import declaration and ordered to be confiscated by the Ctorrrts armed at 
the Gardens just as the day’s work was endmg. AU f "! the next three days 
“the" eTe^TSmfKrs aTd P until the officers were wtMedth* 
the tobacco was beyond pilfering. Even then eight tons goes a 
long way To^cco lga{ which has bee n prepared for smoking is ,£ eated ^ 
^dded chemicals which may well be preservative, and it would seem that 
tte normal course of decomposition in the heaps, which w ® re . sc “ c d el L d b “ a p S 
with other trash, did not occur Heating went wr0 "S “ d f ° d S 
sterilised by heat they became first-class breeding clamps for flies ana mere 
was a localised plague of flies in the Gardens area Tob “? C id ’ “I' n wal 
knows contains nicotine, and nicotine is a powerful insecticide, but it was 
obSs that in this form it was ineffective. The expectation of effectiveness 
expressed in the Departmental Report for 1960 (paragraph 66 ) has not been 
fulfilled Further evidence of the absence of insecticidal properties was ^ to 
be had from attempts to dress lawns infested with small black vie rously- 
biting ants with the tobacco dust. This proved quite useless and l left the 
lawns reekin‘> of the death-dike smell of stale tobacco smoke. Nevertheless 
the compost when eventually completely processed was first class horticultural 
material. 
56. Inspite of the difficulties outlined above which were really teething 
troubles in handline a novel commodity in virtually a pure state, the Gardens 
are willing and ready to accept more. In fact acknowledgement is here given 
to the Malayan Tobacco Company for the regular supplies of sweepmg 
from their factory which being received m more moderate quantity at any 
one time constitutes a welcome addition to our usual composting mixture. 
XIX. PESTS AND DISEASES 
57 . The trouble caused by Rhinoceros Beetle ( Orcytes rhinoceros) and 
Red Stripe Weevil ( Rhyncophorus ferruginea ) recorded fairly regularly m 
previous reports, has been very much less. Nevertheless constant watch has 
to be maintained and regular prophylactic dressing of palm crowns with 
insecticide has been done. However, Cytostachys lakka and Roystoma regia 
have been badly attacked by another pathogen the identity of which has not 
vet been determined. The leaves turn brown and die back to the stem Alter 
that the stem also dies. Investigation into the cause is still being conducted. 
58 The long-tailed macaque ( Macaca irus ) remained the most trouble- 
some pest and against which little can feasibly be done. The Gardens were 
issued with a new shot gun and three monkeys were shot at points where 
most damage was being done, but the “bandarlog (to quote Rudyard Kipling 
in The Jungle Book ) . . have no remembrance . . . their memories would 
not hold over from day to day . . The effect of such defensive plant 
protection is but short lived. 
59 A n interesting effect of the prodigious flowering of the tembusu 
trees (paragraph 25) was an unusually heavy fruit-set which was quickly 
discovered by the flying foxes (Pterocarpus edulis). For the previous few 
years these animals have come in from outside during the season to feed 
on the tembusu fruit and squabble the night through returning at dawn to 
roost outside again. This year several hundred of them found it to their 
convenience to roost in the Gardens’ jungle where they stayed for about 
a month. Then one morning early in September they failed to settle and 
weaved about over the Gardens in a most restless manner till about 10 a.m.. 
when the whole flight took off together and were gone. 
-A£L 
11 
