104
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
maturation and distribution of night-soil to farmers at a very low price.
Cheap credit facilities for the improvement and encourage- ment of agriculture under the control of the Director of Marketing are available from two sources-the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund and the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. Since the establishment of the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund in July 1954, farmers have received 7,411 loans, total- ling $1,648,751, whilst further loans, totalling $862,954, have been made from the Vegetable Marketing Organization's fund.
The main types of vegetables grown locally and imported are shown below together with average wholesale prices :
Locally-Produced
Average Wholesale price 4 per catty
Piculs Tons
White cabbage
......
297,384 17,701
14
Flowering cabbage
...
99,286 5,910
20
Turnips
89,887 5,350
8
Leaf Mustard
cabbage
68,245
4,062
13
Chinese Lettuce ......
52,156
3,105
10
Imported
Tientsin cabbage
17,700
1,054
16
Sweet potatoes
17,199
1,024
10
Taros
9,901
589
16
Chinese melon
8,483
505
10
Hairy squash
8,359
498
17
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
The first appointment of a Registrar of Co-operatives was made in May 1950 and the combined Co-operative & Market- ing Department came into being in August of the same year. Since that date the Co-operative movement in Hong Kong has made rapid progress, and is being accepted by an increas- ing number of persons, particularly farmers and fishermen, as a sound and democratic method of improving their lot.