682 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



October 22j i8 9 8. 



A BOTANICAL TOUR IN PERAK. 



Mr C Curtis, F.L.S., Assistant Superintendent of Forests at Penang, and 

 chief of the Penang Botanic Gardens, has recently been on a short botanical tour 

 in Perak. The following are a few brief notes anent the tour 



I arrived at Teluk Anson at eight a.m. (July 30) and - found myself just five 

 minutes too late for the train to Ipoh. As the next suitable train did not leave 

 until 2.25, I drove out with Mr. L. Hawkins to see the coffee and rubber planta- 

 tation under his charge. The coffee looked well, although there had been an un- 

 usually long drought at the time of my visit. Given suitable soil, the success of 

 this cultivation in Perak is assured, but the present low price must be a great 

 disappointment to those who invested heavily two or three years ago. 



Rubber Trees. 



The Para Rubber, with which a commencement had been made, and for 

 which the soil appeared to be adapted, looked well, but a new enemy, supposed 

 to be mouse deer, has taken a fancy to this tree and < eats the tops off, All the 

 plants so eaten sprout again, still the check is considerable, and, if constantly 

 repeated, must eventually kill them. This is a factor that has not hitherto been 

 taken into account in connection with the tree, and shows that it will be necessary 

 to keep the lalang and jungle growth clear, so that there be no harbour for these 

 animals until the tops of the trees are high enough to be out of their reach, or 

 else to fence in the area to be planted. 



At Ipoh, I took up my residence in the Rest House, and the following morning 

 started out to explore the neighbouring limestone or marble hills. Quite close to 

 the railway, a Singapore company have commenced quarrying marble, and three 

 Italians, I was told, have been recently imported from Europe for this work. 

 Many interesting plants were collected during the morning, but the most in- 

 teresting thing to me was the finding of several trees of Gutta Rambong {Ficus 

 elastica) in a truly wild state. Everyone interested in the subject knows that 

 Gutta Rambong is collected by Sahkis and brought in for sale, and the tree has 

 long been recorded in botanical books as a native of Perak, but, curiously enough, 

 neither Mr. Ridley nor myself had ever collected this tree in the Peninsula. Ah 

 that I had seen hitherto had undoubtedly been planted, but these trees were 

 growing high up on the rocks and had sent their aerial roots down the face of the 

 cliffs. Every tree I saw had been tapped, and in some cases tapped to death. I 

 obtained leaf specimens only, as none of the trees were in fruit. Another in- 

 teresting plant from a botanical point of view, very abundant here, is Lowia, a 

 genus named after Sir Hugh Low, a former resident of Perak and a keen botanist. 

 Gardening is not greatly to the fore in Ipoh. Shade trees are badly wanted all 

 over the place, for walking or driving on those intensely white and hot roads 

 during the heat of the day is killing. A half-hearted attempt at planting has been 



made in places, but the fencing has not been sufficient to protect the trees from 

 the ravages of goats, &c. 



The European residences at Batu Gajah are beautifully situated, commanding 

 a fine view of the surrounding country. In the hospital grounds I noticed the 

 largest tree of Jacaranda mimosicefolia I have yet seen. No doubt it is the same 

 age as the oldest of those planted in Penang, but it is much larger than any here. 

 All the trees of the kind, in this part of the world, are, I believe, from seeds or 

 plants distributed from the Penang Gardens, and the oldest cannot be more than 

 twelve years planted. There is also in the same grounds a fine clump of palms 

 and a Kayu Rue (Casitar/na), that looks somewhat difTerentfrom typical Casuarina 

 coquisetifolia, of which I obtained seeds. 



At Sungei Siput, I called first to see Mr. Forrest, who is superintending the 

 opening-out of land for coffee, cocoanuts, &c M not far from the station. How- 

 ever, he had gone out, and the boy said he would not i>e back until the evening, 

 so I retraced my steps through the village and proceeded along the Kuala Kang- 

 sar Road so far as Kamuning Estate, though I did not at the time know what 

 estate it was. This seemed to be a favourable place for collecting, so I worked 

 around the edge of the clearing, collecting living plants for cultivation and speci- 

 mens for the herbarium, until it was time to return to Sungei Siput to catch the 

 tram for Ipoh. The coffee on this estate is the finest I have yet seen. Para 

 Rubber planted alongside the road through the estate does not appear to grow so 

 well as it dees in damper soil. On August 3 I went out to some hills about three 

 miles from Ipoh, on the GopengRoad, to the only habitat I know of Habcnaria 

 Kmgi, an interesting orchid with greenish flowers. Of this I succeeded in getting 

 some thirty plants, and a few other things of interest. It is a difficult spot to 

 work, as all the rocks are surrounded by swamp. Since I last went along this 

 road a good deal of coflee has beer planted, and other smaller cultivations have 

 increased considerably. Before going out in the morning I visited Mr. Barnard, 

 who kindly presented two or three interesting plants for the Gardens. At half- 

 past five the next morning I left Ipoh for Melimbau, a village near the foot of 

 Gunong Kledang. In a 'rikisha it took half-an-hour to reach, s 

 to start collecting up the hill while it was still cool. There is a good road up 

 the Kledang, with a Goverment bungalow near the top. The distance 

 from the foot is four miles and a-half. Going slowly and 

 dipping into the jungle here and there, it was near noon when I 

 got to the top. The lower slopes of this hill have been cleared of all big trees for 

