# V.— LIQUOR
The total revenue collected from the District was:--
| Category | 1915 | 1916 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Distillery Licences | $ c. 2,691.75 | $ c. 2,723.00 |
| Chinese Wines and Spirits Licences | 3,768.75 | 3,939.50 |
| Liquor Duties | 5,915.75 | 9,526.86 |
| Total for Categories Listed | $12,376.25 | $16,189.36 |
| Collected through Hongkong at Sai Kung | | 2,475.52 |
| Total | | $18,664.88 |
The liquor duties were increased on March 1st from 5 cents a gallon to 10 cents a gallon. The number of gallons distilled during 1915, at the lower rate of duty, was 118,315 as against 110,632 in 1916 when the higher rate prevailed for ten months. The increase of duty led to an increase of 61 per cent. in the revenue and only to a reduction of 6.5 per cent. in the quantity distilled, which shews clearly, I think, that the tax can be easily borne.
# VI.--GENERAL
The first crop of rice was fair but the second crop partially failed; in all districts the failure was about 30 per cent. of the crop and in some amounted to as much as 40 per cent. Landlords had in consequence to reduce their rents and the managers of loan associations in which payment is made in padi did not call for any biddings after the second crop, this is always a certain sign of a bad year for it means that the people have no spare padi with which to pay their contributions to the loan association. The failure of the second crop was partly due to lack of rain and partly to the appearance of a minute worm which destroyed the crop. I tried to obtain specimens of this beast but was unfortunately too late to do so. The animal is well known by repute but is said not to have appeared in the District for fifty years. Whether he is really an arithmetical monster, as some affirm, and reappears with regularity at the second crop every fifty years, I am unable to say, but he is a gourmet and feeds only on the best variety of padi, the stalk of which he attacks and causes it to become blighted and unable to bear a head of grain. In Table C I give the rainfall for the year as observed at Tai Po Police Station.
It will be seen that 104.28 inches of rain fell during the year which is well above the average. The average for the ten years, 1906 to 1915, was 96.05 inches.
The rain, however, fell at times inconvenient for the crops. No less than 71.16 inches fell during the three months, May, June, and July, while during the last three months of the year the rainfall was only 17.4 inches.
There was a somewhat bad outbreak of crime towards the end of the year and bands from over the border successfully entered the District.