108
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
available from two sources: the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund and the Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan Fund. Since the establish- ment of the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund in July 1954, farmers have received 6,117 loans totalling approximately $6,052,534, while 446 further loans totalling some $1,555,747 have similarly been made from the Vegetable Marketing Organization's Fund.
The main types of vegetables, both locally grown and imported, are shown below together with their average wholesale prices:
Average whole- sale price in cents
Piculs Tons
Locally-produced
White Cabbage . Flowering Cabbage
per catty
344,577 20,511
15
179,650 10,693
27
Leaf Mustard Cabbage
108,295 6,446
16
Chinese Lettuce...
70,323 4,186
13
Chinese Kale
69,508
4,137
22
29
Imported
Chinese Melon ...
10,522
626
15
Turnip
8,715
519
09
Tientsin Cabbage
8,001
476
21
Cucumber
5,527
329
11
Round Cabbage
5,303
316
16
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
The first appointment of a Registrar of Co-operative Societies was made in May 1950, and the combined Co-operative and Marketing Department (now known as the Co-operative Develop- ment Department) came into being in October of the same year. Since 1950 the Co-operative movement in Hong Kong has made rapid progress and is being accepted by an increasing number of persons, including peasant farmers and fishermen, as a sound and democratic method of improving their lot.
Inevitably, particularly among farmers and fishermen, the main weight of effort has been directed towards the physical formation of societies and towards ensuring that these are organizationally and economically sound. The next step, which can only be achieved over a period of years, will be the development of the existing societies into a fully effective co-operative movement.