7 
5. There were 15 prosecutions for trespass on the Reserves, viz, : — 
Bukit Goa Ipoh ... ... 6 
,, Goa Gem pass ... ... 6 
„ Langkap ... ... 2 
,, Gajah Mati ... ... 1 
The fines ranged from $5 to $100, and the total realised amounted to $345. 
6. There were no fires of any importance. 
7. The Kubang lllu Experimental Gardens are still in the experimental stage. 
No use has been made of them. 
W. PEEL, 
Acting District Officer. 
Southern District. 
1. There is only one area in the Southern District containing 1,471 acres and 
2 poles, which has been set apart for the purpose of forming a Forest Reserve. 
This is situated on and round Bukit Panchor Hill and is contiguous to the Kedah 
Boundary. The Reserve is known as the Bukit Panchor Forest Reserve. 
2. The Reserve was visited five times by the District Officer during the year, viz : 
on 14th April, 28th June, 7th July, 1 6th July and 1 8th August, and eight times by the 
Forest Ranger. 
It is visited daily by the Forest Guard unless engaged in other duties and he 
keeps a diary of his inspections. 
3. There were four prosecutions for timber cutting in the Forest Reserve and the 
offenders were all convicted before a Magistrate. The culprits were all Chinese work- 
ing on the lands surrounding the Forest Reserve and the offences only amounted to 
pettv thefts of the smaller kinds of trees. The Forest Guard lives, however, too far 
from the Forest Reserve to be able really to keep an efficient check on such thetts 
arid it would be of a great advantage if a house could he erected for him near the 
Reservoir which would ensure his always being on the spot. 
4. There is a large stock of valuable timber on the island of Pulo Kra which is 
not included in any Forest Reserve. All this timber grows on Crown land and should 
be maintained as far as possible. Passes were formerly granted to the inhabitants of 
the island to cut some of the less valuable trees for the purposes of their houses, but 
during the middle of the year it was found that it was impossible to keep a check on 
the timber cut under cover of the pass ; thus a pass was granted permitting the cut- 
ting of the poorer timber but advantage was taken to fell the more valuable woods. 
As there are no Government servants on the island except the police it was very 
difficult to hinder this practice. All passes were therefore stopped : this led to an 
open system of theft of the timber. Timber was openly felled and brought into the 
village with the connivance of the police. In October a prosecution was accordingly 
instituted against three men for theft of Government timber from the island and they 
were all fined ; the conduct of the police was also brought to the notice of the police 
authorities and as a result all the police on the island were changed, and an entirely 
new batch quartered there. 
5. The chief use of the Bukit Panchor Forest Reserve appears to be that it 
covers the catchment area of the Bukit Panchor Reservoir which supplies the village 
of Nibong Tebal with water. It therefore affords an easy method of ensuring the 
purity of the water. The Reserve though it contains much valuable timber is too 
small to ever really afford much profit from the cultivation and sale of the woods 
growing therein. During the year a path was cleared round the whole of the Reserve 
and on the 18th August I walked right round the Reserve accompanied by the Forest 
Guard ; such of the Boundary pillars erected on the Boundary line between Kedah 
and this district as fall in the Reserve were found to be in good repair. 
6. There are still some kampong lands planted chiefly with durians and betel- 
nuts situated in the Reserve. During the earlv part of the year the owners of these 
lands, who are all Malays, were given by Government in cash half the estimated value 
of these lands in return for the surrender of their title deeds, and it was proposed to 
grant to them in lieu of their former titles in devisable and inalienable leases. It has 
