3 
had even then long outlived any usefulness it may ever have had. The last 
set of by-laws it issued was made in 1922 [No. 8395/22] and with the demise 
of the committee it became impossible to bring the by-laws up-to-date or to 
alter them in any way. In fact such by-laws as may have remained desirable 
were probably unenforceable in law. No committee, no by-laws. This nice 
legal tangle was resolved by the repeal of the Raffles Societies Ordinance 
and the enactment, so far as the Botanic Gardens were concerned, of the 
Botanic Gardens Ordinance, No. 32 of 1957, under which the Department 
is administered in the same manner as any other Government Department, 
the management and control being vested in the Director instead of in a 
Committee. The Ordinance received assent on 19th September. 
12. The Ordinance authorises the appointment of officers to have the 
powers of a police officer within the Gardens, and a set of Rules for the 
management and control of the Gardens has been drafted and submitted for 
approval by the Chief Secretary and presentation to the Legislative Assembly. 
V. BUILDINGS AND ROADS 
13. There has been no change in any of the office buildings except 
that the “lower office” window shutters and louvres were sealed for air- 
conditioning. This room now houses about 40 per cent of the Department’s 
library. The Assistant Director’s house was redecorated inside and out and 
the roof tiles renovated. The Office Ring Road and the Main Gate Road 
were patched, but all the roads are showing signs of wear and need attention. 
The P.W.D. is expected to do this work next year. 
14. The above items were done by the P.W.D. The following were 
carried out with Gardens’ resources. The pergola with concrete pillars on 
Lawn O collapsed early in the year and was reconstructed with tanalised 
timber crossbeams. The propagating house on Lawn T was repaired and pot 
benches replaced. Two glass houses at the Potting Yard were temporarily 
repaired by the Gardens’ carpenter and mason. One new orchid house was 
built using corrugated aluminium for the roof with “Perspex” skylights; a 
slatted flat roofed house for hanging strap-leaved Vandas was made and 
repairs were done to the slatted roof and benches for the orchid species col¬ 
lection in the old bear pits. The airconditioned glass house put up in the 
garden of the Director’s quarters proved to be impracticable. By day it 
became a sun-trap and considerably more powerful equipment would be 
necessary to enable control to be exercised over its internal atmosphere. The 
airconditioning unit was condemned as beyond repair and the whole struc¬ 
ture dismantled. The house itself was re-erected in the orchid enclosure for 
the expanding collection of succulents using the glass only for the roof and 
the upper part of the sidewalls. 
15. Excavation for a large lily pond in the quadrangle of the plant house 
was begun. 
16. The Gardens have no satisfactory perimeter fence and in the 
absence of any allocation of funds to construct one, a 5-strand barbed wire 
fence was put up. The boundary hedge has become very ragged with 
age and competition from nearby trees and is full of holes made or enlarged 
by urchins pushing their way through. Though the barbed wire fence will 
not keep out anyone determined to gain improper entry, it will discourage 
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