72
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
widely. Eucalyptus and American Pinus species (P taeda and P elliottii), are among the most promising. The department main- tains nurseries in the New Territories, most seedlings now being raised in polythene tubes, instead of in open nursery beds.
Planting usually starts in spring and continues until June or July. Trees planted after July usually have too short a period to become well established before the onset of the dry season. Unseasonal rains this January made possible an exceptionally early start and 103 acres were planted in the first quarter of the year. Favourable weather continued in June and a total of 230 acres were planted for the year. Another 296,000 trees were replanted, mostly in plantations destroyed by fire in the previous year. There is a con- stant threat of fire during the dry season and careful precautions have to be taken with lookouts placed strategically on hills and connected by field telephone to control points where men, equip- ment and transport stand by.
FISHING
-
Marine fish is one of Hong Kong's main primary products and the fishing fleet is the largest of any port in the Commonwealth. The number of fishermen at the 1961 census was over 40,000 and there is a fleet of nearly 10,000 vessels. Government's aim is to foster orderly expansion and development of the fishing industry, to increase supplies of fish and to improve the economic status of those engaged in the industry.
In July 1964, the two departments responsible for the welfare of the Colony's primary industries-namely the Co-operative Develop- ment and Fisheries Department and the Agriculture and Forestry Department-were amalgamated to form the Agriculture and Fisheries Department. Within the new department a Fisheries Service was formed consisting of five main divisions: Extension, Research, Co-operation (including Marketing and Credit) and Education.
Extension work includes investigations into and demonstrations of fishing methods, craft and fishing gear; the introduction of new fishing techniques; the promotion and sound development of a mechanization programme; the training of fishermen for certificates of competency as masters and engineers; the instruction of local