i6 



Rheum officinale, " Turkey Rhubarb." — Seed of this plant 

 was obtained in 1893, and a portion sent to Botanic Gardens, 

 Maritzburg. Here, the plants did not succeed, and are now all 

 dead, but the Curator of the Maritzburg Gardens informs me that 

 plants reared from the seed sent by us to them for trial are doing 

 fairly well, and have made good leaves and stems. It is quite 

 possible that at a still higher altitude, say Howick to Notting- 

 ham Road, the plant might be found to succeed still better. 



Carya oliviformis, " Peccan Nut." — Seeds of this tree were 

 received from Mr. A. Wilkinson, of Ottawa, and some of them 

 have germinated, and it is to be hoped the plant will succeed 

 here. The wood is valuable, and the nuts are said to be 

 excellent, and are exported in quantity from Texas. 



Sweet Potato. — Roots of three varieties of this plant were 

 received from Florida, and are said to be of very good quality. 

 We have been fortunate in rearing plants of all three varieties, 

 and a few cuttings will shortly be available for distribution. 

 One of these varieties is an upright one, that is, the vines do 

 not run along the ground. I have since been informed that we 

 have already an upright variety in Natal, and cuttings of it 

 were kindly sent to me by Mr. W. Cato, of Bellair. We shall, 

 therefore, be enabled to compare them with each other during 

 the present season. 



In my Report for 1890, I gave a list of plants of economic 

 value, which had been tried at the Gardens during the previous 

 five years, and it was my intention to have given in the present 

 Report a similar list of those tried during the five years that 

 have elapsed since that time, but in consequence partly of the 

 press of other work, and partly also because the plants 

 imported during the past year cannot safely be reported on at 

 present, I have decided to defer it until next year. During the 

 past five years we have imported 3,473 packets of seeds, and 

 1,058 species of plants, but of this large number many are 

 annuals, duplicates, or plants of ornamental value only, and 

 these I do not propose to notice, since space would not admit 

 of it, nor would their enumeration be of any real value. I 

 shall therefore report only upon plants of some economic value, 

 timber trees, &c, &c. 



The following have been noted in previous reports : — 



Polygonum sacchalinense, " Sacaline." — I have nothing 

 further to report of this plant beyond the fact that it has been 

 found to grow quite well here, and plants have been distributed 

 to applicants. Its value as a fodder plant in Natal has yet to 

 be proved. 



Bumex hymenosepalus, " Canaigre." — In my Report for 

 1894, it was stated that this plant was under trial here, and I 

 am now pleased to say that the trial has fully proved the 



