78
PRIMARY PRODUCTION
of the Civil Service and established with funds loaned by Govern- ment. Another development of interest is the increasing appreciation by rural communities of the improvements they may make in their way of life by co-operation and the formation of 'Better Living Societies'. Several of these societies have successfully completed water supply and housing schemes, as well as community centres for their members.
A further source of credit to farmers who are members of co- operative societies is the J. E. Joseph Trust Fund. The fund is administered by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries as Registrar of Co-operative Societies, and since its establishment in 1954 some 40,000 loans totalling $15 million have been issued. A large number of societies operate their own revolving loan fund schemes which are steadily growing in size and effectiveness. The best examples can be found in fishermen's co-operative societies, 62 of which operate revolving loan funds with a total capital of some $1 million and a turnover of $200,000 a year. Yet a further source of credit is the World Refugee Year Loan Fund for Co- operative Societies with a capital of over $450,000. The fund is designed to provide loans for a wide variety of purposes of social or economic benefit to societies and their members. Up to the end of 1964 loans totalling $60,700,000 had been issued from this
source.
During the year four new co-operative societies were registered bringing the total on the register to 388. At present there are 15 different types of societies. A table showing the number of societies in being at 31st December 1964 with details of their membership, share capital, deposits and reserve funds will be found in Appen- dix XXII.
MINING
There is some mining in Hong Kong but with the exception of iron ore at Ma On Shan these are relatively small scale operations. Wolframite and graphite are mined underground and kaolin, feldspar and quartz by opencast methods and total annual produc- tion is about $800,000. All the feldspar and quartz and some of the kaolin is used in local industry.
There was little interest in wolframite during the year as the market price remained low and only one mine was in production.