The palm collections which are under revision, have been enriched by the 
addition of seedlings of Hyphaene indica , the branched Indian palm, and of the 
Date, and by seeds of other species. 
Mr. V. Lunberg when leaving Singapore generously gave material of all the 
races of Hibiscus that he had collected. Mrs. R. H. Adams and Mr. W. E. HOOPER 
have added to the Canna collection. Messrs. J, B. van Waverer and A. AgNEW 
have given orchids. A few orchids from northern Sumatra, and from the Kedah 
Islands were purchased: the visit which Mr. MOHAMED HanifF paid to Takowa-pa 
in the Siamese Malay States added a large number to the collection in the Waterfall 
Gardens. Another expedition made by Mr. HANIFF, namely, to the Taiping hills, 
enabled him to obtain from the Hill Gardens Maurandya barclayana which is doing 
very well in Penang, and Montanoa bipinnatijida which promises well. 
In the Waterfall Gardens an interesting sport has appeared : it is an Acalypha and 
somewhat ornamental. 
Three distinct varieties of the Avocado pear have been obtained, one being that 
which the Department of Agriculture has in Kuala Lumpur, the second from Ceylon, 
through the kindness of Mrs. H. B. Dodds, and the other from California. The 
Avocado pear is a very valuable tree for the Malay peninsula, where it bears freely ; 
one specimen tree in the Gardens in 1917 yielded nearly 400 lbs. of fruit. 
Indigos have been got from Buitenzorg, Behar and Kelantan. Mr. R. J. FarRER 
who supplied the Kelantan seed, sent also Strobilanthes flaccidifolius. The indigo 
grown in Kelantan is Indigofera Anil , an essentially Indo-Chinese culture, as also 
is the Strobilanthes. 
An interesting Solatium has been received from Egypt. It possesses in the 
climate of Singapore characters which if rightly blended with those of the Trong or 
Brinjal would be most useful ; and it will be cultivated further in the hope of raising 
hybrids. 
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, supplied seed of a new tree cotton, and an 
edible Bromeliad, His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor of Papua was so good as to 
cause Papuan yams to be sent. A long series of vegetable seeds was obtained by 
exchange from the College of Agriculture, Los Banos, Philippine Islands. 
. Special Investigations. — The Director continued his experiments with yams, and 
wrote a report published in the Gardens Bulletin on this work to the end of 1916. He 
contributed a paper on food crops to the First Agricultural Conference in Kuala 
Lumpur. 
Professor C. F. Baker, while Assistant Director, made large collections of 
injurious insects and plant pests, from the gradual working out of which most valuable 
information will be got. He also carried out a series of trials with vegetables upon 
which .a report will be issued. 
Dr. E. E. Green has continued to give his kind services in the naming of Coccids. 
Pests. — The following came under notice (1) the large Rhynchophorus beetle 
which was known to destroy Pinanga palms destroyed a Rhopaloblaste, (2) the moth, 
Cosmophila erosa damaged Hibiscus plants considerably, and (3) a moth of the genus 
Euchromia was very troublesome on ornamental Ipomocas. Dr. HANITSCH was so 
good as lo determine these pests. 
Library. — No books were bound : there was never time to prepare them for bind- 
ing. The usual exchanges were carried on. The Government of France presented a 
copy of La Science Francaise , a work prepared for the San Francisco Exposition; the 
Government of Indo-China a copy of MM. CREVOST & Lemarie'S Catalogue des 
Produits de V Indo-Chine, Vol. I. and that of the Dutch Indies a copy of M. Heyne’s 
Nuttige Planten van N ederlandsch-Indie , in four volumes. The two last-named 
works should be well known in Singapore. Miss L. Gibbs very kindly gave a copy of 
her Contribution to the Flora of the Arfak Mountains , New Guinea , and Professor 
J. F. ROCK a copy of his O rnamental Trees of Hawaii. 
Bulletin. — One double part was all of the “ Bulletin " that could be issued. It is 
impossible under the present circumstances to make it the Quarterly which it was 
intended to be. 