 hrewood or charcoal, and I noticed several wood-cutters at work. About half-way 

 up there occurs, and more or less from there to near the top, a magnificent palm 

 with a stem six or seven feet high and immense paddle-shaped leaves, which the 

 Malays call " Daun Sang." I spent a lot of time in hunting for seeds of this, but 

 without success. We dug up a few young plants, but palms are always difficult to 

 transplant, and I do not expect to save more than one or two. Daun Sang occurs, 

 1 am told, all through this range. I saw some leaves used for the side of a native 

 house at bungei Siput, and if anyone in the locality can send ripe seeds it will be a 

 most acceptable contribution to the Penang Gardens. Near the top there grows a 

 very pretty Indian Primrose [fHdymocarpm), with orange flowers, quite new to me 

 and, 1 believe, undescribed. Palms of many kinds are a marked feature of the 

 vegetation on this hill, rotans and bertam being very abundant. The day follow- 

 ing 1 packed all plants collected during the previous five days and forwarded them 

 to 1 enang, and on the next day left for Kuala Dipane. Kuala Dipang is not the 

 ESSfe I 1 once , was ' T his > *e most charmingly situated of rest-houses, has 



ment S£ 'when ™> h ° Wev ^ tW0 r °° mS USed * Gmm ' 



tSoSShS^ ?W?5 ° ne u° f Which 1 occ «pied for two nights before going up 



K5mln?SiJl 15 a i pity l hat this house should be occu P ied b y the p° ,ice ' for 



»?S7^ tl l ey arC more fortunate or sounder sleepers than 



«i>seu, cannot get much rest when in this place. 



On M«nd„ f i t Qunon S Bu J°ng Malacca. 



the ?5d Sv^* a ' m -'A left Kuala Dipang with four Malays engaged on 

 ac^^ and ^ fr ™ ^nang, g to ascend Gunong Bujong Mai- 



the first that ^ was lunited I took 



so that I was able 



was 



in 



men decided it was time to stop and cook their rice, and as the snot 1 1 j 

 like a promising collecting-ground, I raised no objection, but poked aW a d 

 boulders for an hour while they got makan. Their style of hill-dim W 

 me all right, but would have been a frightful nuisance* to anyone whosf 

 simply to reach the top. After leaving this kongsi-house, in which 

 are five men, we found, at only a few minutes' walk distant, two wavs ud In n 

 Palas, the one to the left being longer but not so steep. This we decided to 

 in going up, and to return by the othen I was very pleased afterwards £ 

 the men told me of this longer route, as it proved more interesting botanicallv 

 than the other. At about half-past three (watch stopped) we arrived at another 

 kongsi-house in a large valley which the Chinese call "Amokone" and thl 

 Malays « Ulu Palas." The Palm « Palas" (Liatala spinosa), from which the 

 stream takes its name, is very abundant along all the ridges of the mountain 

 In this mining kongsi-house, in which are six men, but there had apparently at 

 one time been many more, we decided to spend the night, and go to the top i 

 the morning. 



After a brief rest I started out to examine and collect plants in the neighbour- 

 hood, but the Malays were all asleep inside of ten minutes, and, as they were at the 

 other end of the house, I saw nothing more of them until the next morning. Washing 

 for tin has been going on in these streams for years, and it is a bit difficult at this 

 point to make out just exactly where the original water-courses came in, but so 

 far as I could see there are at least three different streams which join at this spot. 

 Grubbing for tin has capsized trees in all directions, so that it is easy to get to 

 examine the orchids and various other plants growing on them. There had been 

 no rain for some time previous to my visit, and many of the smaller things, such 

 as filmy ferns, on both rocks and trees, were quite shrivelled up. Many larger 

 plants of a succulent nature were hanging limp and languishing for rain. They got 

 it before I left. 



During the night I thought the matter over and came to the conclusion that if I 

 took my bedding, provisions, &c. , to the top, and slept there, it would take the 

 kind of men I had a long time to get up, and I should get but few plants carried 

 down. Consequently, I decided to leave my boy with all the things at the kongsi- 

 house, take all the men out with me to carry plants, and return at night. From 

 this point none of the men knew the path to the top, but they knew that, higher 

 up the stream, there was one more kongsi, where, if we could find it, some 

 information could be obtained. So we kept to the stream until we struck it. Here 

 some of the men spoke Malay, and one came with us to show the path until a 

 point was reached, after which there could be no mistake. 



