FORESTRY,
421
29. Ordinary work was accomplished in spite of, and in addition to, the very large amount of work which was thrown on the department by the plague of caterpillars at the beginning of summer, and the typhoons at its end, but during the periods of those calamitous events regular operations were temporarily suspended.
PLANTING.
30. The number of trees planted was smaller than in most previous years; this is accounted for chiefly by the gradual reduction of expenses which has been introduced now that available and suitable planting lands have been to a great extent filled up, and by the contractor having failed to produce the stipulated quantity of trees in consequence of losses in the nurseries which were sustained owing to much of the land having been flooded by storm water.
31. In the contract for rearing trees for planting in 1893 I had provided for a large number of Cunninghamia sinensis in place of a corresponding value of the ordinary pine. The contractor suc- ceeded in supplying 20,000 good trees of this kind, and they were planted and have done well so far. I purpose, as far as possible, to substitute this tree for the common pine in all future work.
32. Upwards of 1,000 trees of Liquedamber formosana were also planted, and they made excellent progress. I intended to use this tree more extensively, but there is some difficulty in obtaining sufficient seeds; for those which have been obtained I am indebted to Mr. F. S. A. BOURNE, H.M. Vice-Consul at Canton. A further supply of seeds was obtained in December, but, unfortunately, very few matured on the trees last year, consequently, instead of the large number of trees which I expected to have very few were obtained for planting in 1895.
33. Special attention was also given to Bischoffia javanica, an indigenous tree, about 600 having been planted.
34. The timber of Liquedamber is valuable for making tea-chests as no odour is given off which would taint the tea. The wood of Bischoffia is in request by local boat-builders, being valuable for junks' and boats' knees. Whether marketable timber can be produced in Hongkong in any quantity requires time to prove. In favoured situations, however, it is certain that good timber can be grown. One tree which was blown down by a typhoon sold for $5 where it laid.
As
35. The required supply of Cunninghamia seed failed last year, the reason which the contractor alleged for the failure being that the typhoons had destroyed the cones before the seeds were ripe. the seeds have hitherto been obtained from distant parts of the Kwangtung province I had no means of verifying his statement.
36. The usual planting statistics are given in appendix D.
FLOWERING OF BAMBOOS.
37. One species of bamboo (Bambusa Tulda, Roxb.) flowered more profusely and generally in Hongkong and Kowloon than in any previous year of my experience. It seeded, also, sparingly in some cases, but in most instances few or no seeds were ripened.
DESTRUCTION OF TREE-FERNS.
38. During the early period when the bubonic plague was prevalent the plants on the hills of a native tree-fern (Brainea insignis, Hook) were exposed to the risk of extermination by coolies who daily went to the hills to obtain supplies of the stems for medicine for the use of plague patients. I was informed that a decoction of the stems was made and used as a cooling beverage.
THINNING OF PLANTATIONS, &C., AND SALE OF FORESTRY PRODUCTS.
39. The thinning of plantations has kept pace with the requirements of the standing trees. The number of trees removed was 31,415 as against 31,643 of the previous year.. Of this number there were over a few hundreds of large old trees which were blown down by the October typhoon.
40. The revenue from forestry products was $770.22, an increase of nearly $200 on that of the year 1893. Statistics are given in appendix E.
PROTECTIVE SERVICE.
41. By the agency of the Forest Guards 106 cases of offences in the nature of damages to or des- truction of trees were dealt with by the Magistrates; 94 convictions were obtained. Fines amounting to $145 were paid by 36 convicted persons. The highest fine was $25, and the lowest $1.
42. The number of trees surreptitiously cut down, of which it has been possible to obtain records, was 606, not a large number when it is compared with the quantity of trees under conservation, but it is a slight increase over those of the previous year.