6 
GOVERNMENT HOUSE DOMAIN 
The concrete plant house built during the Japanese occupation on the 
lawn in front of Government House was demolished and a lily pool con¬ 
structed on the same site. The demolition and new construction were done 
by the Public Works Department, while the staff of the Domain completed 
the levelling, turfed the area and extended the existing rock garden to 
surround the pool. Two pergolas, one on either side of the pool/ were 
put up by the P.W.D. and on them were planted Clematis and Mucuna 
Bennettii. 
A sufficient stock of plants in pots was maintained to enable them to 
be changed twice a week in Government House and other residences in the 
Domain. 
Various new plantings were made, including Pleiocarpa mutica, a West 
African plant which ‘flowers profusely in Singapore but which does not set 
seed and defies attempts to propagate it vegetatively. A plant of it was got 
from Kew and put out in the rectangle behind Government House, where 
it has made good growth. 
A few old trees were lost during the year. A very fine large Angsana 
near the back drive had to be severely pruned after a large branch had 
broken off during a storm. Fortunately the stump has sent out vigorous new 
shoots and the tree may eventually regain some of its former glory. 
NATURE RESERVES 
Important and timely legislation the Nature Reserves Ordinance No. 
15 of 1951, came into force early in the year, providing for the dedication 
and administration of certain lands in the Colony of Singapore as Nature 
Reserves. These lands include the former reserves at Bukit Timah, Kranji 
and Pandan, as well as the water catchment areas in the centre of the 
island and the cliff at Labrador, and are administered by trustees who 
constitute a Board of Management with the Director of Gardens as Chairman. 
