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further experiments will be made. An official mineralogical
survey might be desirable but it seems improbable that the results would be worth the expense involved.
8. The industry which would appear to offer the
best prospects of success is silk-spinning. The silkworm from which the pongee silk is obtained feeds on the scrub- oak which grows freely on the hills and a considerable amount of raw silk is produced. At present this is shipped to the filatures at Chefoo but I understand that capital
would be forthcoming for the establishment of one or more filatures at Weihaiwei subject to the ever-present condition
of security of temire. In this connection I would invite
attention to Mr. S. T. Dunn's report on the Agricultural and
Afforestation possibilities of Weiheiwei (dated 15th
January, 1904) in which he points out the possibilities of
the development of this industry. It might be profitable,
owing to the freedom of the port, to import cocoons from
Manchuria, as he suggests, but in any case a very consider-
able supply should be readily obtainable from the leased
territory itself and from the districts just beyond the
border. An extension of the existing plantations of scrub-
oak either by Government on Government land or by
cultivators, assisted by small loans from Government, on
their own land and perhaps some improvement of the roads
to the border should be all that is necessary to establish
the industry on a firm basis.
9. The export of salted fish should also be
capable of considerable expansion. The local salt-pans already provide large quantities of salt and they could be very largely extended if some money were spent on them.
10.
The manufacture of hair-nets, which is a
considerable industry in Chefoo, has already been tried on a small scale and it seems not impossible that with the introduction of a fair amount of capital, Weihaiwei might,
owing