10 
bad traveller, as it is as brittle as a carrot. A number of other plants were obtained. 
The specimens loaned to Kew last year are still there, and are being worked up by- 
Mr. Gamble an eminent Indian Botanist for the “ Materials for a Flora of the Malayan 
Peninsula. ” . 
io. The usual service Periodicals and a number of new books on Economic 
Botany and Agriculture have been added to the Library together with presentation 
copies of the Reports and Bulletins of various kindred institutions. 
Governor’s Hill Bungalow Gardens. 
it. These have been kept up in good order during the year under the charge of 
Mr. Sutherland. One of the drawbacks to good cultivation is the want of manure 
(which exclusive of cost and cartage to the foot of the Hill) cost $1.00 per picul to 
carry up, a price that is prohibitive except in small quantities for special things. The 
Tindal who has been employed there for some years fell ill towards the close of the 
year and I am afraid will not be fit for work again up there. 
Economic Plants. 
12. To such an extent has Para Rubber usurped the attention of Agriculturists 
that such staple products as Coffee, Tea, Ramie, Cotton, Pepper and other well known 
products have been entirely neglected, and the demand is still for Rubber. New 
Estates are being formed and old ones floated into companies so that there is still 
even locally a strong demand for seeds. It is however the neighbouring countries of 
Burma and Sumatra that the large orders for seeds come. Over a quarter of a million 
seeds were sent to Burma last year from the Straits alone. Letters of enquiry as to 
the supply of seeds and to the suitability of such places for growing Rubber as the 
Nicobars and Mysore on the one hand, to Samoa on the other have been received. 
The Veteran tree in the Gardens here was again tapped during the year and produced 
4 lbs. 1 2\ oz. of fairly dry Rubber. This makes the ioth consecutive year of tapping 
and raises the total production of this tree to 3 1 lbs. 9 ozs. 
Cotton. 
13. As mentioned in last years’ report it was that too early to form an opinion on 
the large trial of Sea Island Cotton which was being conducted at Golden Grove 
Estate. I regret to say that equally with Egyptian Cotton, it was a failure. Mr. A, 
Crawford the General Manager writes. “ We picked some very nice Cotton at first, 
but then we got rain which yellowed it and that little red bug showed up in thousands. 
I showed some of it to a Cotton broker who told me that the staple was very short 
and not of much value. We have now given it up entirely”. 
14. At the request of the General Manager of Malakoff Estate, the Department im- 
ported from India some 200 plants of Ipecacuanha, they were planted out in March. I 
saw them a few months afterwards most of them were alive but having lost their 
original leaves they looked anything but promising. It is a very slow grower and 
comes to maturity slower than any crop I am aware of. 
Coco=nut Trees Preservation. 
15. The number of notices issued during the year in Penang and Province Welles- 
ley was [023 as against 650 in 1904. There were eleven cases of prosecution in Pe- 
nang and 12 in the Province. The fines realized being $45 only. 
The Inspector reports that he found many dead trees in the Central District of the 
Province and that the villages near Bukit Mertajam were infested with beetles. 
Appendix B and C summarizes the work done during the year and shews the 
expenditure respectively. 
General. 
16. The year under review is remarkable for two events. 
1st: — The decision of the Municipal Comtnissioners not to apply for the site of 
the Waterfall Gardens for making an impouriding reservoir and 2nd : — The Agricul- 
tural Show. As regards the 1st. this decision was arrived at late in the year and it 
need hardly be said was a great relief, at last to know something definite, for it will be 
remembered that for the past three years this uncertainty has hung over us and para- 
lyzed our work. It was obviously useless to go on with any fresh work knowing that 
the possibility of having to clear out at any time might happen. It will now be possi- 
ble to take up several much needed improvements. 
17. The second event of importance was the Agricultural Show which was held 
in Penang in August last and which might be said was under the auspices of this 
