20 
6 . The following trees have been planted permanently in the Garden— (a) for 
timber supply or stock, (b) for shade purposes or experiment: — - 
(a ) — Mentangor bunga [Chry sophy Hum spi), ... ... 35° 
Tampines (Slcytia sideroxylon),. . . ... ... 275 
^ {b )- — Buah keras, (Aleurites molluccensis) } ... ... 32 
Cacao (Theobroma cacao), ... ... ... 32 
Cloves (. Eugenia caryophyiiata ), ... ... 43 
Nutmegs (My ristica fra grans), ... ... 105 
Tea — hybrid Assam ( Camellia thea var.), ... 838 
Total, ... 1,675 
Expe rim ental Cultiya tio n . 
7. Cloves ( Eugenia caryophyiiata) has been cultivated with success from 
the nursery-bed to the commercial product. The plant is well adapted for general 
cultivation, and if taken up by Natives would form an important subsidiary industry. 
The market price of cloves compares favourably with pepper, while the cost of pro- 
duction of the latter is four times higher than the former. Planted on high land 
where the roots cannot reach water, and without shade, cloves flower in about four 
years. The commercial product is the unopened flower-bud which should be dried 
in a partially shaded place, and when dried, the product is ready for market. Some 
of the Garden trees planted in 1888 are now 15 feet high and are flowering freely. 
From seeds collected in January, a stock of 1,758 plants have been raised. Of 
these, 43 have been planted, 735 sold, and the remainder 960 will be sold when 
strong enough. 
8, Nutmegs ( Myristica frag vans) grow well in the Settlement with liberal 
cultivation, but are not of easy culture in the young stage, and have the further 
disadvantage of taking from 8 to 10 years before fruiting. During the year, 
105 plants have been planted, and 795 plants sold. 
g. Tea Hybrid Assam ( Camellia thea var.). — About one-third of an acre of land 
has been cleared and planted with tea, (838 plants) raised from seeds grown in the 
Garden. The young plants are growing freely and promise well. The stock plants, 
two years ago, suffered from the attacks of white ants, but have been free from this 
pest throughout the year. 
10, Liberian coffee ( Cojfea liberica). — Several attempts have been made in the 
Settlement to grow coffee on abandoned tapioca lands, as might be expected, without 
success. Some splendid specimens may be seen wherever the attempt has been 
made, proving, beyond doubt, the hardihood and adaptability of the plant to the soil 
and climate, if cultivated under suitable conditions. 
A few plants have been maintained at the Garden as stock plants, 400 young 
plants sold, and a supply of seedlings raised for general distribution. 
11. Mauritius hemp (Fourcroya cubensis). — Fibre producing plants might be 
cultivated with advantage on much of the land in Malacca now covered with brush- 
wood and which is too poor for such a crop as coffee. A suitable plant must be a 
lover of shade, as the brushwood once felled— bearing in mind the poverty of the soils 
referred to— such lands soon become too arid and impoverished to sustain a crop more 
than two or three years. Mauritius hemp has not proved itself to be adapted to 
these conditions ; about ten per cent, produce long leaves, and the remainder pole 
before the leaves are long enough to be valuable for fibre. 
Miscellaneous Plants . 
12. West Indian crabwood (Carapa guvanensis) ; Satin wood (Chloroxylon 
swietenia) ; Cuba least (Pantium elatum) ; Balsam of Copaiva (Copaifera gors- 
kiana) have all grown well, and a tree of Camphor ( Cinnamomun camphora ) is 
now floweringa 
13, Pine-apple fibre ( Ananassa sativa var.) — Experiments on this and on the fibre 
of Musa sumatrana (Pisang Karok) were made during the year, a report on which 
will be published in the next Bulletin. 
• * 
'Hr mi 
