4 
Botanic Gardens, Singapore. 
Most of the new work in 1918 was done about the Lake. In the Dell at its 
head a third pool was made and the three linked together in such a way that a gentle 
flow of clean water from the Tyersal Lakes passes through them. When that 
improvement had been affected the two brick tanks which had served the two older 
pools were filled with earth and planted over. 
At the foot of the Lake, where the old outflow to the Nelumbium pond had 
become choked by tree roots, a new outflow was constructed with a fall on it. 
The water falls from giant clam shells into a coral channel. 
A laro-e circular bed was made on Lawn E. and planted with the nucleus of the 
Hibiscus collection. 
Two acres behind the Director’s house were cleared, and prepared for planting, 
being the last ground available in the Botanic Gardens for carrying specimen trees. 
Mention has already been made of the exceptional flowering in the early half ol 
the year. The flower beds and gable part of the Exhibition house were well filL-d 
with flowers raised by two Chinese Gardeners : for their raising additional benches 
were put up in the nursery. 
The remaining old Arenga pahns near the Tyersal Gate being untidy were 
removed. In anticipation of this, interplanting was done several years ago. 
The fungus Rosellinia radiciperda which was reported on in 1916 as destructive 
in the Gardens’ jungle has destroyed a new area. Liming was resorted to. 
Dipladenia Harrisii fruited for the second time, and Arenga undulati folia for 
the first. 
Eight large trees were lost by the storms, but none entailing a serious loss. 
Labour, men, women and boys was used in the following way : — for pot-plants at 
the rate of $10, 14 per diem ; for cleaning roads and paths $7 .00 ; for the lawns $13.44 5 
for bedding $5.87 ; for nurseries $1 ,50 ; for sweeping $4.12 ; for caring for the trees 
$2.60; for rockeries $0.49; for cleaning the lakes $0.65 and miscellaneous $i- 35 - 
Economic Garden. 
A proposal had been put forward in the year 1917 by the Singapore Housing 
Commission that the Economic Garden should be built over. It was most disturbing 
and among other courses it compelled the transfer to sites in the Botanic Gaiden of 
plants which had to be preserved and were likely to outgrow the possibility before 
the plans for a new Economic Garden at a distance could put fresh land into the 
possession of the department. Unfortunately by doing this, we lost the only tree of 
the Bornean Bilian, together with two or three less valuable plants which did not 
stand the disturbance. One of the three Caryocars after heavy pruning, was moved 
successfully. The young selected rubber trees were all sent to Kuala Lumpur to save 
them. Fortunately the proposals for scrapping the Economic Garden have not 
matured. 
Food crops. — Following up the experiments of 1916 on vegetables, attention was 
concentrated upon the Lima Bean ; and a new supply of seed having been obtained 
from the United States where from the race “ Siebert’s early ” proved desirable, 
plans were prepared and preparations made to raise and put eight hundred pounds of 
its seed into the hands of cultivators. This work is in the hands of Mr. Mathieu, 
and has been the subject of a report in the Gardens Bulletin. 
Out of the hundred races of the greater yam under trial about fifty were weeded 
out as unprofitable. Among the yautias one race of excellent flavour was detected. 
Ocitnum tuberosum , which had been brought into the Garden in 1916 grew well, and 
the area under it was increased it might be called the “ Singapore Potato 
Very encouraging results were got at first with a certain race of maize, but in the 
second crop a blight did much damage to it. With a red rozelle an excellent crop 
was raised returning 2,650 lbs. of the edible calyces per acre. 
Indigo . — Upon the receipt of cuttings from Kelantan, it had been found that the 
indigo grown there is Indigofer a anil a species favoured by the Chinese. As we 
know that the planters in Java some time ago gave up this species for I guafema/ense, 
