712 



TEE AGBtCtJ LftJBAL JOUBNAL 



Durban Botanic Gardens^ 



THE Curator, Mr. J. Medley Wood, in 

 his December report says:— In July, 

 1899, a correspondent in Pretoria obtaiaed 

 from us three stems' of a species of 

 Encephalartos, which was unknown to 

 us. Of these one died, and the other two 

 have now come into leaf, and prove to be 

 E.cycadifolius, a very desirable species. 

 These stems had been, as we were in- 

 formed, lying in a store at Pretoria for 

 some months. It is, therefore, three 

 years or more since they were taken out 

 of the ground, and only now have they 



commenced to grow again. I purchased 

 on public sale six fruits of Lodoicea 

 Seychellarum, the " double cocoanut," or 

 " coco-de-mer," and hope that we may be 

 able to rear one or more of them, though 

 they are difficult plants to manage, and do 

 not germinate for at least three years. 

 We have no room for them under glass, 

 and shall, therefore, plant them in the 

 open ground. Whether our climate is 

 sufficiently tropical for them is some- 

 what doubtful, but the experiment is 

 worth trying. 



Locust Re/tort, L^wer Tugeia, 



MR. STOCK INSPECTOR BROWN 

 writes : — There have been no flying 

 locusts for the whole of the month. 



On the 11th ]3ecember the locust eggs 

 were hatched out at Darnall Estate and 

 surrounding district, and in some places 

 were very numerous. 



In my report for November, I men- 

 tioned that locusts were dying from 



fungus on the Zululand side of the river. 

 I s"e that they are still dying out. 



I have sent some of the maggots to Mr. 

 Fuller, the Government Entomologist, 

 which I mentioned in my November 

 report. These were found amongst locust 

 eggs, and I think they are deposited by a 

 brown fly something similar to the ordi- 

 nary house fly, but a trifle larger. 



Notice. 



THE following are obtainable from the 

 Lab oratory, Maritzburg : — 





£ 



s. 



d 



Pravaz syringes (al)out 1 "5 









c.c. capacity) each ... 







7 



6 



10 c.c. springes, in metal 









case 







10 



i; 



M & M 10 c.c. syringes in 









case 



1 











Arnold's 10 c.c. syringe in 









case 



1 



10 







Arnold's 100 c.c. syringe in 









case 



■) 











5 c.c. quarter-evil syringe 



1 



10 







Trocars and Cannuhis 







6 



c 



Quarter - evil vaccine, 10 









dose packets ... 







2 



6 



Snake bite serum, i)er dose 













Diphtheria anti-toxin „ ... 













£ s. d. 



Anti-tetanic serum, per dose 2 

 Anti-fctreptococcus serum, 



per dose ... ... 2 



Mallein, per dcse ... ... 1 6 



Tuberculin „ ... ... 1 6 



Locust Fungus on application. 



H. Watkins-Pitchford, 



Director Vet, Dept. 



Grass Seeds 



THE Department can still supply in 

 small quantities the following grass 

 seeds : — Guinea grass and Danthonia 

 Semiannularis. Reference to the former 

 will be found in No. 20, Vol. IV., and to 

 the latter in No. 15, Vol. IV. 



