306 



Indigo appears to have been cultivated in Penang about 1848, 

 introduced probably from Java by natives and later on a fairly large 

 scale in Singapore, till about 1902, when its cultivation began to die 

 out in Singapore. It was only made in a liquid condition and 

 carried in baskets lined with paper to the dye works, so that it could 

 only be cultivated profitably near a town. It was never made into 

 cakes for export, nor did it seem possible to do so. Experiments 

 in this direction were made at the Botanic Gardens and by the 

 Government Analyst in 1893, but they were practically failures. 

 The demand for land near town, and the opening of the railway 

 caused the disappearance of the cultivation. It was essential that 

 the dye works should have a good supply of running water and when 

 the land they occupied was required for building and the railway 

 several of the dye works closed down, and have not been reopened, 

 and consequently the Indigo cultivation has almost entirely disap- 

 peared. 



Sappan-wood, Csesalpinia Sappan, a native of the Malay Pen- 

 insula, used in dyeing red. It is seldom cultivated, but has been an 

 article of trade for some hundreds of years. 



Marsdenia tinctoria, a climber producing Indigo introduced from 

 Sumatra, probably very early by the Malays, was formerly to be 

 seen in Chinese Indigo fields, here and there, but no one seems to 

 have known how to utilize it, and it has almost entirely disappeared. 



DRUGS. 



Comparatively few have been cultivated in the Malay Peninsula 

 to any extent. 



Ipecacuanha was first introduced by MuRTON in 1875 from Ceylon 

 and later, 1876, from Australia and on several other occasions at still 

 later date. The first attempt to cultivate it was in Sungei Ujong 

 in 1877. It was later cultivated in Johore at Pengerang estate and 

 is still in cultivation at Klang. Mr. Bailey, who grew it at both 

 these last two estates, seems to be the only planter who has ever 

 been successful with it. The Malay Peninsula drug has always 

 fetched good price. 



Croton-oil seed was introduced in 1882 and possibly earlier. It 

 was formerly cultivated to a small extent on several estates, and is 

 now occasionally asked for. The demand, however, is very small. 



. Balsam of Peru, Tolnifera balsamuni, was introduced in the Bota- 

 nic Gardens, Singapore, in 1882. It thrives well though rather a 

 slow grower. The finest trees I have seen are at Perseverance 

 Estate, Singapore. 



Nux-Vomica, Strychnos Nux Vomica, was introduced in the 

 Botanic Gardens, in 1879. The plant is a slow grower and has 

 never fruited. 



Sarsaparilla, from Jamaica, was introduced in 1888; some years 

 later, roots were sent home for report, which was that the roots 

 were too small, otherwise suitable; 



