THE WESTER GARDEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2829, 3 June 1908, Page 74

THE WESTER GARDEN.

DUXEDIX'S LATEST ACQUISITION. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THIS WEEK. The stocking of the Winter Garden with plants and trees is sufficiently well advanced to give a very fair impression oi what an acquisition the institution is going: to be, not only to the Botanic Gardens, but also to the Oity of I)unedin. The finishing touches are being given to the outeide of the building, and it ia expected that everything' will be ij> steadiness early tils week to allow Mr R. Glendining to hand over to the Mayor and corporation his valuable donation to Dvinedin. Should this eventuate, as no doubt it will, the Winter Garden will be forthwith opened to the public, fend will unquestionably bt>, largely vieited i

by citizens and also by visitors from the country who will bo in town for the Otago A. and P. Society's show. It may not at this stage be out of place to give a brief description of what the public will -see when they visit the garden. Mr Tannock, Dunedin's able .curator of reserves, and his staff have for a long time past been carefully collecting and preparing for the occa* sion which means so much, for the city chief botanic reserve. Of course, th& tropical and sub-tropical compartments oannot be fully stocked at the tim» of opening, for many specimens which will be procured could not be brought here until euch time as adequate provision for their reception had been afforded. All the same, a very good showing will be made, and the -Winter Garden will he opened to the public under very favourable circumstances. The main scheme of the Winter Garden is well known. In short, it comprises a house *or tropical plants, opening out on the one hand to a sub-tropical section, and on the other to a temperate zone section. The main features of the tropical department embrace a good display of orchids, a cocdanut palm, a banana tree, a rubber plant, a screw pine, 10 specimens of the nalm-like Cvcas, and a pepper tree. This is sufficiefffc to make a good beginning, and there is little doubt that on this foundation a really representative collection will be built. A specialtywill be- made of the great family of orchids and also of plants of economic value. In the temperate and- sub-tropical sections the outstanding sight is a splendid collection of chrysanthemums in bloom, the results of Mr Tannook's culture. This, in itself, makes a great? show, and is well worth inspection. The benches in the greenhouse, or temperate section, are stocked with geraniums, primulas, including the Primula Kemensi6 (which is seen, for the first time in New Zealand), cyclamens, chilis, and other plants of the decorative order; whilst in the sub-tropical department the benches are chiefly devoted to a large collection of cinerarias. Almost without exception tho pot plant* have be,en raised within the confines of the Botanic Gardens, and their removal to the Winter Garden from the propagating houses on the hill has very greatly relieved the congestion that thera existed, and has given the gardens .staff fairly ample room for wintering the spring and summer, cuttings. Indeed, even to the constant visitor to the greenhouses it is a marvel how all the plants have, in the past, been housed and still afforded room for the preparation of the thousands of flower • ins and foliage plants that have every season to be provided, not only for the Botanic Gardens itself, but also for the many reserves under the control of the reserves department of the corporation. The Winter Garden, co generously given to the city by Mr Glendining, will be a never-failing source of attraction, whilst its educative value can hardly be over-eet',-mated. Although it will be opened to the public immediately on being handed over by Mr Glondining, the formal opening ceremony will not take place until the spring.

— A woman of Boston has been celebrating bar "golden anniversary" as a cook. During 44) years out oi the 50 afoe has f-nea employed at one restaurant, for which she has baked no f ewer than 394-.000 pies. A local statistician has estimated tfoat these pies, if laid out in a xow, would cover 70 miles. She confesses also to the manu-f-.-t --. tf 788,000 puddings and 2,000,000 doughnuts.