There is a pretty stiff bit before getting on to the last ridge, but the whole dis- 

 tance from Kuala Dipang to the top could be done in a day by one in pretty good 

 training, and desirous of doing the thing quickly. The height, I was told, is 4,090 

 feet, but, judging from the vegetation, I should have thought it more. The hut 

 on the top is in excellent order, and water is obtainable at a much less dis- 

 tance from the top than I expected. We remained on the top for about an 

 hour, admiring the view and refreshing the inner man, after which we 

 commenced to retrace our steps and collect things spotted on the way 

 up. Up to this time, I had not seen a drop of rain since leaving Penang, but 

 during the night it came on heavily, and as the kongsi-house leaked like a sieve, 

 things were a bit uncomfortable. On the way down we got another thorough 

 soaking, so that by this time the vegetation will be looking much better than when 

 I was up there. Altogether, it is a most interesting mountain. On the top there 

 are a great number of the fir tree that grows on Government Hill, "ivayu Rue 

 Bukit " (Dacrydium elatum\ but they are smaller and more stunted. Most of the 

 orchids have rather insignificant or dull-coloured flowers, but they are very 

 abundant. Some of the ground orchids are of great interest. Two kinds of 

 rhododendrons, a pitcher plant, and scores of other things of great interest, were 

 noticed and collected. All the way up palms abound, but the animals— monkeys, 

 I think— manage to get all the seeds before they are quite ripe. On the rocks are 

 an abundance cf ferns, begonias, Indian primroses, and other small-growing 

 plants in great variety. Having a day to spare after coming down, I tried Bujong 

 Malacca again from the Kuala Dipang valley side. It is much steeper than the 

 usual path to the top, and I did not find anything strikingly different from what I 

 had already collected the previous day. 



The next morning I went out to some rocks near Kuala Dipang, to get a 

 begonia and one or two other things noted previously, and later in the day went 

 on to Kampar, where I remained the night in the Rest House. 



Roses.— Whence should the amateur, who seeks to recall the fragrance of the 

 past, stock his garden with the white moss rose, the clustered blush rose, the plain, 

 old-fashioned damask rose, or the single, striped York and Lancaster ? How, too, 

 should he revive the faintly, remembered glories of that rich corner of the garden 

 in the old home, where year after year the same, venerable, lichen-frosted rose 

 trees, scrambling over moss-grown walls, dropped their showers of petals over tn 1 

 marjorum and gillie flower, the sweet basil and true-love- lies-bleeding reneatn . 

 It would be a worthy effort, observes a writer in the Globe, of some or tne 

 democratic authorities whom modern views have placed in charge of pat a 

 public places, to reproduce in some corner of each the flower garden as J" 5 * 1 . ' 

 be when our grandfathers courted our grandmothers there. Thus, tne nau 

 might retain in fact, as well as fragrant memory, many of the floral " vou "f* ™ 

 bloom in Shakespeare's verse. Some are gone beyond recall ; but some still ungc 

 by accident in the gardens of old estates, which have not yet passed rote > tne n 

 of manufacturing millionaires. But the task is beyond the strength of the a "^ LC . n 

 rose-grower of limited means, who courts more complete disappointm ^ 

 attempting to revive the past than he does even in trying to keep pace v 

 breathless present. So he generally collapses into comfortable m f dI0 ^ r ;. , nnn 

 orders his roses by the dozen of " good, mixed sorts " from the nearest nur > er > 4 m oh ' 

 Then, when a guest askes him the name of one of his roses, he can say, • 

 that is a La France, or a Jeremy Diddler, or something," and ^^^^Si 

 But the name or fashion of a rose matters little, after all— a sentiment ^ 

 Shakespeare has, by the way, anticipated. It is still a rose, the sweeic, ^ 

 queenhest of flowers ; and there is no period of man's life over wnich tne r - 

 not exercise its sway. Childhood, which DUts everything that its nana* l * . 



l uuiuwcB , ana ttiere is no period 01 man s um , c ran ., r asp 



ise its sway. Childhood, which puts everything that "^SSjej 

 into its mouth, rejoices to find that the rose, unlike the geranium, is qmte pa 

 while the succulent shoots of the rose bush may be chewed with *eiisn. n * 

 promoted to knickerbockers admits cheerfully that the rose has it . jo j_ 

 and is always ready to follow th* pvamnle of Yorkists and Lancastrians »u ^ 

 it as a badge. 



and is always ready to foil 



white rose 



tys ready to follow the example of Yorkists ana ;~\ d andt he 



je. Indeed, in the vicinity of some large schools, wher ™ es 0 f pro- 

 typify the classical and mathematical sides, the demand .tot ro-e J 



occasions 



from boyhood, the youth stil 



he wears it in his own buttonhole or presents it, T^ri £ ii«ryof«" 

 the first that offered ~W* w«> ^ wl .? a, 5 , P ie » but as my time was nmitea i iook to the only girl he has ever truly adored, it is the recognized badge a 

 we came to a Chinese ko nf r?h™ cllmb,n g sIow *y until ab °ut eleven a.m., when conquering love. To middle age, the rose expresses the fulness or ™ , COIlte0 t 



v-mnese kongsi-house at a place called Kadongdong. Here the the fragrance, as it were, of a well-spent life, and the richness of compi-« 



