15 
trampled too. A new footpath by the lake suggested itself as at once 
attractive and useful. So, in November, the bank was excavated to make 
it too steep to walk upon with comfort and along the bottom a laterite path, 
four feet wide and a foot above the water, was made to follow the edge of me 
lake. For the approach from the Main Gate Road tv r o flights of brick-steps 
were set in the bank, and they will serve also as seats from whence one 
may contemplate the waterlilies in dry weather. 
The avenue of kabong-palms, Arenga saccharifera, leading from 
Tyersall Gate to the Palm Valley was reconstructed. Several of the old 
palms that had died were removed, and the rest must follow their fate in 
a few years. After much disappointment, for the seedlings have a 
way of dying unaccountably, an avenue of young palms was established 
but, to compensate for their slow initial growth, a row of saplings of the 
Bignoniaceous tree, Stereospermum fimbriatum, was planted on each side. 
Prom its quick growth and lofty habit, an avenue composed of this species 
and of kabong-palms will mot be unbecoming. 
The collection of Hibiscus-varieties was re-organised by Mr. J. L. 
Pestana. Sixty-twO varieties were discovered in the Gardens. Plants of 
all these were placed in order in one long bed in the nursery and cuttings 
of 25 kinds, which had always been in demand, were put into separate beds. 
In the display of bushes by the Main Gate Road, 25 old plants were removed 
and new ones substituted, seven of which had been grafted and eight budded 
on to vigorous stocks. 
The collection of Gannas was re-organised by Mr. Nauen and Mr. 
Pestana. Fifty-four varieties were being grown by the end of the year, 
59 of which had been recently introduced. In the renewal of the beds by 
the Main Gate in December, some re-arrangement was considered advisable 
to show off the colours to the best advantage : a background of sombre 
foliage, for instance, is becoming to all but especially to the delicate shades. 
Four beds were closed and four new ones were made. The following were 
the new varieties obtained during the year :—Flag of Truce, Pride of Kuala 
Turn pur, Pride of Weld Hill, Mrs. Fierre Dupont, the President, Deep 
Pink, Johore, Louis Caillaux, Queen Mary, Milsum 1 and 2 (seedlings), 
Candelabra, Emily Milsum, Ruth Barrow, Copper Giant, Mrs. Hoover, 
Pestana 3, 4 and 5. The beds were labelled with the horticultural names 
of the different kinds. 
Another group of horticultural plants under consideration was the 
Ixoras which deserve greater prominence in brightening the big lawns 
sloping to the Main Gate Road. A new bed of Ixoras was planted just 
to the right of the main entrance and another oval bed at the foot of the 
lawn leading to the two mango-trees by the lake. For the same purpose 
some of the more vigorous and free-flowering varieties of Hibiscus were 
used to cover the gap created by the loss of the big Eugenia grandis by 
the Dell, though it must be admitted the clearance displayed to advantage 
the two trees of Filicium decipiens in the Dell, the beauty of whose feathery 
crowns had been entirely hidden. 
Among the more important additions for many years to the collections 
of special plants grown in the Gardens were two consignments of Japanese 
bamboos, received one in June, the other in December. For these the 
Gardens Department was indebted to the Department of Civil Engineering, 
Osaka, Japan, and to the Department of Forestry, Formosa : special thanks 
were offered also to the firm of the Consolidated Sango Koshi, Ltd.,, Singa¬ 
pore, and to Mr. Z. Teruya, Singapore, for assistance in delivering the 
specimens. The consignment included 19 species, none of which had been 
grown previously in the Gardens. Some of the species were dwarf-bamboos, 
others had variegated foliage or black stems. The first consignment was 
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