21 MARCH 1931, Page 15

"Ex AFRICA—" It is of interest to every gardener that

the Director of Kew-- the best garden in the world—has come back from a tour in Africa, a country that now, as in the past, has a name for novelty : Ex Africa semper aliquid nazi. Our gardens are likely to owe even more to African exotics. There is a silly old saying about the products of Africa, that the flowers lack scent, the birds song and the women virtue. Like most generalisations it is untrue ; and as to the birds, the saying has been extended to Australian birds, a number of which sing very sweetly. At the same time colour is perhaps the strong suit of South Africa in both its birds and flowers. We have, for example, no flower that has tints quite the same as that very lovely African daisy, the Gerbera, which grows in favour in many parts of the world. Again, the deep yellow of one of the most potent weeds of Africa makes a new note on the plains of Australia. It has spread, almost as seriously as the English dandelion in Canada, especially in British Colum- bia ; but fortunately, like the dandelion, is go od to eat, and may in places supply a useful fodder.

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