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quantity of seed will be sent out to grow a number of seedlings in 

 different parts of tbe colony. These seeds will produce carobasters, 

 which will not have a fruit worthy of the name till they are grafted. 

 The strongest seedlings may be grafted in their third year, but it is of 

 no use to graft until the plant is strong and well grown, which may 

 not be till it is five or even seven years old. 



General scheme. — A number of plants in pots will be grafted here 

 next spring, repotted in larger pots with plenty of clay, and when the 

 grafts have taken well the trees will be packed, the clay well soaked in 

 water, and it is confidently hoped that they will bear the journey satis- 

 factorily. They will be sent from here in the month of February, and 

 will probably travel via England, which seems climatically preferable 

 to the East Coast route, by German steamer to Durban via Zanzibar. 

 If the coincidence of the steamers can be secured they may reach Cape 

 Town within a month of their despatch from here, or even less, but if not, 

 we have no doubt that the steamship company will see that the roots 

 are keept careful y wetted while the trees are in bond at the port of 

 origin. It is with the object of keeping the roots wet that they are now 

 being repotted in stiff clay, a soil which is in itself favourable to the 

 growth of the tree. 



Details. — Having thus given a general sketch of the scheme, it is 

 necessary for its success to enter into minute detail as to the method to 

 be employed in the cultivation of the trees. We will first take the 

 plants to hi exported two years hence, because these are ultimately the 

 most important part of the subject. If they should succeed, the accli- 

 matisation, of the tree at the Cape is assured ; if they fail, the seedlings 

 will be comparatively valueless for want of grafts. It is the fixed opinion 

 of people here who have studied the subject closely, that there would be 

 no chance of grafts sent out arriving in a condition to be of any value 

 whatever, so that it becomes absolutely necessary to send out the plants 

 themselves ; besides, when the plants at the Cape were ready to be 

 grafted, our grafts would be out of season here. 



Plants for grafting. — We have already secured some excellent plants, 

 from each of which a large number of grafts should be available. It 

 does not seem possible to secure plants already grafted, for the reason 

 that they are not usually grafted in pots, the operation being performed 

 after they are planted out and have got a good hold on the soil which 

 is to be their permanent home. We cannot graft these plants till May, 

 1898, nor can we be sure of the success of the operation till May, 1899, 

 when the plants will be sent out. The carob is a tree which cannot be 

 transplanted on account of its tap-root, so that once planted it must re- 

 main where it is ; it is therefore very essential to plant it in the right 

 place to begin with. In the case of our plants it will be necessary to 

 top them and to cut off every leaf, in order that the sap may not be 

 exhausted by the foliage when it begin to rise. We shall consequently 

 export mere skeletons to the colony, and here again we have another 

 difficulty to contend with, namely, the change of season. The plants 

 will leave here at the end of our winter, and will arrive at Cape Town 

 at the beginning of the South African winter. They will thus have a 

 great strain put upon their nature, and great care will have to be taken 

 of them to enable them to overcome it. This care they will certainly 

 have at the hands of the managers of the Botanical Gardens in the 



