N 11-
The Department is indebted to the Honourable the Secretary for Chinese Affairs for kindly arranging for District Watchmen to assist the Forest Officers in watching for fires at both the spring and autumn festivals.
The thanks of the Department are also due to the Honourable the Captain Superintendent of Police for allowing his officers at outstations to engage coolies and supervise the extinction of fires occurring in the vicinity of their stations.
In all, 36 fires were reported during the year, 4 in the first quarter, 21 in the second, 4 in the third, and 7 in the fourth.
The biggest fire occurred on Mt. Davis where about 500 young pine trees were destroyed. The damage would have been much greater if the fire had not been stopped by fire barriers.
Forest Guards' Service.-Altogether 363 persons were arrested for forestry offences compared with 321 in the previous year. Particulars are given in Tables II and III.
Towards the end of September a big area of illicit tree-cutting was detected by Forest Guards in the vicinity of Kanghau and Tinsam, New Territories.
Officers were put on to watch and they succeeded in arresting a man and a woman, both residents of Kanghau.
They were fined $10 each or 14 days imprisonment; the man went to gaol but the woman paid the fine.
At my request the Kanghau villagers were warned by the District Officer some months previously, but apparently without effect.
Ten contractors had sums amounting to $100 deducted from their securities for damage done to trees by their workmen in the vicinity of their matsheds.
Timber Felling. There were several rather large fellings during the year and towards the end of the year tenders were invited for a block of pine trees comprising between 20 and 30 acres at Pokfulam.
This plantation is evidently dying, and it was thought that it would be better to obtain a tender for the removal of the trees in their present state than to lose everything by their death.
Fellings were made on lots owned by the Dairy Farm Co., also at Aberdeen in connection with Chinese New Cemetery, and at various other places for building purposes.
Planting and Care of Roadside Trees.-Six hundred and eighty trees were planted alongside roads in Hongkong and Kowloon.