Annual Report of the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, for 
the Year 1910. 
Staff. 
There were considerable changes in the staff of the Gardens this year. 
Mr. T. W. Main left in May, and was succeeded by Mr. J. W. Anderson who 
arrived on July 29th. Mr , Fox retired from the service on pension in March after a 
service in the department of thirty-one years. Immediately on his retirement the 
Penang Botanical Gardens were put under the charge of Mohamed Haniff, the 
Overseer, and finally abolished in the middle of the year, the ground being presented to 
the Municipality for a water reservoir. The apprentice, Paul, was dismissed and one 
MARlANr was taken on in his place. A Label Printer, Daniel, was taken on at the 
end of the last year and has remained on till the present year. The Clerk of the 
Rubber Experiments, I. SANDOSUM, left in October and POONOSAMY replaced him 
in the Economic Gardens and a new Bill Collector, Duraisamy, was taken on in place 
of the latter. 
There was a great scarcity of labour in the early part of the year and only very 
inferior coolies could be obtained at any price; Javanese of any use were very difficult 
to procure, and recourse had to be had to Boyanese and Tamils. Towards the end of 
the year matters became better and a sufficient supply of labour, chiefly Tamil, was 
obtained. This shortage was due to the great demand for the rapidly increasing 
rubber estates in the vicinity. 
In order to induce as far as might be the Tamils to settle down and stay in 
garden employ it was necessary to build a suitable set of lines for them. This was a 
wise step in the present state of the labour market. The Gardens have gradually 
become a dumping and training ground for Javanese. The younger ones came to 
learn Malay, the old and sick ones to earn a little and die. Whether they come as 
coolies with the intention of becoming gardeners or rubber tappers, they come merely 
for a training or to be able to say they have been employed in the garden so that they 
can easily find posts at a higher salary, when they are more or less efficient. This 
results in our getting only the rawest and often most useless material, who are trained 
here for the benefit of every part of the Peninsula except ourselves and these men 
when worth their salary leave for a billet on a rubber estate either of themselves or by 
the seductions of a crimp. We hope that the new Tamil cooly lines will form an 
inducement to these men to form a permanent settlement, but it should be noticed 
that their cost is a heavy one on the Gardens where it would be more desirable to 
spend all the hard earned balance in progressive work. 
The better class of planters in the neighbourhood refused to take on men from 
the Gardens who had not received permission to leave, but natives and others were 
not so considerate. One Dutch crimp was found soliciting the men to run away. It 
is regrettable that there is no law capable of dealing with these nuisances. ' 
There was comparatively little sickness among the coolies during the year but 
one elderly man died of phthisis and a child of about two years of age died of atrophy 
and weakness. Twins were born to a Malay in the lines, a very unusual circumstance, 
but only one of them survived its birth many days. 
Visitors. 
A very large number of botanists and agriculturists of note visited the Gardens 
during the year as well as very many planters from the Native States and elsewhere 
and the usual stream of tourists. 
