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Japanese Plums. — I obtained a couple of plants of the 

 Kelsey Plum with the object in view of testing whether or not 

 it was suitable for cultivation on the coast. So far the plants 

 have done well, and appear to be quite healthy; a few blossoms 

 appeared, but fell off without setting fruit. It is my intention 

 to try to train some of them in espalier fashion, so as to admit 

 of their being more easily protected by netting from the insects 

 which damage our fruits to such an extent, and also to allow 

 of more easy pruning. Results will be reported later on. I 

 am of opinion that the espalier method of training fruit trees 

 will be found to be the best, as they can so much easier be 

 protected from the insects which are becoming the bane of fruit 

 cultivation on the coast, and I fear in the upper districts also. 

 We have a peach tree introduced from India several years ago 

 which was said to be very suitable for hot climates, it bears 

 abundantly every year, but is so attacked by insects that it has 

 not ripened a single fruit, so that I determined to try what 

 effect chloride of lime sprinkled on the ground under the tree 

 would have, but when the fruit was nearly the full size, the 

 whole of it was stolen in a single night, not one peach being 

 left, so that I am unable to give any report on the success or 

 otherwise of the treatment, and the persons who relieved us of 

 the trouble of gathering the fruit have not favoured me with 

 any account of its condition. 



Musa textilis. — ''Manila hemp." I have several times 

 noticed that suggestions have been made advocating the introduc- 

 tion of this plant for industrial cultivation in the Colony, and, 

 therefore, it may be as well to state here that there is not the 

 very slightest chance of its success in Natal. Several years 

 ago we obtained plants of it for trial, but though they remained 

 alive while in pots and under shelter, when put out they 

 gradually dwindled away and died, never reaching more than 

 two feet in height. The Kew Bulletin says of this plant : — 

 " It is important to bear in mind that the Manila hemp plant 

 is exclusively produced in the south eastern part of the 

 Phillipines. All attempts to cultivate it in the western and 

 northern parts have hitherto proved abortive. The plants 

 grew barely two feet high, and the produce never covered the 

 outlay. The cause of these failures in the Phillipines (as pos- 

 sibly in other countries where experiments have been made) is 

 attributed to the dry season which continues for several months, 

 while in the eastern provinces there are copious rains all the 

 year round. Evidently the plant will only thrive under the 

 latter conditions, and it would be useless to attempt to grow it 

 in countries where the rainfall is not large and well distributed 

 all through the year." 



