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A bed of Lilium longiflorum near the first green flowered well. Forestry Service Paths. All of these paths in Hongkong and Kowloon were repaired after the summer rains had finished.
Clearing Undergrowth around Houses.-The clearing at Government expense for anti-malaria purposes amounted to about 5,000,000 square feet in Hongkong, Kowloon, and the New Territories.
In addition about 65,000 square feet were cleared at the cost of private individuals.
Clearing for Survey Purposes.-Over 1,000,000 square feet were cleared at the request of the Public Works Department for survey purposes.
Forestry Licences, New Territories.-The total amount collected in fees from this was $4,871.45 compared with $4,859.18 in the previous year.
NURSERIES, AGRICULTURE, &C.
Various kinds of vegetables were grown in the garden at Fanling for demonstration purposes.
Onions matured splendidly and two Chinese obtained seed in the autumn with a view to growing the bulbs for market.
Experiments were continued with Fertilizers and the results confirmed those of the previous year.
Pineapples weighing between 4 lbs. and 5 lbs. were grown which shows that much better fruits can be produced in the New Territories than those obtainable in the Hongkong market.
One hundred suckers of the variety grown at Fanling were given to a Chinese market gardener for experimental purposes.
The Spineless Cacti have kept healthy and have made a fair amount of growth but not sufficient to warrant them being planted extensively for fodder purposes.
A new nursery was made near Pingkong and about 35,000 pine tree seedlings were raised for planting on the Fanling hills in 1917.
In the Beacon Hill Nursery upwards of 5,000 pine trees were raised besides Poinciana and other tree seedlings for planting in various places in 1917.
In the other nurseries about 8,000 broad-leaved trees were propagated.
Seeds of Lagerstroemia Flos-reginae were obtained from Fiji at the request of His Excellency the Governor and several young plants have been raised which will be planted out as soon as they are big enough.
Certain fruits sold amongst Chinese in San Francisco were sent to me by the Department of Agriculture, Washington, for identification.
They proved to be those of Trichosanthes cucumerina, known to the Chinese as Lo Hon Kwa, indigenous in South China and reputed to be useful in cases of colds and asthma.