395
Des Vieux Road Temporary Market.-There has been a little improvment in the business done here but the improvement that was expected from the closing in 1903 of the licensed food shops in the central districts of the town has hardly been realized.
Western Market. There has been no improvement in the sanitary condition of this market nor can much be expected. At the close of the year the new market was nearing completion.
Mong-kol-tsui Market.— A new market has been cracted here to keep pace with the growth of the district. It was finished and handed over to the Board at the close of the year.
Dend fowls found in the market during the year were sent to the Government Bacte- riologist for examination for plague, but none were returned as infected.
Altogether 14 plague infected rats were found in the markets and were distributed as follows:-12 in the Western Market, 1 in the Sai Ying Pun Market and 1 in the Shek-tong- tsui Market.
Frozen meat to the extent of 618,162 lbs. has been imported from Australia by the Dairy Farm Company, Limited during the year. There can be little doubt that this has had a considerable effect on the amount of meat killed in Hongkong and explains to some extent the decrease in the numbers of cattle and sheep slaughtered.
ORDINANCE No. 15 or 1903.
Under this Ordinance 155 visits of inspection have been made to ships exporting more than 10 head of cattle from the Colony, and certificates have been granted as to the fitness of these ships to carry cattle. In the great majority of instances the visit is a purely formal one since these ships are nearly all permanently fitted to carry cattle and it is to the interest of the shipowner as well as the cattle shipper to see that these fittings are maintained. The shipping companies have been uniformly kind enough to put a launch at my disposal when going to and from their ships.
NEW TERRITORY.
At
There were no outbreaks of infectious disease among cattle in the New Territory. Sheong Sui an epidemic of fowl cholera occurre but on adopting the same procedure, viz., stopping all the traffic in fowls in and out of the village, as in a similar outbreak in the same village in 1904, the disease did not extend further.
STAFF.
Kennedy Tonen- The Animals Depôts and Slaughter House bave been in charge of Senior Inspector WATSON and Inspector Corros.
Mr. WONG KIN Tsor resigned his appointment as shroff and was succeeded by Mr. YUNG KAI Ü.
Inspector of Markets, Kowloon.—Inspector ROGERS returned from leave in March and took over the work which was then being done by Inspector Brett.
Inspector of Markets, Hongkong.-Inspector BRETT went on leave in March and his duties were distributed between Inspector ROGERS and Mr. JOHANSSEN, Overseer of the Central Marker. At the end of the year, Inspector BRETT was still on leave.
ADAM GIBSON, M.R.C.V.S.