental Lake.—A principal want here has been a piece of water suitable for the growth of aquatics and as an ornamental feature. The new water supply, completed last year, has now allowed the transformation of a small muddy pond in the southern part of the garden into some approach to an ornamental lake. It has been cleaned out and enlarged, the banks sloped and turfed, many trees and bambocs surrounding it cleared away, and an unsightly piece of jungle and a rubbish heap in the neighbourhood removed. A constant supply of water, brought by an open channel 650 ft. long, falls into this little lake which is about 30 ft. above the river,from which it is only separated by a steep wide bank probably permitting some soakage. Several of our more ornamental native water plants are now growing here, and it is hoped that some more striking exotic species will soon be added. But unless the water can be emptied out, and the bottom, which is very foul, be properly puddled to an uniform depth, little success can be hoped for. Grass. — The fine stretches of grass which give such a park-like aspect to the garden are a source of heavy and constant expense. More than one-third of the whole expenditure on labour is absorbed by grass-cutting, which is nearly always going on. It is wholly effected by the primitive method of reaping with heavy grass-knives and never succeeds in producing anything like a turf, as it is impossible to do it with sufficient frequency. Nothing would more tend to improve the grounds than greater attention to the grass: were this once properly levelled, cleared of stones and weeds, and the coarse grasses and other plants kept short and never permitted to become rank or to seed, the wild untidy portions could be readily and quickly replaced by fine dry lawns of short tuft. I therefore urgently request to be provided with means to purchase a large mowing machine for bullocks, and I feel confident that the large first cost will be quickly repaid by the saving of labour, which will also then become available for attending to other parts of the garden which now too often suffer from the imperative need of the grass-cutting. New South Garden.—About sixteen acres of land at the south of the course of the old Colombo road, and extending to the satin-wood bridge have hitherto not been brought into cultivation, hut have for many years lain in an unfenced and neglected condition, a tangled scrub of coarse weeds traversed only by a few cattle on their path to the river bank.

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