[ { "id": 205701, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1969", "page_number": 7, "title": "RAS-1969", "content_text": "# PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1968\n\nThe Society is now in its tenth year since its revival in 1959. Its membership at the end of 1968 was 437 - an increase of 17 over 1967. Despite the loss of 47 members mainly owing to their departure from the Colony, we gained 63 new members including 5 life members, one of whom was already an ordinary member. We have now reached the point where our gains over our losses each year are not great but are steadily maintained.\n\nDuring the year, the Society met fourteen times, at which addresses of a high standard were given both by eminent scholars from overseas and a welcome number of scholars living or working in the Colony.\n\nThe crowning and most popular activities of the year were the two symposia organized under the chairmanship of Dr. Marjorie Topley. Firstly, in March last year, we had the weekend visit to Chinese Vegetarian Halls of the Sect of Former Heaven in Kowloon. Then, on November 2 and 3, the Branch held a Weekend Symposium organized by Professor D. J. Dwyer of the Department of Geography and Geology of the University of Hong Kong, which had for its subject \"The Changing Face of Hong Kong\". The programme included six lectures with illustrating exhibits by Professor Dwyer himself and members of the staff of his department and of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, followed by a panel discussion of members' questions. On the second day, there were three field trips under the specialist lecturers for further study of the subject on the spot. The Society is deeply indebted to Professor Dwyer and the specialists who took part in this most edifying and highly successful study, and to those who were responsible for its organization.\n\nThe Journal of the Society deserves special attention. With Mr. James Hayes as Editor, the Journal has not only maintained its standard of scholarship but has increased in popularity and repute, especially among scholars and readers overseas, and we have built up a valuable library of journals which other societies with similar objects have been keen to exchange for ours. The sale of our Journal last year was more than twice that of the previous year. There is a greatly increased demand for back", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1969.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9g553n20d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 205986, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1970", "page_number": 66, "title": "RAS-1970", "content_text": "ASPECTS OF HONG KONG MARINE FAUNA\n\n61\n\nThe University will have a functional Marine Science Laboratory to be completed during the summer of 1970. This establishment will greatly aid and encourage development of marine sciences in the Colony.\n\nTwo aspects of our studies may be of immediate interest to the Colony. First, we are relating bottom fauna with the fishes that feed on such organisms. This approach has been used in other places for the past few decades as an effort to aid fishermen in finding more suitable fishing grounds. We have noted 146 species of fishes in and associated with Tolo Harbour. As some of our information comes from the Taipo office of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, there is a likelihood that fishes from Mirs Bay and adjacent areas are also included. Another important study is pollution. By investigating the physico-chemical and biological factors important in Tolo Harbour, we intend to aid Government in guiding the development of communities like Shatin and Taipo, which are located on the shores of the Harbour. A sewage treatment plant will be established at the Chinese University site at Ma Liu Shui, and pollution studies will be correlated with the activities of this plant.\n\nThe Future of Marine Resources in Hong Kong\n\nOf great importance for the future of the colony is the conservation of resources available, whether terrestrial or marine. During the spring of 1969, the University of Hong Kong sponsored the Conference on the Development and Conservation of the Countryside. The essence of the outcome of this meeting was that Hong Kong is in a critical state of planning. We must know what we are conserving, and do our best to plan all development with an eye toward future utilization and needs. Every weekend and holiday, thousands of city dwellers flock to the countryside to commune with nature. Just as a receding tide leaves layers of seaweed, these weekend tourists leave their residue. There is a tendency for everyone in Hong Kong to throw away their trash without thought of where it might land. This is true of the city, the countryside, and the beaches—extending into the water by boating enthusiasts and fishermen. This is on an enlarged scale when considering local industries, sanitary conditions, and indeed, land removal and filling processes. The Conservancy Society of Hong Kong has recently been formed. This organization will", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1970.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206657, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 205, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n199 \n\nDating ancient trees is difficult because recorded dates of planting of trees before this century are very rare. The precise age of the biggest conifers may be ascertained, within reasonable limits by counting the annual rings. However, there are limitations on the application of this method when applied to ancient trees. In their later years, ancient trees maintain their viability with only a few leaves and they scarcely grow at all. During this period, increases in girth are extremely small, and are of no value in assessing age for these two trees: Mr. Man's account is the best guide to their growth.