of these slow-growing trees were cut down during the Japanese occupation. Lemons and grape-fruit do well and it is hoped to extend their cultivation. The local pomelo is of poor quality but the trees are worth growing if only for the fragrance of their large flowers.
Before the war it was estimated that only about one-fifth of the vegetables consumed in the cities of Kowloon and Hong Kong was grown in the Territories. It has been the primary ob- ject of the Agricultural Department to increase this fraction. That the methods adopted have not been without success may be judged from the fact that even though the population of the Colony is vastly greater than in the Autumn of 1937-when the war between China and Japan first affected Hong Kong and refugees poured across the border-the fraction of home-grown vegetables is now probably nearer half the total consumption.
The Agricultural Department.
Before the war there was no Agricultural Department, though plans had been prepared in 1941 for such a venture. The De- partment was eventually formed in 1946 and consisted of one tem- porary Agricultural Officer (expatriate), two qualified Chinese Assistant Agricultural Officers and one unqualified Agricultural Assistant. The Department now consists of two expatriate Agricultural Officers, eight qualified Chinese Assistant Agricultural Officers and a clerical staff. The Department is divided into two divisions namely (a) Agricultural Division (b) Animal Husband- ary Division, which although they have their own staff naturally have to work in very close co-operation.
In the life of the poor Chinese, comprising the bulk of the population, the first factor is rice, which is mainly imported; the second firewood, again almost entirely imported; and the third vegetables. Before the war probably four-fifths of the vegetables consumed in the Colony were imported. Those responsible for planning the new department considered that if the first object of the department were to increase vegetable production both in quantity and quality, to facilitate its collection, marketing and sale and to keep the price low, then the people would benefit greatly.
Wholesale Vegetable Market.
With these objects in view the Wholesale Vegetable Market was opened in Kowloon in mid-September 1946 and remained an activity of the Agricultural Department until September 1948 when the scheme was incorporated into a separate government department. All vegetables produced in the New Territories and
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