2 
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The present staff, all that can be afforded from the Forest vote, is insufficient to do more 
than keep the part under cultivation in order. There is a large piece of land which is 
still waste, which should be put under cultivation, and the whole requires to be fenced in. 
As the Straits Settlements produce a great variety of vegetable products in use in 
commerce, there should be erected a small building of the nature of a Museum, where 
these could be collected and examined. The room attached to the office which now 
contains the herbarium barely suffices to hold the collection of dry plants and the 
garden library. There is no room for specimens of timber, gums, dammars, rattans, 
guttas, drugs, &c., nor any place to dry and preserve them, still less to examine 
and analyze them. 
For these important works, the annual grant is not sufficient to cover without 
detriment to the working of the Gardens. It is hoped that extra grants may be 
provided from time to time to carry out these works. 
Visitors. 
3. The number of visitors to the Gardens during the day-time was fully equal 
to that of previous years, but as the Regimental Band did not play during moonlit 
nights, there were but few evening visitors, and again on Sunday evenings the 
counter-attraction of the Band which played on the Barrack ground drew away most 
of those who would otherwise have visited the Gardens. The increase in the zoologi- 
cal collection has proved very attractive. 
Plant-houses. v 
4. During the year, a new orchid-house has been built adjoining the large plant- 
house. It is a "building measuring fifty-four feet in length and forty-five feet wide, 
and contains four parallel walks with staging on either side. The stages are com- 
posed of wooden battens supported upon iron tram-rails which are fixed into mason- 
ry pillars so that no part of the wood-work is in contact with the ground, which 
will prevent risk of injury from white ants, and the paths between are floored with 
cement, so as to be always dry. The roof, which is of ridge and furrow shape, is 
sixteen feet high composed of strong wooden laths about one inch apart, over these 
are roller blinds made of stout canvas varnished, which are easily pulled up and down 
with ropes and pulleys. During heavy rain and excessive sunshine these are lowered, 
and being waterproof, prevent any injury to the plants by drip, while at the same 
time the amount of sunlight can be regulated. 
The house is surrounded with an iron railing, and within this is a border of 
Vanda hookers? and Arundina chinensis. In the grass plot outside are several 
small beds containing large specimens of orchids, such as Grammatophyllum. 
This house has proved very successful, the plants improving very speedily on 
being transferred thither, and many curious and beautiful species have been in flower 
throughout the year. Among those more rarely seen in flower in Singapore the 
following species have been in bloom : — 
Cattleya Triune?, C. speciosissima, Dendrobium treacherianum, D.metachilinum t 
D. kunstleri,* D. flavidulum, Bulbophyllum macranthum, B. pileatum, Sarcochilus 
arachnites and lilacinus, • Ena hyacinthoides , acervata , musosfolia, floribunda , 
panne a, Lissochilus speciosus , Neuwiedia lindieyi, Apostasia nuda , Bromheadia 
aporoides and two undescribed species, Calanthe curculigoides , and Cecilias , Cypri- 
pedium callosum, purpuratum , niveuin , Godcf royss, concolor \ ciliolare , venusium. 
Hookers?. 
The whole collection of orchids has been very largely increased, by the addition 
of not only of large numbers of local species, but also of a small number of African 
and South American species, many of which are doing remarkably well. Among 
the native species obtained this year, are a number new to science, many of which are 
well worthy of cultivation. They include several species of Bulbophyllum, Cirrho- 
petalum , Ccelogyne, Bromheadia , Sarcochilus, Microstylis cuprea, Vrydagzynea 
tristriata, from Singapore; and two new species of Calanthe of the Vestita section, 
a fine Habenaria with large white flowers and ornamental foliage, and a Pachy stoma, 
from Langkawi Islands. The collection of foliage orchids has been largely increased 
also, but these still remain very impatient of cultivation. 
The chief difficulty of flowering many species of orchids here consists in the 
almost permanent dampness of the climate, which does not suit orchids coming 
from places where at one season they enjoy a period of rest. This permanent 
rainfall causes the plants to continue growing instead of flowering, and in some cases 
there is a great tendency to develope leaves and leafbuds upon the raceme instead of 
flowers. It is especially unfortunate that the dry period of the Burmese region, when 
the Dendrobia usually flower, coincides with our wettest season, so that the culture 
