8. Three subordinate officers of the Department of Agriculture, Sarawak, 
were given a course in elementary horticulture lasting three months, and five 
trainees from the Singapore Labour Department and three from the Water 
Department were given training in gardening. Also one man was accepted 
from Toe H for training. 
V. BUILDINGS AND ROADS 
9. The most important event of the year was the condemnation of the 
herbarium building which had been showing signs of serious dilapidation for 
some years. In September all the contents and personnel were ordered out 
owing to its dangerous condition. Working places were found for the displaced 
staff with some considerable difficulty causing additional congestion in the 
departmental offices. The herbarium cabinets were housed three quarters in 
the Botany Museum of the University of Singapore, with nearly a quarter 
in the National Museum and the balance containing material urgently required 
for current work, in the remaining buildings of the Gardens office. The 
generous assistance of the Professor of Botany and the Curator of the Museum 
are gratefully acknowledged. The demolition began on 18th December with a 
little spontaneous and unofficial ceremony carried out by two labourers, one 
man and one woman, who arrived some ten days before the expected date 
for the commencement of the work. While the man pulled a single window 
out of its frame and then re-closed the doors of the building, the woman made 
a small alter and burnt joss at it. This combined operation, it would seem, 
was intended to warn any spirits that might be living in the building that their 
world was about to fall about their ears, and to invite them to leave by the 
open window before they were so inconvenienced, and incensed against those 
engaged on the job and cause them harm. 
10. In consultation with the Director of Public Works and his architects, 
a design was laid for reconstruction of the building on the same site, and 
using such salvage from the old building as might be sound, at a cost of 
$84,000. 
11. All other buildings remained in good repair. The main roads used 
by cars in the Gardens were in good condition, but other roads which have 
not been resurfaced nor repaired for very many years were becoming rough, 
broken and pot-holed. 
12. An orchid seedling house and two angle iron structures for hanging 
pots of dendrobiums and cattleyas and orchid species were constructed from 
the Gardens’ resources. One cactus house in the Orchid Enclosure was 
dismantled and transferred to the Potting Yard to give way to the increasing 
demands for space for orchids. 
VI. VISITORS 
13. On 12th November, Their Majesties the Yang di-Pertuan Agong 
and the Permaisuri Agong visited the Gardens, and they with their entourage 
were conducted round the Orchid Enclosure after a drive through the 
Gardens. 
14. On 1st December, Her Royal Highness Princess Margarethe, Crown 
Princess of Denmark, paid a visit to the Gardens, and she too was conducted 
round the Orchid Enclosure. 
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