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Owing to the long continuous, wet summer, almost all the bulbs were infected with a common fungoid disease. Before the bulbs could be passed for export, the firms dealing in them were required to clean and dry the infected bulbs in the sun for some hours.
A number of the inspections were carried out on board the ships which brought the bulbs to Hongkong so that the work of transhipment might not be impeded.
By the instruction of His Excellency the Governor, a large quantity of seed of "Jak" Fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) from the two specimen trees in the Old and New Gardens was collected from the largest fruits and sown.
The whole of the seeds germinated and about 500 young plants were raised for planting on the island and in the New Territories.
HAY FEVER.
The removal of the flowers of the common Privet, Ligustrum sinense has now become part of the regular programme of the Department.
The pollen from the flower of this plant, which is very readily carried by the wind, is said to be the chief cause of "Hay Fever".
All the flowers were removed from plants in the vicinity of houses and in many cases whole plants were destroyed.
EXCHANGE OF SEEDS, &c.
The Department is indebted to the following donors of seeds, plants and Herbarium Specimens:-Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Director, Botanic Gardens, Sydney; Honourable Mr. A. G. M. Fletcher; Miss Loureiro; Messrs. A. Mackenzie, Cheung Chau; J. Cavalerie, Kwai Chau; Chung King Pui; A. Grove, Kentons, near Henley-on-Thames; L. N. Leefe; C. Edgcumbe Henry Humphreys; E. A. Irving; A. Nicol; and the Captain Superintendent of Police.
A Handbook of Tropical Gardening and Planting by H. F. Macmillan was presented by His Excellency the Governor.
The following were the principal recipients:-Director, Department of Agriculture, Salisbury (Rhodesia), South Africa; Director, Botanic Gardens, Singapore; Director, Horticultural Section, El Giza, Mudiriya, Egypt; Sir Edmund Giles Loder, Bart., Leonardslee, Horsham, Sussex, England; Dr. W. M. Docters Van Leeuwen, Director of the Botanic Gardens, Java; Messrs. Howard Spence, Eskdale, Knutsford, Cheshire, England; G. J. Pierce, Department of Botany, Stanford University, California, U.S.A.; Walter T. Swingle, Department of Agriculture, Washington, U.S.A.; H. Heuvrarb, 10, Avenue d' Lima,