^REPORT.%^ 





Natal Botanic Gardens, Berea, 

 Durban, July, 1904. 



To the President and Committee, 



Durban Hotanic Gardens. 



G-ENTLEMEN, 



I have the honour of presenting my Twenty -third Annual 

 Report on the Botanic Gardens and Herbarium under my 

 charge, and am pleased to be able to say that the Report is not 

 at all an unfavourable one. During the greater portion of the 

 year now ended the weather has been quite favourable to the 

 growth of the plants, and we have not to any serious extent 

 been troubled with either floods, drought, locusts, or other 

 plagues, except that a species of " Mole Cricket " was the 

 cause of some damage to the young Citrus stocks, and men 

 were employed for several weeks in digging up and destroying 

 them ; whether this is or is not the one known as the 

 " Changa " (Scapteriscus didactylus, Latri) I am unable to 

 say, but it is reported that the damage done to crops in Porto 

 Rico by this pest amounts to 100,000 dollars annually; certainly 

 had they not been checked the damage done here would have 

 been very considerable. Specimens of these creatures may be 

 seen in our Museum. 



The Mango crop was again a very poor one, chiefly due to 

 the ravages of the fruit fly, and of Litchis we had scarcely any, 

 but we can only expect to have a crop of this fruit when plenty 

 of rain falls during the season of ripening : the situation in 

 which the trees are growing is too dry for this plant, which 

 succeeds much better in a moist than in a dry soil. 



We have now a trolley and a light cart for use in the 

 Garden. The trolley has been found extremely useful in 

 taking out plants and bringing manure, of which we were 

 much in want, while the cart has been employed in bringing 

 " antheap " from the upper part of the ground to harden the 

 lower walks ; the lowest walk, which extends nearly the whole 

 width of the Garden has now been hardened : it was formerly 

 heavy sand, but is now a very pleasant path, and is much 

 frequented by visitors, 



