370 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1904. 



ORCHARD ROAD, SINGAPORE. 



climate, even though'the whole side of the room was open to 

 the night air, no such covering is necessary. In the morning 1 had 

 a new experience — a bath in Eastern fashion, for the bath room 

 is a bit different from what the ordinary dweller in the temper- 

 ate zone expects. It is cement floored and gullied, with a huge 

 urn in it from which one dips buckets full of water to pour over 

 the person. In other words, one stands outside of the tub to 

 bathe. To get into it is out of the question. 



And now a word about Singapore. It was founded, so the 

 English say, in 1819, by Sir Stamford Raffles. The real date 

 was, however, 1283, when it was founded by the Malays and 

 became at once a general rendezvous for their pirate craft. It 

 is 8000 miles from England, is the seat of government for the 

 Federated Malay States, and is a great and growing business 

 center. In the census of 1901 the population of the island was 

 184,554. Of this, 101,908 were Chinese, 35,000 Malays, 16,000 na- 

 tives of India, and 2769 whites. The island contains 207 square 

 miles and lies rather low, the land 

 being on an average from twenty to 

 thirty feet above sea level. The aver- 

 age mean temperature in the shade 

 is from 80° to 85° F. The rainfall in 

 Singapore and the Malay States is 

 from 90 to 200 inches. The city is 

 under excellent control, the build- 

 ings in the business portion are 

 quite imposing, and the harbor, with 

 its magnificent fortifications, most 

 excellent. The visitor at once notes 

 the strange mixture of races that 

 place their impress on architecture, 

 business, and modes of life. The 

 naming of the streets is an example 

 of this. For instance, there is Vic- 

 toria street and Bukit Timah road, 

 together with Orchard road and 

 Teluk niangah road, and so on. 



After morning coffee, I took an- 

 other ride through the crowded, 

 barbaric, festering native quarters, 

 and had my eyes opened to many 

 things. The European and business 

 parts of the city are really very fine, 

 and, except in the heat of the day, 



quite comfortable. It was not the rainy season, yet heavy 

 showers came up almost every afternoon, and although it was 

 cooler in the evening it was still hot and damp, and few of the 

 hotel people showed much energy. Nor did they take any 

 especial interest in the wants of their guests. No time tables 

 were obtainable, nor was it possible to discover from the clerks 

 anything about the departure of trains, the sailing of steamers, 

 or the time when the postoffice would be open. They were not 

 in the least discourteous, but simply weary and vacuous. 



In spite of the midday scorching sun, in which all of my 

 spare clothing was spread to kill the mildew, I took a rickshaw 

 and rode out over Orchard road to the botanic gardens. I was 

 most hospitably received by Director Henry N. Ridley, F.L.S., 

 and shown all of the various rubber and gutta trees and vines 

 that he has so industriously collected. The Htvea was natur- 

 ally my first concern, and I found Mr. Ridley most willing to 

 talk about it, as he has long advocated its very general plant- 

 ing, and certainly the soil is grand and the trees respond to 

 cultivation beautifully. From 100 cultivated trees Mr. Ridley 

 has taken 900 pounds of Para rubber in one season's tapping. 

 He has also taken 3 pounds from a three year old tree. The 

 growth here is phenomenal, trees iS months old standing 30 

 feet high, while three year olds often attain a height of 60 feet. 

 I found in these gardens the Hevea growing in a variety of 

 soils, and all apparently thrifty. For example, high up on a 

 gravelly hillside, were a half hundred trees that were 8 or 10 

 years old, and 16 to 18 inches in diameter. These were planted 

 in partial shade, but had outdistanced all surrounding growths. 

 The other extreme from this was a large planting where there 

 was but six inches of soil above water, the soil beingoften sub- 

 merged but draining off very quickly. Here the trees grew 

 well, but were apt to be blown over because of their shallow 

 rooting. To show how tenacious of life the tree is, it is only 

 necessary to examine the photographs of many such trees 

 that, blown over, took fresh root from the tops and sent up 

 shoots that soon developed into sturdy tree trunks. I counted 

 seven such trunks springing from one prostrate stem, each 

 trunk big enough to tap, and full of latex. 



fcft* 





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CHINESE DWELLING IN SINGAPORE. 



