7 
the aroid ravine which he started and the improvements in the landscape of the lower 
part of the Garden being noticeable. In bo|:h cases these have been extended during 
the year. The chief work, however, has been the establishment of a nursery for the 
propagation of plants of a decorative character. 
4. Prior to going on long leave in 1906, I applied to Government for authority 
to purchase an acre of land- on the right at the entrance to the Gardens from the 
Hindu Trustees. This was granted but nothing was done until my return. The 
work of clearing, felling and getting the ground prepared into nursery beds occupied 
the first half of the year. During the latter half some thousands of young plants 
have been reared and are now available for sale and to replenish our own depleted 
stock. Provision has been made to reserve a portion of the nursery for the propa- 
gation of our best fruit trees, and plants of an economic interest. I hope soon to be 
in a position to supply these plants which hitherto we have not been able to do. The 
small plot of ground near the stable has been made into a palm nursery exclusively. 
The fern rockeries started in 1904 have had small but important additions of rare 
ferns added to them. The plants have grown well and this portion of the Gardens 
is the coolest and most pleasant especially in the middle of the day. 
n 
Upkeep and Buildings. 
5. Four out of the six plant houses have had their roofs entirely renewed. 
The Begonia House near the entrance has been re-covered with rubberoid and partly 
with bertam rods. The plants had suffered so much from the excessively wet year 
that it was absolutely necessary to reconstruct the roof to give them the requisite 
shelter, and I am glad to say that the result has been entirely satisfactory as the 
Begonias are much improved in appearance. The large iron house although covered 
last year with bertam chicks suffered so much damage from the storm in September 
that it was found necessary to replace the chicks with split bertam rods which are 
much stronger than chicks and moreover much cheaper as they were obtained from 
the jungle by our men. The palm house near the nursery sheds has been similarly 
covered and the posts and beams renewed where necessary. The summer house was 
reattaped during the year. . 
A new stone culvert leading from the band-stand road to the .stream was made, to 
carry off the storm water that had hitherto found its way over the grass leaving 
numerous debris in its course. Two new plant stages faced with stone were made 
near the potting sheds. The dam of the lily pond was raised, the pond cleaned out 
and some Nymphae planted ; I regret to say that all the plants were eaten by a kind of 
slug which nibbled off the leaf stalks. 
The Public Works Department erected new quarters near the Coolie Lines for the 
Sub-Overseer and Tindal. 
Library and Herbarium. 
6. The remarks made in former Reports with reference to the difficulty of 
keeping the Herbarium free from damp during the wet weather held good to a greater 
degree than before, the only method of drying being the charcoal fires which had to be 
kept going almost continuously during the latter half of the year. 
The natural order Anonaceae was loaned to the Director, Singapore, and I have 
had an application from Mr. Gamble who is editing the " Materials for a Flora of the 
Malay Peninsula'’ (Dicotyledons) for the loan of specimens belonging to the natural 
orders in the Apetalae and Gymnosperms, these will be despatched early in 1909. I 
was not able to make any botanical tours but I obtained permission for the Overseer to 
visit the Perak Hills. He brought back with him an assortment of Ferns, Aroids, and 
Orchids. 
The usual periodicals have beenyeceived and those of the previous year have been 
bound as also were some other books of reference that required it. Several text books 
were purchased among them being the latest edition of HERBERT Wright’S work on 
Para Rubber. Thanks are due to the Government of India for the presentation of 
Volume VI, Part IJ of the Annals of the Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, and to the authorities 
of the Science and Forestry Bureau, Manila, for their valuable publications. 
Exchanges of Plants and Seeds. 
7. Owing to the absence of any collecting trips for the past two years, and also to 
the increasing difficulty in finding new plants of a novel type suitable for exchange 
our receipts have not been so great as they were three years ago. Seeds have 
been sent to other Botanic establishments as they have ripened. Among the 
