Annual Report of the Director of Gardens, Straits 
Settlements, for the Year 1917. 
The Committees of Management for the several parts of the Department were 
composed as follows : — 
(i) Gardens Committee , Singapore.— The Hon’ble Mr. A. M. POUNTNEV (until 
December 13th), the Hon’ble Mr. F. J. PiGOTT, the Hon’ble Mr. H. W. FiRMSTONE, 
the Hon’ble Mr. F. M. Elliot (from October 27th), Messrs. W. E. HOOPER, 
St. V. B. Down and (until October 29th) E. E. Adamson, with the Director of Gardens: 
(2) the Committee for the Waterfall Gardens , Penang , the Hon’ble Mr. A. T. BRYANT 
(until February 25th), the Hon’ble Mr. W. Peel (from February 25th to September 
28th), the Hon’ble Mr. W. C. MlCHELL (from September 28th), and Mr. LAWRIE 
C. Brown, with the Director of Gardens: and (3) the Committee for the Government 
House Domain , Mr. M. E. Sherwood with the Director of Gardens. The writer was 
Director throughout the year. 
The year was full of difficulties on account of want of superior staff, and on 
account of the increasing demands of labour and of rising prices. 
Mr. J. W. Anderson, Assistant Curator, left the service of Government on 
January 12th to take up planting. Major T. F. Chipp, the Assistant Director, being 
on military duty, the Director was left without either of his European 
Assistants: and as intermediate staff (the clerk alone excepted) does not exist 
in the Singapore Gardens, the duties of both posts devolved almost entirely upon 
the Director. The war, which had robbed the’ Gardens of the services of Major Chipp, 
had made it impossible to replace Mr. ANDERSON: and recourse was necessary to 
temporary measures. In these it was the Department’s good fortune to obtain the 
service of Professor C. F. BAKER to act as Assistant Director during a period of leave 
from the University of the Philippines. Professor Baker arrived on June 22nd, but 
he was recalled on December 1 2th. In the second place Mr. E. H, MathiEU was 
appointed an Extra Assistant Curator from December 10th, 
As to intermediate staff, the new rate of pay offered for Field Assistants has 
drawn applications from suitable men; and the addition to the Department of an extra 
officer in one of the two posts is likely to take place early. Mr. MOHAMED HANIFF, 
formerly Overseer of the Waterfall Gardens, Penang, has been appointed to the other, 
and a Foreman-Gardener engaged from part of the saving thus effected. 
In the subordinate staff there were many changes. Mr. M. G. EZEKIEL, Foreman- 
Gardener at Government House, resigned in April. 
The titles of the subordinate staff employed in Penang were changed so as to 
make a simple salary scheme cover the whole Department. 
Labour, especially Javanese labour, demanded increasing wages. It was 
imperative to resist this demand as much as possible, because the finances available 
would not allow of the maintenance of concessions: but finally wages had to be raised 
in every section of the Department. Each section presented a different problem, even 
the contiguous Botanic and Economic Gardens, Singapore, differing. The Botanic 
Garden suffered most from the situation. From towards the end of 1916 its force had 
become difficult to keep together, and through the first half of 1917 grew gradually 
less and less. Had there been adequate cooly lines, the Javanese leaving might have 
been replaced by Tamil labour, but adequate lines do not exist; and in want of them 
