Gardenvisit.com The Garden Guide

Book: History of Garden Design and Gardening
Chapter: Chapter 5: Gardens in Asia, America, Africa, Australia

Indian Botanic Garden

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760. A botanic garden between the Ganges and the Jumna has lately been formed under the auspices of the British government, for the purpose of receiving and propagating Indian plants which it is thought might be adapted for culture in Europe. The situation is 6300 feet above the level of the sea, and, being exposed to the north, there is thus produced, in the heart of Hindostan, a temperature no more than equal to that of the southern part of the European continent. Among the plants lately said to be introduced are, the spurge laurel, the Daphne cannabina, of which, in Nepal, paper is made; a shrub, the Symplocos racemosa, the bark of which is used in dyeing; a species of wheat brought from the central part of Asia, where it flourishes, on the borders of Chinese Tartary, at an elevation of 10,600 feet; and a species of barley, Hordeum c£leste, met with in the Himalayan mountains, in fields elevated 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. These corns are sown in the month of October, and ripen in the end of April. (Le Globe.)