SB 



Foreword. 



SOUTH AFRICA is very young. Experience in Arboriculture and 

 Horticulture is accumulating but slowly. For many years yet our 

 local experiences and temporary results will be subject to keen* 

 criticism. What is really practical work in one district may be 

 quite impracticable in another, so varied are our climatic and* 

 other conditions. It is quite wrong to state dogmatically that 

 any plant will not do well in South Africa, even although such 

 plant has failed in a particular position over a series of years. 

 We don't know enough to enable us to dogmatize in any way. 



So that one hesitates about publishing anything, knowing that 

 additions to our knowledge will soon cause the publication to be 

 out of date. But a beginning must be made, although it may be 

 imperfect and very subject to criticism and speedy revision. 

 South Africa (and particularly the three Eastern Provinces) Is 

 hungry for trees and shrubs, and our small contribution to 

 general knowledge will help some of our people to increase the 

 comfort of our homesteads and improve the present bare appear- 

 ance of our otherwise fine and fertile land. 



Some few botanic names have been retained which are not 

 quite correct, to avoid any confusion in the reader's mind. 



We acknowledge our great indebtedness, in compiling this 

 booklet, to F. J. Stayner, Esq., F.L.S., for his kind oversight, 

 and many suggestions of value, to Mr. T. R. Sim's valuable 

 " Tree planting in Natal." to Mrs. Geekie, of Benvie, and to the 

 Curator of the Botanic Gardens here, for their kind permission 

 to reproduce photographs of trees, &c. 



We have used actual -photographs of -.South African grown 

 Plants by way of illustration. Our readers want to know what 

 can be done here, and these pictures of what has been done will 

 encourage them to create like beauty spots. 



1924038 



