PUBLIC HEALTH AND URBAN SERVICES
these areas, which now total roughly 382 acres, a regular force of 155 gardeners, park-keepers and groundsmen is engaged with the seasonal services of a further 183 unskilled workers.
In the early part of the year, two parks with adequate spaces for games but with special facilities for the comfort of the aged were opened to the public- the King George V Memorial Parks in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Although a site had been allocated for a park in Hong Kong, work was not started until late in 1953.
Two major development planting schemes were in hand at the close of the year. One is the construction of the football pitch and grassed arena in the modern sports stadium being built at Sookunpoo to accom- modate nearly 30,000 persons, and the other is the construction of a sports ground on top of the roof of a service reservoir.
The horticultural section has three main nurseries for the production of ornamental plants to supply the needs of the Division, and for sale to the public. Several thousand plants are grown in pots each year for official decoration purposes, and for non-competitive displays at agricultural-horticultural shows. An inspection ser- vice of live plants and plant products leaving the colony is maintained by this section.
The botanical section is primarily concerned with the care of the colonial herbarium which is housed in an air-conditioned room in the University. The collec- tion comprises some 26,000 specimens, and is largely
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