My annual collecting trip with wagon was almost a failure. 

 I left in company with E. liyley, Esq., ML. A., for Van Reenen, 

 where the wagon was to meet us, and travelled to Nelson's Kop, 

 in the Orange Free State, but the day after leaving I had an 

 attack of dengue fever, which quite incapacitated me for work 

 for several days, and left me too weak to do much in the way 

 of collecting, and I returned earlier than I should have done if 

 I had been in my usual health. I however succeeded in getting 

 a few plants for the Gardens, and for exchange, but by no 

 means as many as I had hoped for. 



The locusts which have given so much trouble in other parts 

 of the Colony, have, I am glad to be able to say, spared us 

 altogether ; they visited us more than once, and on one oc- 

 casion stayed for a few days, but except destroying a few 

 annuals, and eating the leaves of some of the palms, they did 

 but very little damage here ; in other parts of the Colony, and 

 even within a short distance of the Gardens, farmers and 

 planters have not been so fortunate. In addition to killing the 

 young insects, several ways of getting rid of these pests has 

 been proposed, such as spreading disease amongst them by 

 scattering about the swarms the spores of the fungus which 

 kills such numbers of them, shooting them with specially made 

 mortars, and poisoning them with arsenic, and this last method 

 is said to have been vary successful when carefully carried out. 



On February 20th, a Horticultural Show was held in the 

 Town Hall under the auspices of the Society, assisted by a 

 committee of gentlemen interested in this work ; the Gardens 

 sent a large number of plants, not for competition, and the 

 show was a complete success. It was intended that a similar 

 show should be held annually, but we found that the staff were 

 so overworked that it would have been almost impossible to 

 have given the same time and attention to it at the close of the 

 year, when it was proposed to hold it, as we had done at the 

 commencement of the year. If, however, a separate committee 

 had been formed to carry it out, the Society and the staff at the 

 Gardens would have done what they could to make it a success, 

 and would no doubt be prepared to do so at any future time, 

 if arrangements are made to hold a similar show. 



The following publications have been received — 



Name. From. 



Kew Bulletin ... ... ... ... Director. 



Report Royal Botanic Gardens Jamaica .... ,, 



,, Trinadad... ,, 



„ Ceylon ... ,. 



Hong-Kong 



Botanic Gardens, Bangalore ... ,, 



„ Saharunpur ... ,, 



