# 
4 - : $ 
The Gardens become more and more used ; and it is necessary to think of 
creating new hubs or foci in them, other than the Bandstand Hill where now the 
numerous visitors chiefly seek air and ease ; for this is clear that with Tanglin the 
unrivalled residential part of Singapore the area of the Gardens will be none too 
large for their service as a Park. 
By the kindness of Lieutenant-Colonel L. B. Boyd- Moss, c.m.g., d.s.o., and 
the Officers, the Band of the First Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, played 
in the Gardens, from soon after the time of the regiment’s coming, twice monthly, 
and their Bugles played the retreat in alternate weeks. 
Labour (men, women and boys) was used in the following way — for pot plants 
at the rate. of 10.31 per diem ; for cleaning roads and paths 11.17 ; for lawns 10.94 - 
for bedding 8.19 ; for nurseries 3.59 ; for sweeping 3.71; for caring for the trees 
1.44; for rockeries 0.26; for cleaning lakes 0.71 ; and miscellaneous 1.39. 
Economic Garden, Singapore. 
During the year all along the Riding road, in blocks 7, 13 and 14, an excellent 
demonstration of food crops was made : for the purpose all the labour that could be 
spared from other areas was got together and utilised at the rate of three men to an 
acre, to till that land. 1 lie effort was repaid by the number of visitors attracted 
to it. There were plots of hill-rice, millet and ragi of about 1/20 of an acre ; plots of 
tuberous plants as artichokes, yams, sweet-potato, coleus, aroids, and diverse 
tapiocas ; vegetables as amarantus, basella, gourds ; different beans, such as tall and 
dwarf Lima-beans, yard-long beans, sword beans, all in series along the roadside, 
that the right way of cultivating them, and the proper yield to get might be 
obvious. After the end of the year the growing of agricultural crops was dropped, 
as they were for demonstration only ; the growing of garden crops is being con- 
tinued. 
In the ‘‘Gardens Bulletin” several of these plots have been described, e.g, ragi, 
in Vol. up. 206; hill paddy, p. 199; lima-bean, pp. 121 & 238 ; sword bean, p. 300; 
roselle, p. 242; etc. By the kindness of the “Singapore Free Press," the depart- 
ment was able to call attention to its crops through that newspaper. 
As to the Lima-bean, having by experiment found that of a number of races 
one called “ Sieberts early ” made the best growth and the best return, the 
Department set to work to put 800 pounds of selected seed into the hands of 
cultivators about the Peninsula. 
The Department had started, with the year, selective work on the papaya. 
Unfortunately a great mishap came— the carefully crossed fruits were stolen 
as they ripened. 
The Department is endeavouring to propagate the selected rubber trees, 27 
and 610 asexually, with the idea of getting a supply of stock to bear seed early. 
That raised from seed already has been made over to the Department of Agri- 
culture. 
About the middle of the year the Food Controller put funds at the disposal 
of the Gardens, whereby the area allotted to fruit was brought under food crops. 
It was then planted with fruit trees through the food crops. The whole result of 
the year’s working was thus a considerable gain on the past. 
The right to tap the rubber trees was let out through the year, the lessee 
being required to keep down the grass under the trees so that the Department had 
no need of sending labour into that part of the Garden. Scrub among the Sago 
palms was cut over from time to time and the ditches kept open. A little revenue 
was got from the Sago. 
The number of economic plants sent out was 3,233, together with 629 packets 
of seed. While falling far short in number of the ornamental plants sent out, the 
despatch of economic plants shows a big increase: in 1914 it was 761 and in the 
following years it has been 1,094, 937* 2 *539> 2*367* until in 1919, 3,233. 
Labour upon the average 54 men, women or hoys were employed in the 
Economic Garden daily. The average numbers put to different kinds of work were 
34.42 to digging, weeding, and planting; 7.89 to keeping the grassy slopes ip 
order; 168 on plants in pots; .03 on seed-collecting; 1.25 on tree-cutting or 
pruning; 0.7300 sweeping; 2.72 on roads; 1. 57 on ditching; 4.37 in transferring 
to area Z of the Botanic Garden plants from the Economic Garden, and 1.55 on 
