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INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS.
As the life of Hongkong ceatres round the harbour its internal communications are largely by water. Regular ferry services cross the harbour in various directions, and in addition there is a large fleet of launches owned by commercial firms, and numerous motor boats, sampans, etc., plying for hire.
On the island there is an electric tram service, the lines raoning along the south side of the harbour for practically the whole length of the island; the steepness and proximity of the bills renders any lateral development of this system inpossible.
There is also a funicular tramway running from the lower levels up to the residential areas on the Peak, the upper terminus being at a level of 1,300 feet.
There is a plentiful supply of rickshas and sedan chairs,
During the last few years it has been the policy of the Government to develop the outlying portions of the Colony by the making of roads suitable for motor traffic, and many new areas are being rendered suit- able for residential purposes in this way.
The extension of suitable roads has led to a large increase in the use of motor care and, more recently, of motor buses both on the island and on the mainland,
The establishment of an electric tramway system on the mainland is now under consideration.
NATURAL RESOUROES.
The mineral resources of the New Territories appear to be valuable but little has actually been done towards their development, Iron, tin, wolfram and lead have been found in useful quantities and promise well for those who are interested in their production, but coal and limestone have not at present been found in workable quantities and this has tended to hamper development.
The demand for tungsten during the war led to the discovery of tuugaten ores in the New Territories and in adjoining parts of China, but with the end of the war interest in these seems to have completely eeased. It is quite possible that other minerals may yet be discovered in the New Territories, A proper geological survey of this district, which is contemplated, should well repay the cost which it would involve, besides being of general scientific interest.
The Colony's greatest asset from the point of view of the develop- ment of industries is the practically inexhaustible supply of labour from the neighbouring districts of China.
AGRICULTURAL.
Agriculture is almost entirely in the hands of the Chinese. The staple crop is rice of which two harvests each year are obtained in the better low-lying lands and one in places where the water supply is not sa abundant. Ground-nuts and sugar-cane are also grown on the higher cultivated lands. The land on the whole is poor and cannot compete with the rich lands of the Canton Delta where plentiful crops of fruit
such as oranges, bananas, lichees, pumelos, and other crops such as tobacco, mulberries for the feeding of silk worms, palm leaves for the making of fans, etc., are produced.
Scientific research might do much to improve the standard of agriculture in the Colony and in South China generally, but so far little has been done in this direction with the exception of the experiments carried out at the experimental garden of the Botanical and Forestry Department at Sheung Shui and by Sir Robert and Lady Ho Tung on their large farm at Fanling in the New Territories.
Efforts to improve the quality of locally grown fruits are being made by the Botanical and Forestry Department, which maintains an experi- mental garden at Sheung Shui where such fruits as improved Pineapple, Custard apple, Banana. Fig are grown under scientific methods of culture.
English vegetables and salads are also grown, with the idea of inducing the local market gardeners to take up the growing of these commodities by the latest methods.
There is a great demand for a higher grade of fruit and vegetables among the European population, but up to the present local growers are able to find a ready sale for the low-grade fruits and vegetables produced, so that little attention is paid to improved methods of fruit and vegetable growing,
The experimental garden is open at all times to visitors and all plants and trees are labelled in English and Chinese.
The only large agricultural enterprise managed by Europeans is that of the Dairy Farm Company. This Company has imported a large stock of foreign cattle and affords the Colony an excellent supply of fresh milk. It imports and breeds pigs for local consumption.
There are a few smaller dairy companies chiefly managed by Chinese and Indians.
Much might be done by the application of scientific methods to improve the live stock of the Colony, consisting principally of pigs, poultry, and cattle in that order of importance. The establishment of a Government Experimental Station in the New Territories for this purpose has been suggested.
FORESTRY.
The bills of Hongkong and of the New Territories are composed for the most part of weathered granite and other igneous rocks and are covered with coarse grass. Very few trees exist except in the neigh- bourhood of certain villages, where the woods have a semi-religious significance, and in places where plantations of pines have been made by Government.
There is ample evidence of the economic possibilities of forestry, but little can be done on a large scale without the sympathy and co- operation of the villagers, which it is now the policy of the Government to enlist.
As in all forestry work it is necessary to look to the future and not to expect quick returns.
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