282 



Revenue derived from Planters during the past three years 

 by way of quit rent, premium and export duty. 



Mr. Skinner would advise waiting with these requests 

 for information, until the Federal Council had heen con- 

 stituted. 



The matter is allowed to rest there. 



> ; 



The Meeting terminates at 12-45 p.m. 



H. C. E. Zacharias, 



Secretary. 



FERNS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



For diversity of form as also for variation in the 

 colour of their foliage and general usefulness in the garden 

 no other family of plants can compare with Ferns; for it 

 must he admitted that although these lowly representatives 

 of the Vegetable Kingdom do not possess bright flowers 

 they nevertheless are of the greatest value in the decoration 

 of our gardens and possess attractions peculiar to them- 

 selves. 



As may be expected in a country having a moist trop- 

 ical climate the Malay Peninsula possesses a vast number 

 of species of Ferns and they form a most conspicuous part 

 of the vegetation. They abound in the moist shady forests 

 as undergrowth and it is astonishing the number of kinds 

 that are found growing together on the trees. 



Almost 400 species are recorded as occurring in the 

 Peninsula and this number will be greatly increased as it 

 is certain that many new kinds still await discovery in the 

 vast tracts of unexplored mountain forest.* 



Among the most striking points in connection with 

 Ferns is the extremely wide range of their distribution. 

 From the tropics of the whole world where they exist in 

 profusion to the arctic regions as far north as Greenland, 

 Ferns are found in greater or less numbers some at al- 

 titudes of from 10,000 ft. to 12,000 ft. Even in Malaya the 

 conditions under which they exist vary considerably. A 

 knowledge of their habitats is essential if successful cultiv- 

 ation is desired. For example many grow deep in the 



* A list of Ferns of the Malay Paninsula by H. X. Ridley, M.A., F.L.S., 

 wa<5 published in the Journal of ' The Straits Branch Of The Royal Asiatic 

 Society Vol. 50 \>. 1. 190$. 



