50
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
by invasion of the sea, and, in general, to repair the damage was beyond village resources.
Gradual progress is now being made, with Government assist- ance and encouragement, in repairing these several decades of neglect, and agriculture, which had formerly tended to become subsidiary to other more exciting and profitable jobs, is gradually regaining its previous importance.
Since 1952 industries have been set up on an increasingly large scale in various parts of the New Territories. The Tsuen Wan area, which has been most affected, has developed from a group of old-fashioned villages into a large industrial town mainly occu- pied in the manufacture of textiles. Industry has also spread to Sha Tin and Castle Peak. New Territories people have not, how- ever, been much attracted by factory work. Most of the workers engaged are from Hong Kong or Kowloon, with a strong element in Tsuen Wan of Shanghai refugee labour. The large iron mine situated in the hills beneath the peak of Ma On Shan employs almost entirely immigrant labour from North China. Other smaller mines employ local labour.
The industries more truly typical of the New Territories are the operation of salt pans, the preparation of salt-fish, fish-paste, beancurd, soya sauce and preserved fruits, the burning of coral and sea-shells for lime, brick manufacture, shipbuilding and re- pairing, stone quarrying and leather manufacture. On Peng Chau, in the Southern District, there is a match factory for which, as a sideline occupation, villagers on neighbouring islands make hand- prepared match-boxes. In all the fishing towns a substantial section of the land population earns a livelihood by providing restaurants and shops, chiefly used by the floating population.