HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1952
On land unsuited to rice other crops may be grown, such as sugar-cane and ground-nuts. Vegetables are grown extensively during the winter. A great quantity of sweet potatoes is also grown during the winter for pig food. During the summer, vegetables are cultivated on a limited scale and Hong Kong is dependent to a greater extent on imported
on imported vegetables during this
season.
During the Japanese occupation of the Colony practically all the fruit orchards suffered heavily, being either cut down or badly neglected. Most of the fruit trees planted are lychee, lung-ngan, papaya, guava and citrus fruit such as oranges, lemons and pomelos.
There is very little dairy farming. Local cattle and buffalo are used purely for draught purposes, for ploughing and harrowing, but not for transport. They are small and hardy beasts, eminently suitable for work in the small terraced fields of the Colony.
Meat consumed in the Colony is mainly imported. Beef, especially, is expensive and is in any case not a traditional item of the ordinary man's diet. Pig farmers have been affected by a rise in the price of feeding stuffs during the past year but, in spite of this, pig farming ,remains an important industry in the Colony. Poultry keepers, too, have had a difficult year owing to the high cost of production, and some of them are raising quail, rabbits and pigeons in addition.
Agricultural Department
The Agricultural Department was formed in 1946, and its growth and development have been rapid. There are six agricultural stations in the Colony. These are situated at Tsun Wan, Sheung Shui, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Sai Kung on the mainland, and at Silver Mine
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