\n\nObservations show that both trees have lost their crowns and survive only on a few green branches, giving the appearance of aged trees, and it is certainly possible that they may be as old as the Village Representative claims. One tree is now 50 feet tall and 6 feet 9 inches in girth. From 30 feet up it has few limbs which still leaf out to the tip. The other is now 61 feet tall and 5 feet 5 inches in girth. From 30 feet up, it has a few limbs but two of these have died back. These data represent trees of considerable size. Thus it appears that the Chinese Deciduous Cypress can grow to a considerable stature, despite the fact that Dallimore and Jackson in their Handbook of Coniferae (1954) described the species as \"a small tree\". It could be that the information given by Dallimore and Jackson quoted a description from Canton where, I have been told by my colleagues, no trees as big as these two remain living and only small ones exist. The form of these two trees is good, with a single bole, round and straight. They are also in reasonably healthy condition; one bole has no hole in it, and the second has a shallow cavity which is healing well and shows strong callus formation around the edge of the wound. There is no sign of fungal decay or pest attack anywhere. Because of their rarity, they are in fact registered seed trees of the Conservation and Forests Division, Agriculture and Fisheries Department.* The wood of this species is said to be very durable, light and fragrant, and to be used for making boats and life rafts. Boat people in the Pearl River Delta traditionally tie a piece of this wood on their children's backs for safety.\n\nThe Village Representative recollected an interesting point concerning these two trees. Some 20 years ago, the then Forestry Department distributed seedlings raised from the seed of these trees to\n\n* See Plate 30.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 206658, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1972", "page_number": 206, "title": "RAS-1972", "content_text": "200\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nU.S.A. and Britain. One day, his uncle, an expatriate Chinese in New York, noticed a Water Pine in a garden bearing the Village Representative's name as donor. Mr. Man was obviously very proud of this. He also recalled that some 15 years ago the Director of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries had given him ten seedlings to plant in the village, but unfortunately none had survived.\n\nMany prominent persons have come, paused to admire the longevity of these two trees and heard of the interesting story about them. They are probably the oldest living trees of this species in the New Territories. They are valued not only for their longevity but also for their capacity as producers of viable seed. In 1969, germination tests were carried out with this seed and results showed 60% germinative capacity. Requests for the supply of seed have frequently been received from overseas by the Conservation and Forests Division of the Agricultural and Fisheries Department.\n\nThe condition of these two remarkable trees remains reasonably healthy but they will undoubtedly lose vigour with advancing age. How to perpetuate them is a matter of concern. The best way of achieving this would be to propagate seedlings and to plant them out in localities similar to their natural habitat. In the last two decades seedlings of Water Pine were planted in the Royal Hong Kong Golf Course at Fanling and at Tai Po Kau and Tai Lam Chung forest reserves, but only a few have survived. The largest surviving group is on the Golf Course where 10 trees are growing. The biggest of these is now 18 feet tall and 15 inches in girth, with an average growth rate of 0.2 inches per year over the last 10 years. In view of the rarity of the species, it is advisable to plant more of them in suitable localities throughout the New Territories and on Hong Kong Island. The species has not yet been included in the collections in the Botanic Gardens but planting stock is being made available and this omission will be rectified in the next planting season.\n\nEditor's Note. This article is reproduced with kind permission of the Director, Agricultural and Fisheries Department, Hong Kong, from the department's publication Wildlife Conservation, Newsletter No. 12, April 1971. The bulletin is prepared for game wardens, and is in English and Chinese. Persons who are interested may be provided with copies, if available, on application to the Department. The author, Mr. Shen Dze-chia, Assistant Forestry Officer until his recent retirement, is a graduate of the University of Nanking.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1972.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207124, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1974", "page_number": 195, "title": "RAS-1974", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n189\n\nWoodlands forming a part of the \"Fung Shui\" of a village are jealously guarded by the villagers, and the destructive influence of man is thus reduced to a minimum. The happy result of this has been the preservation of a series of mature and well-developed areas of natural woodland which must surely otherwise have been destroyed.\n\nIt is likely, then, that these woodlands are remnants of the natural forest type which might have been expected to cover a large area of the Colony if a similar standard of protection had been applied over the whole territory. A study of a well-developed \"Fung Shui\" woodland may be expected therefore to furnish information on the physiognomy, structure, and floristic composition of this vegetation type which may then form the basis for comparisons with other similar woodlands elsewhere in Hong Kong.