440
The chief donors of plants and seeds were:-
Arnold Arboretum; Mr. A. BABINGTON; Messrs. BLACKHEAD & Co.; Lady BLAKE (Ceylon); Botanic Gardens of Calcutta, Ceylon, Durban (Natal), French Congo, Jamaica, Singapore and Trinidad; Mr. CHOA LUP CHEE; Deputy Commissioner of Forests, Chittagong; Forestry Bureau, Manila; Rev. B. GREISER; Captain HODGINS; Parks and Open Spaces, Shanghai; Captain MARCHANT; Imperial Botanical Museum, Berlin; Sir FRANCIS PIGGOTT; Reporter on Economic Products to the Government of India; Mr. A. ROBERT- SON-PROSCHOWSKY; South California Acclimatizing Association; State Gar- dens, Baroda; Mrs. BASIL TAYLOR; United States Department of Agricul ture; Mr. W. H. WALLACE; Mr. J. WESTLAND, (Ceylon).
Government House Grounds.-These grounds, including the walks, have been kept up to their usual condition. Towards the end of the year the tennis lawn was attacked by caterpillars which were kept in check by an application of Jeye's Fluid and water in the proportion of one of the former to ninety of the latter. In the small compound behind the stables which was formerly used for growing decorative plants, new coolie quarters have been erected, thus necessitating the removal of the plants elsewhere.
Mountain Lodge Grounds.-The shrubberies were overhauled and planted up as required. These always want a lot of attention in the Spring of the year owing to the great damage done by wind even in the most favourable Summers. In the August typhoon the creeper covering the large retaining wall was completely blown down, thus exposing the whole of the unsightly masonry. Wires fixed to iron stays have been put up so that it is hoped that when the Ficus has grown, in two or three years, the wind will not be able to do so much damage in this direction. The steepest parts of the walk round the hill on the south side of the grounds were concreted, and cement channels made to carry off the rainfall.
Protestant Cemetery.-The usual routine work was maintained throughout the year. During the winter months, at the beginning and end of the year, a great deal of damage was done to annuals by deer. I he herbage obtainable on the hillsides at this season is less suc- culent than at other times and it is on this account that these animals come into the Ceme- tery to feed on the tender plants growing there. The roofs and stages of the plant-houses which had become decayed have been renewed by the Public Works Department. The matsheds also which are used for storing dry soil and for raising plants from seed have been re-built.
Blake Garden.--A few more trees, shrubs and creepers were planted in the Spring. Most of the plants and trees put in 1904 have grown well. A summer-house subscribed for by a few of the Chinese residents in the neighbourhood has been erected on the mound at the north-west corner of the Garden. The Garden appears to be more and more appreciated by the Chinese.
Peak Garden.-The vote of $700 allowed for the formation of this small Garden was expended during the year but the ground has not been turfed yet, as the work was not sufficiently advanced at the end of the rainy season to permit of this being done.
A pump has been fixed to the well in the Garden by the Public Works Department. This will permit of the well being covered over so that there will be no danger of children falling in, and at the same time the water will be available for the garden.
Sokunpo Nursery. As the Nursery is unfenced, wild deer, as in the Protestant Ceme- tery, did a lot of damage to the seedlings; pigs were also a source of trouble. A portion was enclosed with a wire-netting fence, 3 feet high, but this was only partly effectual in keeping the deer out as they occasionally jumped over it. Small lamps, however, fixed so that they would sway about in the wild during the night had very satisfactory results.
Albany Nursery.-The whole of the Albany Nursery is gradually being brought into use as funds permit. A part of it is occupied by decorative plants, the stock of which has had to be largely increased owing to the frequency with which they are now required for various decorative purposes. Carrying the plants to and from the places where they are being used, insufficient water whilst they are in the rooms and the frequent breakage of pots causing damage to the roots and necessitating re-potting, render it necessary to keep many more plants than are actually required at any one time. A number of trees and economic plants have been put in another part of this nursery.