152 
grown, but particularly recommendable, are the carounda, the 
carambol, the ruminiya and the rozelle — all for stewing, and the 
Brazil nut, Brazil cherry and Avocado pear for eating. Of many 
of the trees, there are far better races than those commonly 
grown, the rambutan is a case in point, and so is the duku. 
Selection work on these is in hand at Singapore. The mabolo is 
worth planting : but it is to be remembered that many trees are 
male only. 
For our horticultural establishments, lines of work of much 
promise appear in the improvement of the fruits of the genus Citrus 
and the genus Anona. It is desirable to experiment with stocks and 
grafting : it is desirable to establish in the Peninsula recognized 
races from grafted stock, a line of work hardly touched as yet. The 
men able to help in this are pre-eminently the planters* 
Concluding Remarks. ' 
My paper has been, of necessity, somewhat discursive ; and 
therefore, in concluding it, I shall draw a few thoughts together 
in order to give them prominence. 
This country is a new one : and the newness brings disadvantages 
as well as advantages. Compared with India it is, as I once heard 
an eminent American scientist say, as fresh air to an overpopulated 
house which wants airing. Though a house be overpopulated, it is 
at any rate with the necessities of population in it. The variety of 
produce in India comes from the long time that it has been lived in, and 
the consequent artificial surroundings, the most obvious of which is 
that field has been joined to field, and the woodland cleared. It is 
generally accepted that this means a change of climate, which 
makes the ripening of crops somewhat easier : from which comes 
the deduction that without our forests, without our light airs and 
frequent precipitations, many of the crops of India and many fruits 
would perfect themselves better than now. But that gain would, 
I think, involve a loss of considerable magnitude. Consider the 
whole world ; and you find in it less land surface with the moist 
calm air which rules here, than with the alternation of dry and wet 
seasons. Should we then wish to enter the hurly-burly of the 
heavier competition ? — not if there are enough paying crops suited 
to the rarer condition. Our best, rubber, is one such ; tapioca 
is another, and more could be quoted. I believe at present, that 
the interest of the whole Peninsula lies in guarding the climate 
jealously : and for that purpose our mountain forests are essential. 
We do not want extensive planting over them as in Ceylon, nor the 
clearing of them by grazing as on so many of the Indian mountains, 
nor the wanton wandering cultivation that has made the grass lands 
of tropical Africa. But for our own food supply it would be quite 
well tio anticipate a certain amount of production upon them ; 
and it is not waste to experiment with European vegetable 
production in bill-gardens. 
