PRODUCTION AND MARKETING
soils. Production is maintained by skilled use of artificial and natural fertilizers, and the collection of matured nightsoil from the urban areas and its dis- tribution to the farming areas is now extremely well organized. Investigations into the use of city garbage for the manufacture of compost are being undertaken by the Urban Services Department and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry.
Agriculture in 1954. The rice crop suffered severe- ly from drought this year. In the drier areas the Agricultural Division assisted by pumping water to nursery beds and fields. Losses from insect damage were heavier than in normal years but were kept down by the vigilance of the pest control team of the Agricul- tural Division aided by commercial firms. The first rice crop was of average yield but there was an overall loss of 20% in the second rice crop as a result of typhoon damage at harvest time. Drought and typhoon, insect damage, disease in livestock, and the occurrence of foot and mouth disease for the first time, made 1954 a most difficult farming year.
Animal Husbandry. As the best land in the Colony is devoted to food crops and the hill country is too steep for grazing there is very little dairy farming and beef and sheep are not raised in the Colony. Local cattle are bred and used for ploughing and cultivation but not for transport. The local cattle are small and hardy beasts, highly suitable for work on the small terraced fields. Considerable numbers of pigs and poultry are raised on farms or by special breeders and the breeding of ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits and quail
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