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In the vicinity of the No. 9 Green the four young trees of Bauhinia Blakeana and the Hibiscus Lambertianus flowered well.
Flowering Trees and Shrubs. In addition to those already mentioned in this report 80 Poincianas were planted in the lower part of the Pokfulam valley, 200 at Deep Water Bay, 63 in the valley south of Magazine Gap, 30 above Kennedy Road and 14 at Kennedy Town.
On the spur of a hill between Wongneichong Gap and Deep Water Bay, 500 Rhododendron indicum were planted.
Forestry Service Paths.—The path on the north side of Mount Parker was continued round to the south side to the catchwater path.
The old paths in Hongkong and Kowloon damaged by the summer rains were repaired in the autumn.
Clearing Undergrowth around Houses.—About 9,000,000 square feet were cleared for anti-malarial purposes at the Government's expense in various parts of Hongkong and Kowloon, and at Taipo, New Territories.
Some of the areas cleared were around the Police Stations at Aberdeen, Mt. Gough, The Peak, Tsimshatsui and Taipo, and around the District Officer's Quarters, Taipo.
The Military Authorities requested this Department to clear at their expense, areas around the Military Hospital, Bowen Road, and the Military Sanitarium, Mt. Gough, to the extent of 2,250,000 square feet and this was done.
Additional clearings up to 288,000 square feet were made for private individuals at their own cost.
Clearing for Survey Purposes. In connection with surveys carried out by the Public Works Department about 1,780,000 square feet were cleared compared with about 2,400,000 in 1913.
Forestry Licences, New Territories. The fees collected in the Northern District amounted to $3,050.77 so I am informed by the District Officer and those in the Southern District to $1,926.46 according to the report of the Assistant District Officer, making a total of $4,977.23.
COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS.
Several requests were received from India for seeds of Aleurites Fordii and Aleurites montana but the trees in Hongkong and the New Territories did not produce fruits in sufficient quantity to admit of seeds being distributed.
An application was received from Mr. D. Fairchild, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, for seeds of Quercus cornea, the Chinese edible acorn tree, and these were sent when ready.