AGRICULTURE OF SINGAPORE. 
511 
plastic. Of all the sedimentary soils the sandstone and very arena¬ 
ceous shales furnish the worst'. Of the alluvial soils, the sand, 
particularly when it contains a mixture of vegetable matter or 
triturated shells, is the proper soil of the cocoanut, and the vegetable 
mud of the sago. When the country has been better and longer 
drained and cultivated, the latter soil will become a rich mould. 
At present it is every where too wet and sour to make a fertile 
soil. Rice is grown on some patches of it. The bluish sea mtid 
contains good ingredients, but clay is in excess, and the animal matter 
in it appears to assist in rendering it hard and untractable when it 
is not saturated with water. Even for such a soil nature has pro¬ 
vided plants useful to man, for the betelnut and some of the 
indigenous fruit trees grow well in it with little cultivation. Although 
there are cultivated plants adapted to every kind of soil in the 
district, and it has indigenous tribes who can live exclusively on its 
yams, sago, fish and wild ^animals, it is incapable of feeding a 
population of the more civilised races, and the latter must always be 
dependent on other countries for the great necessary of life—rice. 
The rocks which are used for economical purposes are not numerous. 
The only edible one is the fine clay called anvpo, which is made 
into thin cakes, smoked and kept for use. The iron gravel and 
rocks have, during late years, been extensively used for metalling 
the roads in and near town. They soon acquire a compact, and hard 
smooth surface. The plutonic rocks and the indurated sandstones 
and conglomerates are used for the foundations of houses. La- 
teritic stones are sometimes used by the Malays as pedestals for 
the posts on which their small houses rest. Granite is used for 
steps, mile stones, tomb stones, &c. Of the blueish alluvial clays 
the bricks and tiles are made of which the tow of Singapore is 
built. The fine kaolin which abounds has been found the best 
adapted of any in India for the manufacture of porcelain, but no 
manufactory has ever been established.* 
* See Dr O’Shanghnessy’s Report of experiments made by him for Government. 
The following Is an extract. 11 Singapore Clays: Ey far the best clay I have 
met, is that given me by Captain Haisted, and" which he procured at Singapore. 
It occurs as I am informed, close to the beach, and the Messrs Lackersteen of 
Calcutta inform me, it can be brought to Calcutta for six annas themaund. 
This clay is found in thick strata. The detached masses are of a pink tint, bro¬ 
ken into they contain nodules of perfectly white earth. They absorb water eagerly, 
and yield an exceedingly soft, ductile, aud tenacious paste. 
On firing, this clay is found to resist a temperature sufficient to fuse English 
blue pots. The vessels made from the coarsest parts of this clay are strong, hard, 
of a beautiful and rich crimson colour. The picked clay gives asnow- 
Specimen. white biscuit; unpicked and simply worked up as it is dug, it gives a 
light yellow stoneware of the very best kind, as far as density, hard¬ 
ness, strength, lightness, and colour are concerned.-’ 
