Sessional_Paper_1907 — Page 609

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Flower Show. The staff of the Department was busy during the beginning of the year in organizing a Horticultural Society at His Excellency the Governor's request and making arrangements for its first show. The Flower Show took place on the 1st and 2nd of February and was a great success. Permission was obtained to enclose the two terraces of the Old Garden for the purpose. The exhibits were arranged in temporary sheds on the upper terrace and included an interesting_collection of economic products of Mauritius, obtained for the occasion by Sir FRANCIS PIGGOTT, and a representative group of our local forestry productions, a descriptive catalogue of both of these being appended to the exhibition guide. Full accounts of the Show and of the work of the Society have been published elsewhere.

The marked interest taken by all sections of the community in the Exhibition and the excellence of the exhibits fully justified its revival and proves that the Colony has now emerged from that condition of horticultural apathy under which 18 years ago the annual Exhibitions ceased.

Year's Weather.-From the wet foggy spring of 1906 until the stormy autumn the year was one of the most unfavourable on record for gardening operations. The show of spring-flowering annuals so conspicuous in most years was entirely spoiled by the con- tinuous rain of March and April and, as the planting out of the summer annuals could not be done at the usual time for the same reason, the appearance of the grounds suffered greatly during the early part of the year. On no less than six occasions from May onwards was it necessary to carry all moveable plants into shelter in consequence of typhoon warnings. On the inemorable 18th of September the gardens were wrecked by the sudden typhoon that caused such terrible havoc throughout the Colony on that date. There is no previous record of any such destruction of trees and garden stock. The actual repairable damage was very great and was not made good much before the end of the year, but more serious must be considered the temporary disfigurement of the gardens, the previous beauty of which ten years will hardly restore. Unfortunately also the total loss of several trees of scientific or economic interest has to be reported. Perhaps the most regrettable losses were those of the large tree of Aleurites cordata, the only full grown example in the Colony of this important wood oil tree, and of the interesting Bauhinia still unnamed, our only tree of which stood at the corner of the deer-pen. Mauy fallen trees re-erected after the typhoon of the 18th might have survived by virtue of the unbroken half of their roots, had it not been for the second typhoon which blew them down in the opposite direction thus completely severing them from the ground.

The year's rainfall is recorded in Table I.

Repairs. All the paths and channels throughout the Botanic Gardens were put into thorough repair during the year and the plant houses received a good deal of attention which had become urgently needed in consequence of the attacks of white ants on their woodwork.

New Rules. Some amendments to the garden rules were approved by Governor- in-Council in September whereby children can be. provide with a playing ground on one or other of the grass plots in the Gardeus.

The chief recipients of plants and seeds were :-

Dr. J. M. ATKINSON, Messrs. A. BABINGTON, J. BARTON; Sir HENRY BERKELEY, Lady BLAKE; Botanic Gardens, Jamaica and Mauritius ; Bureau of Agricul- ture, Manila; Mr. CHAO LUP CHEE; Cheung Chau Police Station; Commissioner of Customs, Amoy; French Convent; Messrs. F. A. HAZELAND, F. HOWELL, H. HUMPHREYS; Sergeant KERR, Dr. KOCH, Messrs. LAU CHU PAK, FELIX LEVIEUX (Mauritius), LI PAK; Professor MATSUMURA (Tokyo), Mr. C. McI. MESSER ;

Parks and Open Spaces, Shanghai; No. 5 Police Station; Sir FRANCIS T. PIGGOTT, Mrs. A. H. RENNIE, Mrs. RowE; San Tin Police Station; Lady FRANCES TURNER, Messrs. VILMORIN-ANDRIEUX (Paris), Lady VOULES, Messrs. W. H. WALLACE (Amoy), W. M. WATSON and J. XAVIER.