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The Agri-Horticultural Exhibition, 1906. 



The third of the Agri-Horticultural exhibitions of the Colony 

 and Federated Malay States was held at Singapore on August the 

 16th, 17th and 18th, on the reclamation ground in front of the 

 Raffles Hotel. The weather proved fine for the greater part of the 

 time but a heavy shower during the second day caused the ground 

 to become for a time very muddy and wet. This, however, inter- 

 fered but little with the enjoyment of the general public whose 

 interest in the exhibition was attested by the great crowds which 

 thronged to the entrance on all the three days, giving the working 

 committee no small labour in taking the tickets and giving change. 

 Two ticket offices were opened but these were insufficient for the 

 purpose. A large number of subscribers and exhibitors and their 

 assistants had free tickets but besides these no less than $5,300 

 were taken at the gates, so that upwards of 50,000 people visited 

 the show grounds. On the previous occasions two exhibitions at 

 Kuala Lumpur and Penang the gate money amounted respectively 

 to $300 and $622.20. The price of admission to the opening 

 ceremony was $2 and on all other occasions 25 cents a head. 

 On the second day the school-children w T ere admitted free and 

 added not a little to the crowd of visitors. 



Programmes of events were sold at ten cents each and were 

 readily bought. In spite of the vast crowd which attended the 

 exhibition there was no disorder or trouble of any kind; and there 

 were no thefts of any importance. The few losses which did occur 

 of articles in the exhibition were mainly due to the careless- 

 ness of exhibitors, who sometimes delayed for days after the ex- 

 hibition was over to claim their exhibits. 



Buildings. — The general arrangement of the buildings was 

 designed by a committee consisting of Mr. R, A. J. Bidwell, Mr. 

 Down and Mr. Buckley. 



The plan and form of the various buildings was designed and 

 executed by Mr. R. A. J. Bidwell, to whose untiring energy the suc- 

 cess of the exhibition was largely due. The plan was very superior 

 and in many ways much more convenient than that of previous 

 shows, and the whole building was on a much more extensive 

 scale. The Agricultural produce and native industries were 

 housed in a long shed of poles and attap roofing, 450 feet long and 

 50 feet wide, half devoted to each division. 



The house for plants and vegetables, 225 feet long and 50 feet 

 wide with two projecting wings of 50 square feet. The house for 

 cut flowers and vegetables was 100 feet long by 50 wide. 



The poultry was housed in a separate shed, 75 feet long by 

 50 wide. 



The dogs occupied a space of 125 feet by 50. Besides these a 

 very large area was occupied by the buildings of the different 

 firms, refreshment rooms, lavatories, Secretary's office, a grand 

 stand by the show ring, stalls for horses, and sheds for the cattle. 

 The whole of the ground occupied was 1,400 feet in length and 

 300 feet broad, or 14,000 square yards in area. 



