wood is used for making plough frames. Lungan timber is also valuable being used in junk building. Lemons and grape-fruit do well and it is hoped in due course to be able to extend their cultivation.
As far as livestock are concerned the farmer keeps cattle and buffalo purely for draught purposes. There is hardly any dairy farming except near Kowloon and in Hong Kong. Cattle for slaughter are almost entirely imported except for the occasional beast sold by local farmers due to old age or injury. During the course of the year there has been a rapid increase in poultry farming and pig keeping and there are signs that these two types of farming may assume very much greater importance in future.
Agricultural Department
Before the War there was no Agricultural Department, although plans had been prepared in 1941 for its formation. The department was eventually formed in 1946 and has steadily grown, and to-day consists of two Divisions, the Agricultural Division and the Animal Husbandry Division. Amongst the duties of the Agricultural Division are the making of simple field trials at agricultural stations, the production of paddy seed of certain varieties proved suitable for the Colony, and the examination of possibilities of various economic crops. A survey is being carried out to examine the conditions and methods of agriculture in the Colony. There is also a service for the distribution of nightsoil to farmers, particularly vegetable farmers who use this fertilizer extensively, but the demand is far greater than the supply.
The importance of the Animal Husbandry Division is growing very rapidly and the farmers appreciate the service made available to them. A campaign for the control of rinderpest, an endemic disease in Hong Kong, was started in July and was completed by the end of October. It is estimated that 90% of the cattle and buffalo of the Colony were immunized through the use of lapinised vaccine. This vaccine was produced locally by the Veterinary Officer using a strain of batch No. 827 which was brought from Bangkok with the help of F.A.O. and kept going by passage through rabbits. After a rather shaky start excellent co-operation was received from farmers when they realised that their stock suffered no ill effects as a result of being inoculated. Hog cholera, another very common disease,
disease, has been successfully attacked by the use of crystal violet vaccine. A great deal of work is also being done in combating poultry diseases such as new castle disease, fowl disease, fowl cholera, typhoid and laryngo-trachitis.
There is a pig breeding station at Sheung Shui where the Berkshire breed is being used to cross with the local
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