3UNE 1, 1887.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



837 



A EEMEDY FOB SOBERS. 



TO THE EDITOE OF THE " AUSTRALASIAN." 



Sir, — Apropos of your remarks in The Australasian 

 of last week's concerning the boring grub, permit me 

 to say I have found the following remedy for its 

 attacks upon fruit trees as successful as it is simple. 



Take a piece of soap 'somewhat rounded by use, 

 and force as much of it into the bole made by the 

 grub as you can by pressing the soap on or by rubbing 

 it backwards and forwards over the aperture several 

 times. 



Since I tried the above plan about six years ago I 

 have not lost a branch through decay caused by the 

 etforts of the grub in question. I have had occasion 

 to apply the remedy to many limbs on all the kinds 

 of fruit trees in my garden — apples and pears as well 

 as stone fruits, &c. I used the soap with the idea of 

 suffocating the grub by hermetically seahng it up — 

 Yours &c., J. S. P. 



FOBESTRY IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 

 It may not be known to many of the ladies and 

 gentlemen who lend life and animation to our Gardens 

 in the cool of the evening, that the pleasure grounds 

 in question form but a small part of a very import- 

 ant system of arboriculture, agriculture, and horticul- 

 ture, extending over all three of our settlements. 

 The Forest Department has demarcated wide stretch- 

 ing areas, opened up many miles of boundary paths, 

 and planted thousands of valuable trees in waste 

 lands. Excellent work has been done in the new 

 reserves at Bukit Timah Juroug, and Bukit Mandai, 

 where mahogany, teak, and other costly timbers may 

 be seen springing up with every promise of developing 

 into tall and stately trees. "We think however that 

 a good policy has been adopte<l in planting a very 

 large number of native trees of rapid growth, such 

 as serayah, casuarina, bintaugor, kc. ; these will " form 

 the forest floor," and after they have been cut down 

 and converted into money, they will leave the land 

 in a much better condition than it is at present, to 

 be re-stocked with the more valuable varieties. The 

 young plants appear to be quite able to bid defiance 

 to the lahuiff ;* their stems soon overtop this trouble- 

 some grass and overshadow it with their leaves ; in- 

 deed it is rather curious to note that some plants 

 which have been grown on a patch cleared as an 

 experiment in the Bukit Timah reserve, do not look 

 so well as the others which have been left to take 

 their chance among the Many. No manures are used, 

 and as the trees are flourishing it would appear that 

 the soil of Singapore is not quite so poor as is 

 usually supposed, but of course much depends upon 

 the situations in which the different varieties are 

 grown. Thus teak and rubber trees, of which a large 

 number may be seen in the reserve near Cluny road, 

 love low lying and moist lands, while serayah, meranti, 

 kelat, etc., prefer the hill tops and slopes. Some 

 kinds will not grow on laterite, in fact a systematic 

 chain of experiments, (during the course of which the 

 influence of different elevations should be especially 

 studied) must be carried out throughout the Settle- 

 ments before we can form any real idea of the agricul- 

 tural possibilities of the Colony. 



In the meantime it is gratifying to find such notable 

 progress being made with the afforestation of waste 

 lands. During the year 1885 over one hundred thousand 

 trees were planted in Singapore alone. It is not too 

 much to hope, therefore, that if this good work is 

 carried on with sufficient energy, that we may live 

 to gee unproductive and hideous' wa-t.v- of hdani) re- 

 placed by beautiful and valuable forests. 



The different reserves have been demarcated chiefly 

 by means of boundary paths eight feet in width, 

 bordered for the most part by young fast growing 

 trees, amongst which a great number of casuarinas 

 may be noticed. These paths, which in Singapore 

 are about thirteen miles in extent, are much used by 

 the natives as roads, and must be of very great use 

 to them. Cue of these b oundary paths was the means 

 * Our lUuppi.'—ED. 



of stopping the further progress of a jungle fire which 

 raged for a distance of two miles along the eight foot 

 way without being able to cross it. The importance 

 of having such " fire-breaks " in a jungle or forest 

 country is very great. 



The annual expenditure of the Forest Department 

 amounts to about §20,000 per annum which does not 

 appear to be a large sum when the work done in 

 the three Settlements during the years 1884 and 1885 

 is considered. During this time about 22,000 acres 

 have been demarcated, IO9 acres planted, and 107 

 miles of the eight foot boua<lary lines opened ; thus it 

 will be seen that although the department is quite 

 in its infancy, it has aire idy accomplished a formid- 

 able task, and has so im- achieved all the success 

 which can be reasonably expected of it. The enter- 

 prise is one that the Government alone is in a position 

 to attempt, and as the Forest Department has really 

 been created by H. E. Sir Frederick Weld, it should 

 meet with adequate support and encouragement. With- 

 in a_ few years these modest nursling forests will be 

 considered as being amongst the most valued of the 

 Colony's possessions, and will be a noble and lasting 

 memorial of Sir Frederick Weld's enlightened adminis- 

 tration. — Straits Times. 



THE VEGETABLE PBODUCTS OF THE 

 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 



Besides the many native trees which afford excellent 

 timber, there are other trees and plants cultivated 

 by the Superintendent of the Forest Department 

 which possess an especial interest, these are the varie- 

 ties which swell our export returns by providing us 

 with rubbers, gums, oils, spices, and other descriptions 

 of produce. 



Rubbers are probably attracting a good deal of 

 attention just now in certain quarters ; the prospectus 

 is out of a company which intend to spend half a 

 million sterling on a submarine telegraph cable, and 

 if the capital is subscribed it is probable enough that 

 the malodorous and dreadfully adulterated article 

 known as "gutta" may give rise to a certain amount 

 of speculation. 



The Department makes a very good show of Rubbers ; 

 Panama, Oeara, Madagascar and African kinds are' 

 all represented, the native guttas however are grow- 

 ing so well, that the exotics do not after all possess 

 a very absorbing interest. 



But another imported plant the Australian Wattle, 

 looks as if it would grow very well in this climate, 

 the bark of the tree is getting into favour with English 

 tanners, and fast coming to the front as an Australian 

 export. 



The specimens in the Experimental Garden are of 

 a most varied description; nutmegs, cardamoms 

 vanilla, cocoa, sugar, tea and coffee are all to be* 

 seen growing within a small radius. At one moment 

 the visitor may examine the famous coca leaf (Erythroxy- 

 Ion Coca) and at the next, rejoice his eyes with the 

 sight of some tiny English strawberries, peeping in 

 all their scarlet glory from beneath their protecting 

 leaves. And there is a splendid logwood hedge with 

 small delicate leaves which remind the exile of haw- 

 thorn sprays and distant landscapes ; the many shades 

 of green which it possesses contrasted in the happiest 

 manner possible with a delicate light brown tinge make 

 its colouring as beautiful as its foliage ; as this is a 

 rapidly growing plant it might easily be used to re- 

 place coarse bamboo hedges in grounds where much 

 attention is paid to effect. 



The Superintendent has been working up yet another 

 question, of great interest to ladies who are gifted 

 with a domestic turn of mind, and that is our supply 

 of vegetables of which there are about eighty different 

 kids more or less known in our bazaars. This appears 

 U) be a very fair assortment, but unfortunately many 

 of them are scarce, others again are not very 

 attractive to European palate?, and nearly all are 

 badly grown because our Chinese market gardeners 

 believing that it pays them best to produce tlie greatest 

 possible quantity, leave their crops in the ground 

 until the beans, lettuces, cucumbers or whatever they 



