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He was accompanied by Mr. W. F. Gowers, C.M.G., Lieut.- 
Governor, Northern Provinces, and Mr. G. W. Webster, Resident 
Commissioner, Sokoto. His son, two members of his suite, and 
his scribe, who took full notes of all that was shown them, were 
also members of the party. 
Gift of Drawings of South African Flowers.—An interesting 
addition has been made to the collections of the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Kew, by the presentation by Major Sir Bartle C. Frere, 
Bt., D.S.O., of a series of drawings of flowers characteristic of 
the Western Province of the Cape of Good Hope, made by his 
sister, Miss Catherine Frances Frere, between the years 1877— 
1880, when her father, Sir Bartle Frere, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., was 
Governor. There are 34 pictures, many of them given up to 
single subjects, but on several sheets more than one species 
is represented. The subjects include amongst others, species 
of Gladiolus Babiana, Ixia, Erica, Berkheya, Phylica, and 
Protea. The pictures of the latter genus are particularly 
interesting for they remind us of a very striking group of plants, 
almost lost to present day cultivation, which, a centruy ago, 
was exceedingly popular in greenhouses in the British Isles. 
Species of Protea represented by the drawings are P. mellifera, 
P. pulchella, P. leucosperma, P. penicillata, and P. speciosa. 
The drawings are mounted in oak frames and have been arranged 
temporarily on the walls of a room on the first floor of Museum IV. 
National Botanic Gardens, Union of South Africa.—The 
Director’s report on the Botanic Garden at Kirstenbosch, near 
Cape Town, for the year 1920 has now been issued. A balance 
sheet that shows the salaries of the principal officials, 7.e., 
Curator, Ranger, Secretary, Lady Gardeners and Gardeners, to be 
no more than 845/. 19s. Od, is apparently a record of services 
rendered at considerable personal sacrifice, and is an indication 
of a persevering struggle to make ends meet. Considering, too, 
the high rates of pay in South Africa, the wages bill for 
1429]. 3s. 7d. seems totally inadequate for so large and important 
a botanic garden. We learn too from the report that Buchu 
has had to be grown in the gardens on a commercial scale in 
order to provide funds. With such inadequate financial support 
it is perhaps unnecessary to state that scientific investigations 
of the plants and plant products of the Union have been impossible 
during the year under review. 
In 1919 Professor R. H. Compton, the Director, issued a 
memorandum appealing for more financial support, and the 
annual Government grant, which had been reduced during 
the war, has happily now been restored. But this amounts only 
to 15001. and seems barely sufficient for the remuneration, at 
even a very low rate, of the Curator and the skilled assistance 
required in the gardens. Professor Compton states that at 
least a capital sum of 15,0007., and an annual income of about 
