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obtainable. Every endeavour is to be made by 
the Department of Agriculture . to obtain suitable 
botanical specimens for purposes of identification. 
The Ministry further state that it is at present too 
early to answer definitely as to the probable demand 
for the product; but there is no doubt that Derris 
has valuable insecticidal properties and that it will 
take its place among the older insecticides, if it is 
handled in a sound manner from the commercial 
point of view. 
Native Agriculture, other than the cultivation 
Agriculture, of rubber, coconuts and padi, as car- 
ried on in this country, consists of 
“ mixed farming/’ If is almost entirely in the 
hands of the Chinese and Malays. Near all large 
centres of population are found Chinese market 
gardeners who supply the local markets with vege- 
tables, and in some cases send their produce to the 
larger towns in the Peninsula. Such cultivation is 
conducted under Chinese methods, which carry with 
them obvious objections. The Chinese have also 
been the pioneers in numerous other crops ; of which 
tapioca, pineapples and, formerly, gambier arid 
pepper are the more important. Tapioca is less 
cultivated than was the case a few years back, 
owing to the fact that the land has been " worked 
out ” and, in most cases, has since been planted with 
rubber. Pineapple canning — a Chinese industry in 
Singapore — has diminished, for the canners find 
difficulty in obtaining sufficient pineapples to keep 
their factories working. Cultivators, on the other 
hand, are less inclined to plant pineapples, as they 
impoverish the soil. There has, however, been a 
revival recently in this cultivation. 
