336 Report S.A.A. Advancement of Science. 



grants, and had to earn their living as best they could. One of the 

 best services rendered by these institutions has been the importation of 

 trained men to act as Curators or Assistants, and who, either in these 

 positions or afterwards, have been leaders of horticultural life 

 throughout South Africa. 



Nursery Trade. 



The nursery trade itself is a very recent innovation in South 

 Africa, but one which has grown rapidly since it started, and has 

 still an enormous field for expansion. 



Twenty-five years ago the Botanic Gardens did practically all the 

 Nursery business done, and they joined with private florists in com- 

 plaining when the Cape Government Forest Department, about 1885, 

 began the sale of forest tree transplants at cost, in order to render 

 possible more extensive tree-planting than had previously been prac- 

 ticed. That trade has increased enormously in the hands of the 

 Forest Departments of Cape Colony, Transvaal, Orange River 

 Colony, and Natal, and the public find that they have now in that 

 line sure and reliable supplies, while even the nurserymen are not 

 disappointed in being relieved of what often proved the unprofitable 

 part of their business, leaving them free to take up much more 

 profitable lines with greater energy and advantage. And it is only 

 those nurserymen who have broken away from the conventional, 

 many-sided class of trade, and specialised in a few leading lines, 

 who can be said to have done passably well. The expense connected 

 with the maintenance of an all-round trade has been too great for the 

 comparatively limited demand, and is likely to remain so till the 

 population grows. But in regard to fruit trees (especiallv citrus 

 trees), Roses, Palms, Table Plants, and a few florist lines, there 

 is a standing demand which always justifies practical labour, and 

 allows reasonable prices to come in. 



Fruit Culture. 



Reasonable prices are, however, of comparatively recent adop- 

 tion. Fifteen years ago 10/- was not an uncommon price for an 

 orange tree, or 3/6 for a deciduous fruit tree, and over-grown trees 

 were more in demand than maidens. But Cape Colony had the 

 advantage soon after that date of having, among its new arrivals, 

 several Californian fruit growers, who were not slow to introduce 

 new life and energy wherever they settled. South Africa owes much 

 to these men, who, realising the grand climate and the unequalled 

 geographical and seasonal advantages for fruit culture, helped others 

 as well as themselves in building up the first foundations of a whole- 

 sale deciduous fruit industry. The late Cecil Rhodes saw what was 

 in it, and invested largely, and others gained confidence from his 



