N 14
58 plants of "Hill Mangosteen" Garcinia oblongifolia were collected from Wong Nei Chong and planted in the garden; these trees in their natural state bear a heavy crop of small fruits which find a ready sale among the natives; it is possible that the fruit may increase in size and quality if grown under good conditions for a few years.
Onion seed, obtained direct from Teneriffe, was sown and produced a heavy crop of Onions of good quality; this crop is always watched and discussed with great interest by the natives of adjoining villages, but up to the present nobody has undertaken the growing of Onions on anything but a very small scale.
A crop of Tobacco was grown and after being harvested was removed to the Botanic Gardens for use as an insecticide.
1,000 young plants of the improved variety of Pineapple known as "Smooth Cayenne" were procured from Honolulu and planted in a temporary bed; the old plants of this variety continue to produce large fruit of excellent flavour and quality generally.
With a view to encouraging the growing of vegetables in the New Territories, a plot of land adjoining the school at Tai Wai was partly laid out and planted with Onion seed by the scholars assisted by employees of this Department; this is the first attempt at formation of school gardens and a fair amount of interest appeared to be taken in the experiment by the schoolmaster and his scholars.
The Custard Apples (Anona reticulata) produced a good crop of fruit of good size and quality.
The Bananas suffered somewhat from the drought and had to be watered heavily daily throughout the driest months of the year; also during these months a proportion of the fair crop of fruit was split and scorched by the heat of the sun.
A number of consignments of fruits from the "Banian" (Ficus retusa) containing "Fig Wasps" were supplied to the Entomologist, Forestry Department, Honolulu; these insects are liberated among the wild trees of Ficus there, with the object of securing the fertilization of the flowers and consequent natural growth of young trees in the reservoir catchment areas.
The annual inspection of all bulbs of Narcissus Tazetta intended for export to the United States of America and Honolulu was carried out by the Department from July to October; during these months a total of 885,000 bulbs contained in 6,996 packages were inspected and certified.
The bulbs were in excellent condition generally and only one consignment was found to be infected with a fungoid disease and detained for reconditioning.