F.-Revenue Felling.-The timber sold during the year was small in quantity and consisted chiefly of small patches of trees whose removal was necessary for public or other works. A revenue of $1,367 was obtained by the sale of 1,695 mature trees and $1,647 from thinnings.
G-Planting and care of Road-side Trees.-The planting programme was continued in the new roads at Kowloon. The planting of bamboos on the more exposed roads at the Peak was confined this year to Mt. Kellet where about 2,300 clumps were added. Further planting was carried out in May and Conduit Roads and some vacancies were replanted in Des Voeux Road West. The chief trees used were Flame of the Forest (Poinciana), “Candle Nut" (Aleurites triloba), and Celtis. The fine avenue of banians in Nathan Road, Kowloon, has at last been broken into by the removal of 19 trees in front of the new buildings at the junction of Elgin Road.
127 Poinciana (Flame of the Forest), 90 Aleurites (Candle Nut) and 12 banians were used in the formation or repair of avenues, 88 trees of various kinds were planted on the banks of May Road, while 2,315 clumps of bamboos were planted along Black's Link and Mt. Kellet Road. $605 were spent on new plantings, $915 upon repairs-mostly of damage done by the typhoon.
H.-Nurseries, Agriculture and Economic Planting-In June 1904, 2,000 bulbils of Sisal Hemp were planted in exposed barren situations in the Government nursery at Kang Hau corresponding as far as could be judged to the best sisal lands in Yucatan. In the Autumn of 1905, the plants were about 12 inches high, 1906, 19 inches, 1907, 21 inches. It will be seen that the growth though rapid at first has fallen off. The usual method of cultivation is by suckers 18 to 20 inches high taken from mature plants. Leaves from these usually reach a marketable size in 5 years. I have no statistics of the usual rate of growth from bulbils, but as they are now of the height at which suckers are planted, I presume that we must be satisfied if the marketable size is reached in about 5 years more. The plants are in a healthy state and I see no reason to doubt the success of the experiment. Table IV.
Among the most valuable products of China which have so far remained a monopoly of the Chinese Empire is the beautiful and valuable wood known as Naumu (Chinese Coffin-tree). Many efforts have been made to obtain a supply of living plants for other countries interested in Forestry and with suitable climates but so far, to the best of my knowledge, without success. There is an old tree in the Hongkong Botanic Gardens which was sent by Mr. WATTERS, then British Consul at Ichang, some 30 or 40 years ago. A few score of layers were taken from it while young and planted on Mt. Gough in 1882. It is impossible to find these trees again with the scanty information preserved and if still surviving they probably resemble the tree in the Gardens in not ripening fruit and in being too old to provide layers. During the last 2 years a considerable amount of correspondence has been carried out with Consuls and others in Szechuen and Yunnan, the provinces in which the tree occurs, with the object of getting seeds. Through the kindness and perseverance of Mr. Fox (until recently British Consul at Cheng-tu) and of Mr. TYMAN, and after some failures, two consignments of seeds have during the year been received by this Department. The length of time occupied in the journey from Cheng-tu is evidently, from the condition of the seeds, nearly the limit for its safe transport and they were immediately sown on arrival. Two crops have thus been raised and it is hoped to transmit living plants in due course to various other Colonies which require them.
I-Forestry Service Paths. -Now that so much of the pine forest has grown up in the Island of Hongkong and such large extensions of planting have been authorized and partly carried out in the New Territories, it has become imperative to secure a better and easier means of reaching those plantations which do not lie along the roads. A series of Forestry Service Paths has therefore been planned and partly constructed. These paths follow the contours and vary in height above sea level from 500 to 800 feet according to the position of the densest part of the plantations. The convenience that they have already provided amply justifies the small outlay upon them (2 to 3 cents per yard). They enable the Forest Guards to penetrate with ease into certain areas which have hitherto been difficult of access. Plantations which are now in process of formation the paths have formed a convenient base for measurement and for marking up the numbers of the planting sections, etc., in positions where they can readily be found by the foresters in charge of the work. The positions and the approximate length of the paths already constructed are given below. Paths are under construction from Peak Road to Hatton Road; from Wanchai Road to Wongneichung Gap (N. side) and from Wanchai Road to Wongneichung-Aberdeen Road (S. side).