480 PETCH : 



kinds, the growth and produce of which in our soil is not ca 

 matter of question. " Again, in 1 886, he wrote : " Other foreign 

 rubbers, such as Para, Ceara, and Panama rubbers, grow well, 

 but so far as experiments have gone the produce of latex is 

 very watery, and it is doubtful whether they will hold their 

 own against the better native kinds." And this was five years 

 after the extremely favourable reports on Tri men's samples 

 from Ceylon! These remarks of Cantley's would seem to 

 afford a sufficient explanation why Hevea was not made use 

 of in replanting the forest reserves. 



In December, 1887, Cantley left Singapore on leave, and 

 his place was taken temporarily ])y Derry, who was then 

 Assistant Superintendent of Forests, Malacca. Ceylon 

 received a request from Singapore for Hevea seed in quantity 

 that year, too late to be complied with, but in the following 

 year 11,500 seeds were sent, and from these 8,000 plants were 

 raised. 1 Thus, for the second time, Ceylon must have more 

 than doubled the number of plants in Singapore. Ridley, 

 who assumed chai-ge of the Botanic Gardens and Forest 

 Department in November, 1888, has recorded that nearly all 

 the old trees in the present Botanic Gardens were raised from 

 that consignment,^ but it would seem probable that some of 

 them may have been those sent in 1885. 



In the report for 1889 it is stated that there were 1,095 

 j'oung Heveas in the Bukit Mandai and Sambawang reserve 

 (Singapore), but no further extensions are recorded for 

 Singapore, Penang, or Malacca. The Malacca report for 1890 

 records the planting of 307 Hevea. In 1891 eight acres were 

 planted at Sambawang, and it was stated that more seed was 

 urgently required. In 1892 2,050 Heveas were planted at 

 Bukit Mandai, covering 13 acres. From that year extensions 

 appear to have ceased until rubber had attracted the attention 

 of jdantcrH. The managomont of the forest reserves was 

 sejiaratc'd frf)m that of the Botanic CJardcns at the end of 1894, 

 and though the latter retained the Economic Garden, it was 

 allowed U) grow up in scrub jungle to such an extent that in 

 1897 it had to be recorded that the greatest amount of labour 



« Ridloy, Aiiiml Report, Forests of Singapore, 1 

 * Agricultural Bull, i in, 1808, p. 23(X 



888. 



