221
saving several hundred small trees recently planted round the Police Stations. Two other parties were meanwhile counting and measuring the pine trees blown down in Government plantations in Hongkong and Kowloon, prior to their removal by the Government Contractors. These removals had nearly been completed by the end of the year. The total numbers of pine trees thus sold in each block are given in Table VIII. Besides these a large number of wild trees were disposed of in the same way, while four hundred uprooted Tristania trees were recovered and stored for use in the Government Store.
Forestry Licences.-In issuing Forestry Licences in the New Territories, notice has hitherto been given to the villagers of each neighbourhood so that all might be aware, if they took the trouble to attend to their business, what trees were being licensed and to whom. In spite of this, there have been quarrels in several cases between members of the same village in consequence of individual rights not being respected by the selected licensee. To obviate a recurrence of these disagreements a system of Village Forestry Licences was instituted, each village being apportioned as much pine plantation as was necessary to supply fuel for the use of the villagers, and trustworthy village representatives being chosen to draw and administer the licence. The whole issue of 421 Village Forestry Licences for 1906 was carried out by the Assistant Land Officer of the Northern District on behalf of this department. What plantations remained over and above those wanted for local use were, under this scheme, open to be let on Private Forestry Licences to any private individuals who could substantiate their claim to them. Eleven of these were issued during the year. The revenue accruing from these issues is stated in Table IX.
AGRICULTURAL AND OTHER INDUSTRIES,
Tea.-Tea is cultivated in several places in the New Territories, e.g., in the Shing Mun valley and at the villages lying in the higher mountain valleys about Tate's Cairn and Buffalo Hill. The bushes are grown in lines on narrow steps or terraces cut in the rich soil of recently felled woods or along the dividing banks of sheltered vegetable fields, in either case only in fairly elevated situations. There is a tradition that tea growing was once a thriving industry here and terraces similar to the above are pointed out on the mountain sides in all parts of the district, which are said to have been made by tea planters. Whether the cultivation has diminished through extortionate taxing previous to the British occupation or in consequence of the destruction of the woods and with them the suitable soil, it is hard to say, but the latter would alone account for it.
With the object of ascertaining whether the local tea had any commercial value, a sample was obtained from the village of Tiu Tso Ngam, lying in a valley behind Shatin at an altitude of about 1,000 feet. The sample was submitted to Professor DUNSTAN, Director of the Imperial Institute, who kindly furnished the following report upon it:-
Imperial Institute.
(South Kensington, London, S.W.)
Report on a sample of tea from Hongkong by Professor W. R. DUNSTAN, M.A.,
F.R.S., Director.
This sample of tea was forwarded to the Imperial Institute for examination by Mr. S. T. DUNN, Botanical and Forestry Department, Hongkong, with a letter dated the 14th December, 1905, stating that the product was from the Chinese in the village of Tiu Tso Ngam in the New Territory of Hongkong, at an elevation of 1,000 feet above the sea, and enclosing a photograph to illustrate the method of planting.
The
The sample has been examined in the Scientific and Technical Department of the Imperial Institute and has been submitted to commercial experts for valuation. results of the investigation are given below.
Description of Sample.
The sample consisted of about 101⁄2 ounces of leaves enclosed in a hermetically sealed tin. The leaves were dry and brittle, did not appear to have been rolled, and varied in colour from greenish-yellow to nearly black. A small proportion of hard, dry greenish brown flower buds was present among the leaves. The tea possessed a peculiar, sweet, but not altogether pleasant aroma and did not seem to have undergone the process of ferment- ation. A careful examination of the sample showed that no leaves other than those of genuine tea were present.