are fascinated by our monkeys. In order to gauge the number of visitors to 
the Gardens accurately, a count was made from 14th October, 1969 to 20th 
October, 1969. During this period 28,010 persons entered the Gardens from 
6 a.m. to 10 p.m., as compared to a similar count in October 1968 when the 
number of visitors was 18,123 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
XVII. PLANT COLLECTING EXPEDITIONS 
56. There were very few plant collecting expeditions during the year 
due mainly to the heavy commitments of the horticultural division as a result 
•of the “Garden City” campaign and the secondment of horticultural officers 
from the Botanic Gardens to the Parks and Trees Division. A list of the 
collecting trips appears in Appendix II. 
XVIII. PLANT EXCHANGE 
57. The Botanic Gardens continued its exchange of plant and planting 
material with various horticultural and botanical institutions and private 
collectors. A list of such institutions and collectors appears in Appendices 
III and IV. 
XIX. SOCIETIES 
58. Assistance was given to the Singapore Gardening Society and the 
Orchid Society of S.E. Asia by way of lectures and demonstrations on various 
aspects of horticulture. A number of the Singapore Gardening Society’s 
meetings were held at the Botanic Gardens. 
XX. CONFERENCE 
59. The 6th World Orchid Conference was held in Sydney, Australia, 
between 12th and 18th September. Mr. A. G. Alphonso, who represented the 
Singapore Botanic Gardens, presented a paper on “Growing of Vandaceous 
Orchids in the Singapore region”. 
XXL LIBRARY 
60. For the first time, the scattered library collection was brought 
together and made accessible in its entirety. Several months were spent in 
•sorting out materials after which the task of cataloguing and indexing com- 
menced. The Universal Decimal Classification system was used to classify 
the books. Serials and reprints were arranged on the shelves by their titles 
and authors respectively. 
61. The library had a holding of 9,320 bound volumes at the end of 
the year. The extensive collection of reprints continued to grow. The library 
had 365 exchanges for the Gardens’ Bulletin and the Annual Report of the 
Botanic Gardens. 
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