46
L. G. AUMER
Animal husbandry is another traditional feature in the economic life of the villages. In an earlier period, every household used to raise two or three pigs. This was not only for immediate profit but also as a kind of saving economy. The animals were sold off when circumstances required activation of capital. Pork has always been a luxury in the villages and is eaten only on special occasions. Roast pigs for ceremonial display play an important part, and a status-bestowing one, on festive occasions. Stimulated by the increasing market demand for meat in the late 1940s and in the 1950s, villagers increased their stocks to three or four pigs per household. Around 1960, however, the market price was heavily affected by the steadily increasing import of relatively cheap pigs from China. Pig breeders now acutely experienced the chronic disadvantage of poor transport facilities to the markets. The saleable price does not exceed HK$100, and it is calculated that the breeding costs for about six months, together with labour and transport costs, do not make the venture worthwhile.
Cows are kept in the villages for a double purpose. Rice farming requires draught animals, and buffaloes are not suitable for mountain areas. A certain profit can also be made on selling. It is calculated that a cow-owner will get a new calf every two years. The feeding is not very expensive since the animals are grazed on the hill sides and on abandoned fields. They are used in agricultural work for about five years, after which period they are sold off. In this case, marketing offers no difficulties as brokers in the butcher trade turn up in the villages whenever they hear of a possible deal. They pay in cash and take the cows with them. Weak animals are sold as soon as possible. Together with pigs, cows fulfil another most important function. The manure is used for fertilizing the fields, and villagers depend greatly on this supply.
Small-scale chicken breeding has always been carried out in the villages. People from Plum Grove Village and Big Stream Village now sell their fowls in the new Sha Tin Market, where the presence of wholesale dealers from Kowloon improves the market situation; though there is heavy competition from specialized chicken farms run by immigrant peasants from China. In Grass Field Village, breeders wait for the main festivals to obtain a better price in their traditional market town, Sai Kung.
46
L. G. AUMER
Animal husbandry is another traditional feature in the econo- mic life of the villages. In an earlier period every household used to raise two or three pigs. This was not only for immediate profit but also as a kind of saving economy. The animals were sold off when circumstances required activation of capital. Pork has always been a luxury in the villages and is eaten only on special occasions. Roast pigs for ceremonial display play an important part, and a status-bestowing one, on festive occasions. Stimulated by the increasing market demand for meat in the late 1940s and in the 1950s villagers increased their stocks to three or four pigs per household. Around 1960, however, the market price was heavily affected by the steadily increasing import of relatively cheap pigs from China. Pig breeders now acutely experienced the chronic disadvantage of poor transport facilities to the markets. The saleable price does not exceed HK$100, and it is calculated that the breeding costs for about six months, together with labour and transport costs, do not make the venture worthwhile.
Cows are kept in the villages for a double purpose. Rice farming requires draught animals, and buffaloes are not suitable for mountain areas. A certain profit can also be made on selling. It is calculated that a cow-owner will get a new calf every two years. The feeding is not very expensive since the animals are grassed on the hill sides and on abandoned fields. They are used in agricultural work for about five years, after which period they are sold off. In this case marketing offers no difficulties as brokers in the butcher trade turn up in the villages whenever they hear of a possible deal. They pay in cash and take the cows with them. Weak animals are sold as soon as possible. Together with pigs, cows fulfil another most important function. The manure is used for fertilizing the fields, and villagers depend greatly on this supply.
Small-scale chicken breeding has always been carried out in the villages. People from Plum Grove Village and Big Stream Village now sell their fowls in the new Sha Tin Market, where the presence of whole-sale dealers from Kowloon improves the market situation; though there is heavy competition from specialized chicken farms run by immigrant peasants from China. In Grass Field Village breeders wait for the main festivals to obtain a better price in their traditional market town, Sai Kung.
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