L 38
INSPECTION OF CATTLE TRANSPORTS.
Except for a few head shipped to Macao, nothing was done under the export part of Ordinance 15 of 1903. The regulations governing the export of live stock were made to apply to import as well. There was some grumbling among importers of poultry principally, but all ultimately became reconciled to the innovation, the object of which was to improve the conditions under which animals were imported. The prevention of overcrowding was the principal object aimed at.
NEW TERRITORIES.
No outbreak of infectious disease among animals was reported.
BULLOCK TRACTION.
Owing to the high price of foodstuffs, it was decided, following the precedent of the Dairy Farm Company, to attempt to grow part of the fodder used. About 24 acres of hillside round the Kennedy Town Animals Depôts was cleared of undergrowth and planted with guinea grass. It was liberally manured from the Markets and Depôts, and during the summer approximately 100 tons of green grass was cut and fed to the working cattle in Hongkong and Kowloon. A small area was also broken in near the Kowloon Disinfecting Station, but there, owing to the very poor soil of the hillside, the results have not been so encouraging. During this winter, more hillside has been brought under cultivation, and it is hoped better results both in Kowloon and Hongkong will be attained.
The labour in Kowloon was done by the Disinfecting Station coolies and the bullock drivers in their spare time. In Hongkong, four coolies were engaged for that work only.
EXPORT OF LARD TO THE PHILIPPINES.
In former years, a considerable business was done in the export of lard to the Philippine Islands. This export ceased in the early part of the year, as the conditions under which the lard was produced did not satisfy the provisions of the Pure Food Laws which had been made operative in the Islands. To meet these requirements, special factories were erected at Ma Tau Kok and at Kennedy Town Slaughter House by the Chinese lard makers. These factories have been approved by the U.S.A. Public Health and Marine Hospital Service as complying with the intention of the Pure Food Laws, and under certificate from me, lard and meat products are now permitted to be shipped to the Philippines. The factories were in working order and started at the end of the year, and are now doing a fair amount of business.