\n\nSuch a study has been carried out in a well-developed \"Fung Shui\" woodland near the north-eastern end of Jubilee Reservoir. This woodland was related to the existence of a village which was evacuated in 1929 as part of the water catchment scheme in the area. Having enjoyed good protection since this date, there are few other places in the Colony which exhibit, in a compact area, such dense, tall, natural plant cover with such an interesting collection of hardwood trees.\n\nThe study, which will be written up fully in due course, gives an indication of the complexity of the floristic composition of the area, where 3,100 trees all over 4\" in diameter and of 76 different species were recorded in an area of 3.5 acres of woodland.\n\nIn modern parlance, these \"Fung Shui\" woodlands are really \"Village Shelter Belts\". Historically, they were also of importance to the villagers as a place where many materials were collected for a variety of uses—culinary, medicinal, ceremonial, structural, and so on—in addition to the normal collection of fruits. It is emphasised, however, that it was the natural \"increase\" and \"produce\" from the trees which was collected. The trees themselves were carefully guarded against abuse, children and strangers being severely dealt with if they caused harm to the woodland grove.\n\nD. C. SHEN\n\nThis article first appeared in Wildlife Conservation Newsletter No. 14 (October 1971) published by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the Director.\n\nPage 195\n\nPage 196", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1974.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/x633mp077", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207386, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1975", "page_number": 154, "title": "RAS-1975", "content_text": "146\n\nBRIAN MORTON & P. S. WONG\n\n2.0\n\nWEIGHT OF OYSTER PRODUCED (METRIC TONS)\n\n1500\n\n1000\n\n500\n\n*\n\n中\n\n**\n\n\"+15\n\n-1.0\n\n55\n\n-0.5\n\nVALUE OF OYSTER PRODUCED (MILLIONS OF HK DOLLARS)\n\n1954 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73\n\nFigure 2. Annual production of oysters in Hong Kong from 1960 to 1973. (Data obtained from the Hong Kong Annual Departmental Report by the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1953-54 to 1973-74.)\n\nland receive less profit each year and eventually fail. The great reduction in the availability of man-power is probably the greatest factor, since the younger, educated and more urbanized generation prefer less labour-demanding employment. There is a shortage of manual labour especially during the busy season in Spring and early Summer. The political sensitivity of this border area is also a problem so that as the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries reported in 1951-52 “flotillas of up to twenty boats manned by about one hundred oyster pirates not being uncommon.\" A dispute in 1966-67 over oyster bed No. 5 reduced production figures considerably (Fig. 2).\n\nImprovement may be possible by introducing new methods of culture. The bottom-laying method of culture is primitive and keeps the oyster industry in a more or less unmanaged state. In the United States, a comparison of public and private oyster grounds reveals striking differences in yield between management techniques practiced in each area (Bardach and Ryther, 1968). Investigations into new methods of cultivation have been made by the Agricultural and Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1975.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j0995146d", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 207876, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1976", "page_number": 264, "title": "RAS-1976", "content_text": "SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963\n\n249\n\nclearer picture of what is being thought in the countryside about development would no doubt be of help to it. On the housing question itself I suggest that it would be worth organising an enquiry into the present arrangement of space and the uses to which it is put; the current modifications which are being made by villagers (increasing daylight by making windows, altering kitchens and bathrooms, re-arranging sleeping accommodation, and so on) to old houses; the departures from tradition in the design of new houses; and the social causes and consequences of these changes. In connection with the last point, it hardly needs stressing that changes in family structure may both precede and follow changes in accommodation. Some of the assessment of housing in relation to new needs and tastes will be made in the course of community studies, for it is an inevitable part of the work of a student of family life; but it might be an interesting and useful exercise to get an architect and a social investigator to work together on the many sides of the question.\n\n87. If an anthropological field worker with the necessary economic skills were available it would be sensible to put him on to a study of land tenure in conjunction with the other economic institutions and activities of a community where both new and old forms of agriculture are being practised. The new agriculture would probably imply the presence of immigrants and there would be an opportunity to study the extent to which the old-established population has taken over the new forms and techniques. A rounded economic investigation of this sort would, of course, need to go into questions of credit, capital accumulation, marketing, investment, management (of both farms and small businesses), the penetration of industry (as in domestic work on plastic flowers and toys and in factory labour), and the sources and nature of entrepreneurial enterprise. I envisage a study in depth and therefore confined to one or two communities, but a list of crucial indices might emerge from it which could be used as the basis for a wide-ranging enquiry by questionnaire methods. Presumably the Agriculture and Forestry Department and the Co-operative Development and Fisheries Department might consider taking part in such an investigation.