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grown, but particularly recommenclable, are the carounda, the 

 carambol, the ruminiya and the rozelle — all for stewing, and the 

 Brazil nut, Brazil cherry and Avocado pear for eating. Of many 

 of the trees, there are far better races than those commonly 

 grown, the rambutan is a case in point, and so is the duku. 

 Selection work on these is in hand at Singapore. The *mabolo is 

 worth planting : but it is to be remembered that many trees are 

 male only. 



For our horticultural establishments, lines of work of miuch 

 promise appear in the improvement of the fruits of the genus Citrus 

 and the genus Anona. It is desirable to experiment with stocks and 

 grafting : it is desirable to establish in the Peninsula recognized 

 races fi'om grafted stock, a line of work hardly touched as yet. The 

 men able to help in this are pre-eminently the planters. 



Concluding Remarks. 

 My paper has been, of necessity, somewhat discursive ; and 

 therefore, in concluding it, I shall draw a few thoughts together 

 in order to give them prominence. 



This country is a new one : and the newness brings disadvantages 

 as well as advantages. Compared with India it is, as I once heard 

 an eminent American scientist say, as fresh air to an overpopalated 

 house which wants 'airing. Though a house be overpopulated, it is 

 at any rate with the necessities of population in it. The variety of 

 produce in India comes from the long time that it has been lived in, and 

 the consequent artificial sui'roundings, the most obvious of which is 

 that field has been joined to field, and the woodland cleared. It is 

 generally accepted that this means a change of climate, which 

 makes the ripening of crops somewhat easier: from which comes 

 the deduction that without our fox'ests, without our light airs and 

 frequent precipitations, many of the crops of India and many fruits 

 would perfect themselves better than now. But that gain would, 

 I think, involve a loss of considerable magnitude. Consider the 

 whole world ; and you find in it less land surface with the moist 

 calm air which rules here, than with the alternation of dry and wet 

 seasons. Should we then wish to enter the hurly-burly of the 

 heavier competition ? — not if there are enough paying crops suited 

 to the rarer condition. Our best, rubber, is one such ; tapioca 

 is another, and more could be quoted. I believe at present, that 

 the interest of the whole Peninsula lies in guarding the climate 

 jealously : and for that purpose our mountain forests are essential. 

 We do not want extensive planting over them as in Ceylon, nor the 

 clearing of them by grazing as on so many of the Indian mountains, 

 nor the wanton wandering cultivation that has made the grass lands 

 of tropical Africa. But for our own food supply it would be quite 

 well to anticipate a certain amount of production upon them ; 

 and it is not waste to experiment with Pjuropean vegetable 

 production in hill-gardens. 



