STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 
Paper to be l&id before the Legislative Council by Command 
of His Excellency the Governor. 
Annual Report on the Botanic Gardens and Forest 
Department, for the Year 1889. 
General Introduction. 
1. In accordance with a suggestion made last year, the Reports of the three 
Settlements of Malacca, Penang and Singapore have been this year amalgamated 
into one continuous report, instead of being published separately. This report is, 
perhaps, longer than usual on account of its containing more specific summaries of 
the contents of the forests and of their conditions at present. It is important now 
to look carefully into the state of the probable future supply of timber, and to see 
what can be done to replace that which has disappeared or soon will disappear. 
Wood is now being brought from long distances, and is even getting scarce there. 
The better class of timber, such as Billion Wangi, Tampines and Ballau, are fetching 
very large prices, when indeed they can be procured. The consumption of wood is 
very large, and must increase, as it plays so important a part in agriculture and com- 
merce, and in every way in which the resources of the Colony are to be developed. 
It is high time to commence re-planting on a large scale, and none of the Settle- 
ments is so suited for this as Malacca. The reasons for this are shewn in the section 
of the Report dealing with that Settlement. Timber is a slow-growing crop; general- 
ly speaking the slower it grows the more hard and valuable is the wood. No time 
is to be lost, therefore, In re-planting, if we are to have an adequate supply of timber 
in the near future. For smaller timber, such as poles, posts, rollers, &c., there is still 
a fair supply, but it is rapidly diminishing, and its increased cost is beginning to tell 
upon the cultivation of pepper and gambier already. For firewood, in Singapore, 
we must fall back on the mangrove swamps, of which, fortunately, a large portion have 
been conserved as forests. In Malacca, besides the mangrove, which is far less com- 
mon, some of the swamp lands produce plenty of Glam, and more is being planted, 
as it will grow in lands so wet that nothing else will grow there. In Penang, there 
is no mangrove nor glam swamp, but there is great plenty of forest therefrom which 
the needs of the place can easily be supplied. 
THE BOTANIC GARDENS, SINGAPORE. 
Introduction. 
2. During the past year, attempts have been made rather to get the Gardens 
into a better and cleaner condition than to attempt any large new work, and it now 
is easier to determine what large works the Gardens will, in future, require. There 
are several important works which the present staff of coolies and the present grant 
are insufficient for. A considerable portion of land lying behind the Director’s house 
and in the angle between the new road and Cluny Road is at present waste. The soil 
is good, and there is a quantity of water in the swamp in the angle. This spot could 
be made very beautiful and interesting, if taken in hand. There is sufficient water 
for a lake or small pond here, and a carriage road could easily be made from the 
upper part of the Gardens through this portion of the ground into the Cluny Road, 
forming an additional drive in this direction. 
It will also be very advantageous to have the Gardens properly fenced in. At 
present, in many places, there is no partition even to show where the Gardens end, 
and there is thus no means of keeping out trespassers, or really closing the Gardens at 
night. 
The water supply is another point which requires careful consideration. During 
dry years in the past, the watering of the Gardens has been most laborious, and 
some arrangement is wanted by which water can be laid on to all parts of the Gardens. 
Further development of the Experimental Garden is urgently required. This is 
still retained under the Forest Department, but would certainly be better transferred 
to the Gardens Department, as it has no longer any real connection with the forests. 