\n\n88. I was much struck in the New Territories by both the success of the efforts of recent years to provide schools and the strength of the desire on the part of some people to go beyond what official policy is thought to contemplate for the near future. There is now,", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1976.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/hq382988q", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208137, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 176, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "160\n\n \nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\n \nbrown and, apart from being somewhat darker at the surface, there is no sign of layers.\n\n \nVegetation:\n\n \nThe kind of vegetation on different parts of Tai Mo Shan depends on a variety of factors: altitude, soil conditions, exposure, and frequency of fires. Furthermore, trees have been planted on a considerable scale upon the upper slopes by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department; the main species are Acacia confusa (native), Pinus elliottii (from Caribbean region) and Tristania conferta (related to Eucalyptus sp., from Australia).\n\n \nBriefly, in sheltered sites where the soil is reasonably deep, with adequate moisture, but which have not experienced a fire for, say, twenty years a natural woodland will probably be present. Elsewhere, either grassland or scrubland will exist. Even where fires occur every few years, belts of natural woodland may survive beside water-courses—a situation that is analogous to the \"gallery forest\" of East Africa. Definitions of the kinds of vegetation have been compiled by the Hong Kong Government (1968), and the possible inter-relationship of the vegetation types have been discussed by Thrower (1975).\n\n \nThe Route in Outline:\n\n \n1. Route Twisk to Tai Mo Shan Road\n\n \na) The starting point was in Tsuen Wan, which is situated at approximately sea level and has a rainfall of about 200 cm.\n\n \nb) Beyond the outskirts of Tsuen Wan, note:\n\n \n— beside road on left-hand side is a border of Casuarina equisetifolia trees, which have some resemblance to pine trees; they are widely planted in Hong Kong and the western Pacific.\n\n \n— on right-hand side are constructed terraces with cultivation (including bananas), and burial urns, kam taap (金塔).\n\n \nc) As the 'bus climbs higher, note the hillside directly ahead: the plantation of Tristania conferta has been badly burnt. Many more examples of serious fires will be seen.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208138, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 177, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES\n\n161\n\nd) Just beyond the concrete ford on the right-hand side, note the profile of the krasnozem.\n\ne) Beyond the Gun Club, note the picnic places set out by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department on both sides of the road.\n\n2. Stop A—car park at road junction (altitude ca 480 m.)\n\nThe countryside around the car park is essentially a grassland—probably maintained by repeated fires—which is now being changed in various ways, e.g.\n\n(i) pine trees (Pinus massoniana, a native species) have been planted extensively, and the process of succession is taking place beneath them.\n\n(ii) the adjacent hillside has been planted with Acacia confusa, also native.\n\n(iii) the grassland is being invaded by shrubs, as a stage of natural succession to scrubland.\n\nAt Stop A, note the following:\n\na) Between car park and road, there is a large grave. One may surmise that before the car park was made, the fung shui (feng shui) of this site was probably better than it is now.\n\nb) To the west, below the car park, there is a large patch of even-aged Pinus massoniana. The broad-leafed shrubs beneath the pines are mainly Eurya japonica; this species is typical of scrubland in Hong Kong, and here is flourishing beneath the canopy of the pines.\n\nc) Beside the car park are scrubland species such as Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, Rubus reflexus (cf “blackberry”) and Eurya as well as the fern Dicranopteris linearis; there is also some \"European bracken\" (Pteridium aquilinum). Although the vegetation is moving toward scrubland, the insects are probably mainly grassland forms.\n\nd) The number of insects to be seen is highly dependent on the weather conditions. Many flying insects (butterflies etc.) are temperature-dependent and fly only when the temperature is above a certain minimum value. In grassland, as in other vegetation, the distribution and species of animals will depend on the availability of food. One may distinguish three arbitrary groups—plant eaters, eaters of debris, and predatory animals.