55
75. There are large oyster-beds in the shallow waters of Deep Bay: these oysters are pickled and sent in to Hongkong.
76. Most of the large junks employed in fishing round these shores come from Macao and Canton; but there is a good business in the building of junks and boats at various places in the New Territories. The chief business is carried on along the shores at Sham- shuipo and Cheung Sha Wan in the North-West of the Kowloon Peninsula, where the bulk of the boat-building of Hongkong is carried on; Cheung Chau, Tai O, Peng Chau and Hang Hau in the South District, and Kat O, Tapmun and Saikung in the North also have boat-building sheds, whence a few junks and a large number of small craft are turned
out.
77. Nets are made entirely by the fishermen and their families, the string being twisted out of a fibrous grass found on the hillsides.
(b.)-Other Industries.
71. Salt Pans for the manufacture of salt by evaporation from salt water are found in the New Territories at Tai O in Lantao,-37 acres; at Castlepeak, 32 acres, at Shin Wan near Taipo, 12 acres, and at Sha Tau Kok, less than one acre. During the early years of British administration the price of salt rose considerably in 1900 it was only 30 cents a picul; in 1908 it reached $1.20 a picul, and salt-makers came in for large profits. Since then however the price has fallen to about 70 cents a picul, chiefly owing to imports from the Northern coasts.
79. The New Territories are very rich in granite which appears chiefly in the form of granite boulders on the hillsides. By far the most important quarries are those which stretch Eastward along the North of Kowloon Bay as far as Lyeemun. They extend over about 100 acres and are leased to contractors for an average annual Crown Rent of $15,000: from these is supplied most of the granite now used in Hongkong. There are two other quarries, one on Chu Lu Kok to the North of Lantao, and the other near Lung Ku Tan between Castlepeak and Deep Bay: these sell their stone to Canton and the West River, mostly for paving stones. The quarry-men are nearly all Hakkas from Kweishin, who settle at the quarries until they have made some money and then return home.
80. Blue bricks are made in various parts of the Territory for local use, and in addition there is a growing export trade from works in the North of the Territory which send bricks by junk to Hongkong and Canton. Very few tiles were made in the Territory ten years ago but now there is a large and successful business in them: the two chief brickworks are at Muk Fu, near Sheung Shui on the Sham Chun river: each puts out about 75,000 bricks a month.
81. A more ambitious undertaking was started at Castlepeak about 1896 by a Hong- kong Company; it changed hands several times and about 1902 was fitted with expensive machinery, and increased its output to some 10,000 bricks a day: however these proved to be of inferior quality and no market could be found for them: about 1905 the works were closed and the place is now deserted.
82. Lime has long been made out of shells and rough coral throughout the whole Territory. The largest and most up to date kilns are on the island of Peng Chow near Lantao, but of late years the business at Peng Chow has fallen off, since the lime is not considered of good enough quality for Hongkong buildings. The small kilns, in which rough coral is burned into lime over pine or brushwood fires, are familiar features of the seashore everywhere. Unfortunately no limestone has been found in the Territories, and so the best lime has to be imported.
83. The only Potteries are at Wun Iu, near Taipo, about 400,000 pots, rice bowls and plates are here turned out every year, of an average value of 6 cash each; most of them are exported to Tam Shui in Chinese Territory; some also to Hongkong.
84. The manufacture of bean-stick, chiefly in Tsun Wan, dates back more than 50 years, but bas developed and increased especially during the last two or three years. The beans are imported from the North, and the bean-stick is made from the skin formed when they are boiled in pans: a large quantity is now shipped to America and elsewhere, and the local product seems now to be preferred to that manufactured in Canton and Singapore.