67. The collections of ferns, begonias, aroids, cacti, succulents, gingers 
and other groups of plants were maintained in good condition. The old Tea 
Kiosk was converted into a plant house and cacti and succulents were put 
out on display there. 
68. The pot plant nursery was expanded to meet increasing demands 
for loans and for display purposes within the Gardens. 
69. Monkeys remain the worst pest. Two attempts were made to 
eliminate them by poison baiting with a-chlorolose. This chemical has been 
used with marked success in dealing with bird populations near airports, 
but both attempts on the Gardens monkeys were failures. During the year 
two permits were given to trap monkeys: none was caught. Ten were shot 
but shooting presents many difficulties, not least the recognition by the 
monkeys of anyone carrying a gun. 
70. The ducks and geese which had been on the Lake since 1966, had 
to be removed during the cleaning operation. On refilling of the Lake only 
the ducks were released: the geese which liked to graze the lawn grass were 
often aggressive to visitors. On 14th September a pair of Black Swans 
(Chenopis atrata ) were released on the Lake. These birds were presentd by 
the Zoological Gardens Board of Western Australia, and flown from Perth to 
Singapore by the Royal Air Force. 
XXVII. HORTICULTURAL EXCHANGE 
71. Seed and plant exchanges continued to be an important aspect of 
the Horticultural Division’s activity. One seed collector was kept fully 
engaged in obtaining material for outward despatch, while two nurserymen 
were employed in germinating and establishing incoming material. Appendices 
VIII and IX list the names of the institutions to which material is sent and 
from which material is received. 
XXVIII. ORCHID RESEARCH 
72. With the completion of Orchid Nursery 2 on Lawn X, the collections 
of ground orchids were moved there. Potted orchids have been concentrated 
in the original nursery. 
73. During the year, 156 cross-pollinated pods were harvested, 32 pods 
of known parentage were accepted from Singapore growers, 39 from Malaysia 
and 42 from England, a total of 269 pods. Seed was germinated from 200 of 
them. Over 2,000 flasks have been in constant use for culturing seedlings. 
The contents of 988 flasks were removed for potting. The flask culture 
medium remained, as previously, based on Vacin’s formula plus 10 per cent 
young coconut water, banana pulp and peptone. 3,703 seedlings were moved 
on from the seedling houses to the open. 
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