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 208142, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1977", "page_number": 181, "title": "RAS-1977", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n165 \n\nonly about 70% of that outside the canopy. Also, within the Acacia community the windspeed was markedly reduced. \n\nThe initial effect of fire was to kill the leaves and most branches of the Acacia trees, and to remove essentially all of the grasses and herbs, and the plant remains (litter) on the surface. Subsequently, the acacias produced new branches and the understorey plants grew again. Some of these changes can be summarized as follows: \n\nAcacia confusa: % cover by living crown Understorey plants: weight in g. per sq. metre Bare ground (without living plants): % Litter: weight in g. per sq. metre \n\n1976 1977 \n\n5 24 \n\n318 523 \n\n80 38 \n\n56 447 \n\nObviously the vegetation was re-establishing itself rapidly after the fire, but the effect of planting the trees had been put back by roughly four years. As will be suggested below, a cover of trees can improve the countryside in several ways so that their destruction must be prevented as far as possible. \n\nCountryside Management II \n\nIf anyone doubts the long term importance and value of protecting the countryside from damage by fire he should stop at the pavilion on the left hand side of Route Twisk as it descends to Shek Kong (altitude about 400 m.). Below is the air-strip at Shek Kong. To the north, the hills are covered with rough grasses and are yellow or brown in color for much of the year; these hills centre upon Kai Kung Leng (#572 m.). The impression is one of neglect. To the south, the ridges running down from Tai Mo Shan toward Tai Lam Chung are tree-covered and remain green throughout the year; the impression is one of well-being. \n\n(雞公嶺) \n\nThe difference is due simply to the kind of management given to the two regions. The northern hills are outside the forestry management areas of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and receive little or no protection from fire. By contrast, the ridges to the south have long been given protection from fire and have been planted with trees. Quite apart from the visual improvement, this kind of long-term management gives a tangible return in higher recreational potential, reduced soil erosion, and a better yield of water to reservoirs.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1977.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/np198x23n", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209241, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 144, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "130\n\nTA ACTON\n\nearnest students of all ages doing the homework impossible to do in crowded one-room flats) The report suggests that even though land-based jobs had increased awareness of the need for secondary education, drop-out rates of those who started on it remained high because of the physical difficulties in the way of studying. The F.M.O. schools are not, however, mentioned in the report, nor have I seen any F.M.O. comments on these findings.\n\n38\n\nThe report of the survey concludes that the plight of the poor boat-people is an indication of a more general social malaise, the devil-take-the-hindmost atmosphere of Hong Kong. They suggest that the Government should accept responsibility for re-settling the casualties of the mechanisation of the fishing industry from which the rest of the community has benefitted. In the long term, a better understanding of the Shui-sheung-yans' needs was required by the housing authority, who should plan in accordance with forecasts about the manpower needs of the fishing industry. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries should extend the availability of its loans so that less initial capital is required of the borrower. New fishermen's villages could be built by the Housing Department, and the Labour Department and the Education Department should co-operate to increase the general levels of education and training in industrial skills. In the short term, the report urges immediate improvements in safety, rubbish collection, sanitation, and disinfection. Regular checks on boat safety should be made by the Marine Department. The Urban Council should provide study rooms for children, and the Education Department evening literacy classes and industrial training.\n\n39\n\nThe report spurred a campaign which gained wider sympathy. In January 1979 a coach-load of boat-people were arrested on their way to take a petition to Government House. Children as young as seven years of age were finger-printed and charged with illegal assembly, although magistrates refused to proceed with the case against those under the age of 12. The adults, social workers, students, a Catholic missionary and Shui-sheung-yan, were found guilty, but discharged.\n\nAfter this incident, however, the groundswell of liberal support for the boat-people diversified into a general civil rights attack on the Public Order Ordinance itself. This has left the boat-people to fight their housing struggle by themselves, with the help of a few community workers linked to SoCO, such as Fr. Cunbo Franco, an Italian Roman Catholic priest actually living on a boat in the Yaumatei typhoon shelter.\n\n40", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209242, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 145, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "EDUCATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF FISH MARKETING\n\n131\n\nIt is remarkable that the F.M.O. is not really among the agencies subjected to this lobbying. In their 1978 report, the F.M.O. (as distinct from its parent body, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries) is not mentioned. In conversation SoCO workers and F.M.O. officials appeared unaware of each others' interests in the welfare and education of Shui-sheung-yan. They were dealing, in fact, with what had become two separate populations.\n\nOther Shui-sheung-yan organisations: links between rich and poor.\n\nVery few organisations bridge the gap between the FMO-constituency and the SoCO constituency; those that do, however, are worth mentioning. This paper will look at the Hong Kong and Kowloon Fishermen's Association, Ltd. in the port of Castle Peak; the three Fishermen's Recreation Clubs of Chai Wan, Stanley and Lamma Island; and the remarkable Chan Ye-So Kaau-Ooi (True Jesus Church) in the island of Ap Chau and the border port of Sha Tau Kok.\n\nThe Hong Kong and Kowloon Fishermen's Association Ltd.