708 THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 26TH AUGUST, 1882.
No. 2.
NOTES ON THE VEGETATION OF THE WEST RIVER.
The West River proper is not reached until about 20 miles have been traversed from Canton by way of Fatshan along one of the water ways of the great delta. For this distance and the next 15 mics of the West River, ie., as far as the Shui Hing Pass, the land on both sides of the river is alluvial soil well cultivated. The first part has extensive tracts of rice fields surrounded with banks on which are grown litchi, longan, and peach trees, with, at the base of the banks, the water cedar, Glyptostrobus heterophyllus. On approaching Fatshan the mulberry tree is met with in fields where it is grown for silk worm feeding. After passing Fatshan the rice fields are replaced with mulberry trees and bamboos, the land being higher than the river and incapabable of irrigation. On rising ground near the villages there are magnificent patches of arborescent vegetation, consisting of Ficus retusa, F. Wightiana, Fraxinus chinensis, Bombax malabathrum, and bamboos. The soy bean--Soja hispida-hemp, and the ground-nut-Arachis hypogaea-are cultivated on dry sandy soil. At forty A few miles to the east miles from Canton the hills approach the river and form the Shui Hing Pass. of this Pass are the Ting U Shan woods which contain some splendid trees probably upwards of 150 feet high; amongst them were noticed Bischoffia javanica, Cinnamomum parthenoxylon, Sterculia lanceolata, and Pinus sinensis. These woods surround a fine monastery and are protected by the priests. The frutescent vegetation here consists of well known plants that are common in South China. After passing the Shui Hing Pass, the hills again recede and leave a large plain on which, in addition to those plants mentioned as cultivated on the alluvial soil the other side of the Pass, Indian corn,-Zea Mays—is grown in summer, and wheat in winter and spring. Euryale ferox is also grown for the sake of its seeds which are used as food by the natives. After leaving this plain the hills approach the river and leave only a narrow strip on each side for cultivation. On the steep hills are some large patches of Gardenia florida cultivated for its capsules, which furnish a dye used for dying silk. Near to the Gardenia plantations are also some of Machilus velutina, Champ, grown for the sake of its bark, which contains a glutinous substance used in the manufacture of joss sticks, as mentioned in the paper on cassia. Camellia oleifera is grown on barren hills in the vicinity of some villages to supply the growers with oil for cooking purposes and for anointing their heads; it is not grown in sufficien- quantities to sell.
A little above a town called Fung Chun, over one hundred miles from Canton, the narrow strip of land on the south bank of the river is planted with a forest of the Chan Ko Chuk bamboo which is extensively used for boat poles and scaffolding. These plantations continued, with but slight inter- ruptions, for about the next 100 miles.
On both sides of the river the country is very mountainous, the hills rising from 300 to 2,000 feet, and, with the exception of the level strips bordering the river, and a few patches on the hills of Gardenia, Machilus, tea plants, upland rice, and pumpkins, are entirely destitute of cultivation. There very little grass on the hills, but ferns-Gleichenia dichotoma--abound and cover the ground in every direction. The fern is cut and dried and used extensively for fuel, even the limestone in the limet kilns, which are numerous, is burnt with this fuel only.
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No forests are seen anywhere, but the Chinese are very careful to keep up, by annual sowing and planting, a stock of firewood, which, however, is confined to the common pine, Pinus sinensis, and the trees of this, instead of presenting the appearance of plantations well filled with handsome trees, are planted irregularly and thinly over the hills, and have, in most cases, but a miserable, stunted, appearance, in consequence of the custom of continually cutting off the branches as they are required for fuel. Far up the river the Cunninghamia sinensis is found sparingly mixed with the pines, but this, also, never seems to attain a great size in the parts visited. Cunninghamia however, I was told, exists in forests farther north, and this report seemed confirmed by the enormous rafts of China fir logs which were being floated down the river. The indigenous tree and shrub vegetation is continually destroyed as it attempts to grow by the deplorable custom of the Chinese in cutting down every branch and sapling for firewood, the Pinus sinensis being the only tree which they attempt to renew by planting. Round the villages and temples the trees are protected, and these examples, especially, the Ting U Shan woods, demonstrate the possibility of the Chinese mountainous districts producing splendid forests of a great variety of trees if they were properly conserved. No proper system of forestry seems to exist anywhere, the only efforts in that direction being the promiscuous planting and cutting of pines for firewood, this being done in the same way as on the mainland and islands in the vicinity of Hongkong, any one being allowed to plant where he likes, and the Government exer- cising no control over the people in either planting or cutting down.
Fruit trees are only grown in small numbers dotted about near the houses, except the jujube-- Zizyphus Jujuba—of which a great many orchards were seen; they were on the level ground near the river, and the trees were planted at distances of about 20 feet apart. In addition to these one orchard of litchis on a hillside was seen.
CHARLES FORD, Superintendent,
Botanical and Afforestation Department.
THE
Hongkong, 9th August, 1882.
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