43° 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1889. 
ANNUAL BEPOBTS ON THE STBAITS SETTLE- 
MENTS FOBESTS DEPARTMENTS : SINGA- 
PORE, PENANG AND MALACCA FOB 
THE YEAR 1888. 
Annual Report on the Forests of 
Singapore, for the Year 1888. 
Area. 2. The total area of forests row under con- 
servation has been increased from 13,043 to 13,133 acres 
by the addition of a piece of land at Bedoh taken over 
from the Land Office in September. This piece of land 
consists at present chiefly of lalang* ground, but parts 
are damp and the soil rich, and it may prove of value 
when put under timber. The cost of demarcation was 
825-28. 
Collecting plants and Seeds. 4. The Forest men have 
been instructed to collect in quantity any seeds or fruits 
found fallen from the trees in the forests aud to send 
them in it to the Gardens, where they are planted and as 
soon as they have germinated and are fit to transplant 
are removed to the different places which required le- 
planting. Besides seeds and fruits, they have sent in 
young plants of various ornamental and useful species 
and, under my instructions, have recommenced sending 
in specimens for the herbarium. 
Nurseries. 5. With the exception of the experimental 
nursery, little has been done in raising young stock. 
In the Jurong nursery there is a good series of 
young trees many of which are now ready to be 
plauted out, and I hope shortly to be able to plant 
some of the waste lands on a more extensive scale. 
Iu the Bukit Timab nursery seeds of forest trees 
have been planted and have, for the most part, ger- 
minated well. It is intended to make nurseries round 
all the watchmen's quarters, whence young plants can 
be easily transferred to places requiring re-planting. 
In the Tanglin experimental nursery a large number 
of seraya and other useful timber trees have been 
raised from seed, and some of these have been planted 
out iii the Military Beserve. Over 8,000 young plants 
of Para Rubber (Hevea Brazilitnsis) were raised from 
seed sent from Ceylon. The young seedlings grew 
very rapidly, the largest of which have been put 
out in the Military Reserve. Others will be planted 
out in low-lying positions, such as the marshes of 
Jurong reserve, which are the most suitable localities 
for this species. The attempt to grow teak here on 
a large scale can only be described as a complete 
failure. The trees require the best soil that we 
possess, and there but few spots in the Colony where 
it will grow at all. Mahogany does a little better, 
and iu some forests may be planted with advantage, 
but its cultivation here cannot be considered very 
successful. The bilion trees introduced from Borneo 
all perished, but I hope to be able soon to give this 
valuable timber tree another trial. 
Extirpation of Lalang. 10. A very large proportion 
of the forest reserves is at present covered with lalang 
grass (Lmperata cyUndrica Cyr) which is not only 
useless, but very 'injurious, both by reason of its 
inflammability, and also on account of its pre- 
venting any cultivation of the land covered by it, 
except with a great deal of labour and expense. The 
subject, therefore, of the growth of lalang and its 
extermination is one of paramount importance. 
Wherever the land is burnt, or having been under 
cultivation is suffered to run to waste, it is soon 
covered with lalang, whatever may have been the 
previous vegetation. In comparatively rare cases, e, g., 
portion of the land burnt last year on the North-East 
sido of Bukit Timah, the ground is covered with 
bracken (Pteris aquilina) or Gleichenia linearis. This 
I believe, to be duo to the more sandy nature of the 
ground at this spot. It is Doticeable that lalang will 
not grow on sandy or wet soil or under shade. In a 
few spots, the lalany grounds might be flooded for a 
time, and the plant thus destroyed, but owing to the 
configuration of the island this cau rarely be done. 
Th': treatment of the soil by chemicals suoh as salt, 
sulphate of iron, he, apart from the heavy expe nse 
* Tuu gru;n known in Ceylon a i Male. — Id. k 
connected with it, is liable to have a very injurious 
effect on the plants with which the ground is after- 
wards afforested even for many years. Ttie introduction 
of some more actively growing plant to combat and 
destroy the lalang has been proposed, and the well- 
known lan tana (L. mixta) was suggested for this 
purpose. In every way this would be a most un- 
desirable proceeding. To substitute for one noxious 
weed which, by its strength of constitution and vitality, 
is most injurious to cultivation, a plant yet stronger 
is merely to go from bad .to worse, and as far as 
lantflna is concerned the question has long been 
settled. In many places the lantana may be seen 
holding a precarious tenure in the midst of a lalang 
field and quite unable to compete with it. 
The most hopeful plan for dealing with it lies in 
mechanical means. The plant must te hoed up and 
burnt and the ground re-planted. Lalang reproduces 
itself not only by its feathery seeds, but more con- 
stantly by its underground rhizomes. Hoeing it 
merely breaks these rhizomes into bits, and unless 
every bit is destroyed, the plant will reproduce 
itself from pieces of rhizomes left in the soil. Henea 
it is always said that lalang requires to be hoed up 
three times before it is destroyed; 
To fire the plants as it grows, apart from the risk 
of injury to the timber-forests, only makes matters 
worse, for the fire merely burns the foliage and does 
not hurt the underground rhizomes, and the plants 
after burning usually bear fruit, which is carried by 
the wind all over the country agaiu. 
By constant, clearing of the ground for a few years 
and at the same time planting with trees, the land 
may be eventually re-afforested with timber, but the 
expense of doing this on a large scale will be very 
great. When the trees are tall enough to throw a 
shade upon the ground, the lalang quickly disappears, 
nor can it penetrate even into forest glades if but 
a few trees bar its progress. 
The question really resolves itself into one of ex- 
pense. To re-affore»t the whole of the lalang ctantry 
in the forest reserves with timber would entail the 
employment of a large number of men for several 
years in clearing the lalang and re-planting the trses. 
The military reserve is an instance of this. It was 
commenced in 1885, and consists of 100 acres on which 
a band of 10 men has been employed each year for 
at least a portion of the year, and even previous to 
that plants likely to destroy the lalang had been 
planted there. Even at present it requires a constant 
clearing to prevent the recurrence of the lalang. The 
plan I would suggest for combatting the lalang is to 
plant gradually patches of ground at first with shade 
trees and bushes, perhaps of little or no value ' for 
other purposes, but which would form a compact but 
spreading head of foliage so as to shade the ground, 
then keeping down the weeds will be a comparatively 
easy matter. The present staff of watchmen will 
form little nurseries of trees in this manner round 
each of their quarters which they will be able to de- 
velop according as they have time from their other 
works. As the shade trees kill down the weeds, 
more valuable timber trees will be planted among 
them and in time a piece of valuable forest will be 
the result. 
During my inspection of the forest reserves, I have 
noted the chief trees and shrubs which will grow 
through lalang both indigenous and introduced. Many 
plants will not grow in it at all, others grow through 
it eventually when assisted but do not kill it, while 
some with a little assistance will grow through and 
kill it. 
Section (I). — Trees and shrubs that will grow through 
lalang without killing it : — 
(Adinan.dra duniosa). 
Teop-teop (Mappa javanica). 
Singapore Rhododendron (Jlelastoma malabathri- 
cum). 
Teak (Tcctona grandis), in a very few rich soils. 
Andong Oar.tley (Dracana. Cantleyi).. 
Several species of wild Figs (.Fictts spp). 
(Emholia rihes\ 
Gutta Jolutong- {Dycra costulata). 
