PRESIDKXTIAL ADDRESS. SECTION C. 43. 



cryptogams, is an object eminently worthy of our best endea- 

 vours and, indeed, not less than a duty which we owe to our- 

 selves and to the rest of the civilised world; but, when all this 

 is done, we have still to learn the geographical range of each 

 species and to obtain a comprehensive knowledge of the life- 

 conditions which control its existence. This knowledge, full of 

 interest as it w^ould be for the student of plant-geography also 

 possesses a great practical value. Recent events have shown 

 once more how great is our readiness to credit wald stories of 

 the discovery of untold mineral wealth, but, on the other 

 hand, we are certainly too prone to believe that many parts of 

 the country are worthless unless they contain marketable 

 minerals. I doubt if such a pessimistic verdict with regard to 

 any large area of the Union Territories is at present founded 

 upon adequate evidence. A very important part of the data 

 which alone can justify or controvert such a conclusion 

 is furnished by the native vegetation. For such knowledge of 

 it as we possess we are indebted primarily to the European 

 collectors of the last century and a half, of whose names a 

 South African scientific audience needs no reminder. These 

 men bore the burden and heat of the day in a very real sense, 

 and we who have entered into the fruits of their labours have 

 not given that attention to the completion of their work which 

 the needs of the present, as well as the traditions of the past, 

 clearly demand from us. It is true that botanical exploration has 

 not been allowed to die, but for this we must thank individuals — 

 the few wdiose names will justly occupy prominent positions 

 in the history of South African Botany, whose work has been 

 ably supported and supplemented by the many who. working 

 in quiet isolation, seeking and receiving no reward, stimulated 

 only by a keen interest in the plants among w^hich they live, 

 will, when everything is as it should be. be deemed worthy 

 of greater honour than some whose names are more widely 

 known. But what has been and still is lacking is the concen- 

 trated and organised effort which has its inspiration in a 

 National institution. A South African Botanic Garden, estab- 

 lished upon a sound basis would place on the front page of its 

 programme the completion of the botanical exploration of the 

 country. In this work it would seek to co-ordinate individual 

 effort to which we already owe so much, with the official enter- 

 prise which till now^ has been almost non-existent. The scien- 

 tific importance of this undertaking it would be difficult to over- 

 estimate. That practical results would follow can hardly be 

 doubted, but apart from these, an educated communitv must 

 recognise that it is its duty to know the country in w'hich it 

 lives. 



Closely connected with this subject is the cultivation of in- 

 digenous plants. It may fairly be said that no other part of the 

 earth's surface offers so great an array of forms of scientific 

 and horticultural importance which lend' themselves to inexpen- 

 sive and effective treatment in a limited space. More than one 

 of the authorities previously quoted have referred to the lack 

 of interest shown in the native flora. People say, no doubt with 



