4 
suitable for the purpose than the Potting Yard, which is now used for the propa¬ 
gation of those plants which are available for sale to the public and for the supply 
of foliage and other plants for the Plant House. 
Three new houses were built on the Lawn X site during the year. One is a pot¬ 
ting shed with corrugated iron roof and brick bins for soil, compost, manure, etc. 
Of the other two one is roofed with corrugated aluminium sheet, with Perspex 
lights, and is used solely for new introductions or for propagating plants already in 
the collections which it is desired to remove to another situation. The other has a 
glass roof composed of units resembling large cloches, with external blinds of split 
bamboo for shade when necessary. This house has proved very suitable for the 
intermediate stages in growing orchid hybrid seedlings and there is some indica¬ 
tion that it may help in the problem of growing delicate exotic orchids which 
dislike the wet Singapore climate. It has also proved suitable for succulents. 
More orchid beds were constructed during the year and the old ones given 
fresh dressings of compost and manure. It is evident that these well-drained beds 
are at their best in wet weather, when the compost is maintained in a continually 
' moist condition, without, however, becoming sodden or water-logged. During 
any spell of dry weather the compost tends to become dry and powdery and in 
this condition is very difficult to moisten. The remedy is, obviously to have 
sprinklers working whenever rainfall is lacking, but at the moment the water supply 
is insufficient in quantity and pressure. 
Orchid hybridisation work continues to be pursued with vigour In order 
to take advantage of the most up-to-date technique, Mr. J. L. Pestana, Laboratory 
Assistant, was sent on a four months’ course to Honolulu, to study methods used 
by the large scale commercial growers there, with a view to adapting them to local 
conditions. 
The new orchid hybrids flowered during the year were described and figured 
in the 1950 issue of the Malayan Orchid Review. A noteworthy one was an^ra- 
chnopsis , which is the second of the bigeneric hybrids between Arachnis and 
Phalasnopsis to be recorded. It was named after Professor R. E Holttum The 
Vanda hybrid mentioned in the 1949 report as an attempted improvement on 
l anda Miss Joaquin has done well during the year in a bed. It has been christened 
V anda rrolific. 
The large number of orchid hybrids being handled necessitates somewhat 
elaborate records. A new card index, having three cards for each hybrid has 
been begun to keep track of each at all stages of its career. Full descriptions are 
made of each new hybrid that flowers and accurate coloured drawings made by 
the artist. 
The Botanic Gaidens has acquired, over many years, by exchange or by gift 
or collected by the members of the Department, many orchids both of local and of 
exotic origin which are usually of more interest to the botanist than to the orchid 
fancier. A collection of small local orchids is maintained in the Plant House where 
their diversity of form, habit and flower may be studied. Two exotic orchids’ which 
have been in the collections for many years without flowering, decided for some 
unknown reason to do so this year. One is Megaclinium purpureorachis a native 
of the Congo, which, like its name, is more curious than beautiful. The other is 
Angrcecum eburneum from Madagascar, which has a spike of large, long lasting 
white and green flowers. 
Although the main interest of orchid growers in Singapore, both amateur and 
professional, is in the cultivated kinds, several upcountry collectors studv native 
species and not infrequently make discoveries of new species or of species not 
