GENERAL REPORT ON THE RESIDENCY OF SINGAPORE. 752 
a reaction afterwards and a deterioration of the fruit. The Chinese 
use night soil extensively on their vegetable gardens. Burnt earth 
as a compost is also not neglected, green manuring is also extensively 
had recourse to by nutmeg planters. Manure is generally kept in 
pits covered with red earth, to prevent the evaporation caused by 
the supposed desiccating effects of the climate, but I have observed 
the system of stacking the manure adopted on sugar estates. Vege¬ 
table matter procured from straw—grass &c.—and mixed with the 
animal manure, is much less had recourse to than in Europe ; its 
adoption in many parts where the coarse grass called lalang can be 
had in such abundance, would give a great accession to the means 
of the planter, in this department. By laying the mixture out in 
heaps, fermentation and consequent decomposition proceed rapidly 
—and the loss from evaporation will be less than would be expected 
from the heat of the climate, if the great humidity of it be con¬ 
sidered, and the rapidity with which the operation of fermentation 
can be gone thro/ Thus the atmosphere holds in suspension one 43d. 
of its weight of invisible steam, when the Thermometer stands at 82* 
Fahr. while at 50* Fahr. (the mean temperature of England) 
the air can only contain ^th of its weight in moisture in an 
invisible state, without forming clouds, mists or rains—now, 
in Singapore if the air contained only ,J 5 th of its weight in 
moisture, it would be injuriously dry—though in a climate 
of 50* Fahr. this would be the maximum of humidity, but we 
know the climate to be extremely humid, which must consequently 
so far check evaporation. Bats dung, obtained from caves in the 
coasts north of Pinang, has been used in slight quantities, the 
distance of carriage preventing its general adoption. The ashes of 
bones have also been long used by the Chinese of Malacca, for 
increasing the yield of their paddy fields, but I am not aware if 
the practice has extended to here. So much for the organic manure 
of vegetables and animals. Inorganic manure has not received the 
attention which its great influence on vegetable life has caused it 
to be held with the scientific agriculturists of Great Britain. The 
most easily obtainable of these, and the most extensive in applica¬ 
tion, lime, remains here entirely neglected, as far as I am aware. 
The want of calcareous matter in the granitic soils of Singapore, 
where the most valuable plantations exist, must be evident from the 
known scarcity of that substance in this formation, ranging in 
different kinds from .05 to .44 in the 100 ; on the stiff clays its well 
known opening and loosening qualities, would lead to the best 
results. So well are its virtues known, that on the stiff soils of 
England, it is usual to put 7 double cart loads to an acre every 
4 years, and to inform myself of its applicability here, I was led 
into the following enquiries regarding measures. I found that the 
standard rice gantong kindly sent me by Mr Dunman, contained 
229cubic inches, and the standard chupa 57>$j cubic inches. 
The standard coyan will consequently contain 183,341 188 cubic 