\n\nThis association is a trade union in which the Chinese Communist Party plays a leading role; as the F.M.O. liaison officer at Castle Peak put it, it acts as an intermediary for such Hong Kong fishermen as require it with the Chinese authorities, and can assess and influence the politics of the fishing industry in Hong Kong. Many Castle Peak fishermen are also registered with Chinese coastal communes. In 1971 it had built a handsome floating headquarters, which is still in the harbour at Castle Peak.\n\nThe same process of mechanisation and reduction of the fishing fleet that operate throughout the territory had perforce affected its aims. By 1980, only 60 percent of its membership were still active fishermen, and their secretary stressed the achievement of better housing on land as being currently their main objective. Education could not be a priority issue for the boat-people when their living standards were so low. Because many had registered only recently, they were very low in the queue for public re-housing. The boat-people wanted to be re-housed together, and it would take less than one of the tall blocks of flats on a new housing estate to do so, but the housing authority would not allow group applications for re-housing; they would only take applications from individual families. One of the seven or eight new blocks of flats that had been built around the harbour area had had the character for fish in its name, and the boat people had thought it MUST", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209249, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1981", "page_number": 152, "title": "RAS-1981", "content_text": "138 \n\nTA ACTON \n\nindividuals, though rare in Hong Kong, might find their way through the system more easily if the F.M.O. schools were to become part of the general educational system, which they now so closely resemble. \n\nConclusion \n\nSpeaking at the closing ceremony of the 12th annual summer camp of the F.M.O. schools, at Wukaisha Youth Village, the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon. J.M. Riddell-Swan J.P. said: \n\n\"There are clear advantages in completing secondary education, whether a child wishes to follow a career in the fishing industry or ashore. In common with other industries, fishing and fishing vessel technology are advancing rapidly, and the well-educated fisherman will obviously be able to take better advantage of this and so increase family prosperity.' \n\n* 46 \n\nThe two major themes of this education policy appear in this speech: its benefit to the efficiency of the fishing industry, and its contribution to slimming it down (“a career in the fishing industry or ashore”). It is noteworthy, however, that the speaker applies these themes specifically to secondary education. The battle for primary education has already been won (give or take the odd thirteen-year-old who suddenly appears at a remote school, refusing to admit to any previous schooling; but this happens far less often than in Gypsy school projects.). \n\nThis is an indication of how much more educational policies for the Shui-sheung-yan in Hong Kong have \"achieved\" than those for Gypsies in Britain. There has been a much greater penetration by the schools system, and by the dominant attitudes of industrial society to education among the Shui-sheung-yan than among the Gypsies. This paper quoted the SOCO study which showed that 32.5 percent of 263 poor Shui-sheung-yan respondents declared they wanted no more than primary education for their children. If such a question were asked of a sample of nomadic Gypsies in Britain, the figure would be nearer 90 percent, one would guess. \n\nIn Hong Kong progress towards better education for the Shui-sheung-yan is general throughout the territory. The 11 British West Midlands Local Education Authorities, with their claims of achieving 800-1,300 children attending out of their estimated 1,500–2,000 constituency, are merely the brightest spot in Britain. Many other local education authorities are doing nothing, and the Department of \n\n47", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209668, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 325, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n303 \n\nIn recognition of their botanical significance and the rarity of the trees, the site where they are growing was listed as a “Site of Special Scientific Interest” (SSSI) in 1975. The SSSI concept is a planning device introduced to Hong Kong, to ensure that due account is taken of the scientific importance of particular sites when changes in land use or other development are being considered. Any site, on land or sea, which is of sufficient special scientific interest by reason of its flora, fauna, geographical or historic features may be registered and listed as an SSSI. However, listing as an SSSI does not impose any legal restriction on the owners, tenants or occupiers of the land and does not, by itself, ensure protection of the sites against unsympathetic activities or forms of development.\n\nIn this particular case, however, the villagers treasure the presence of these two 'historical trees' and go along with Government's effort to secure their conservation. With their consent and co-operation, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department has carried out certain maintenance work to sustain the growth of the trees by cutting away strangling creepers, trimming branches from nearby trees and clearing nearby dumps of rubbish.\n\nMeasurements made in 1982 showed that neither tree has made any appreciable growth since 1971, either in height or girth. This indicates that they are at an advanced stage of their natural lifespan.\n\nTowards the end of 1981, the condition of one of them was found to have deteriorated significantly. Careful inspection failed to detect any pest and it is believed that its advanced age together with a change in their environment (e.g., the dumping of building materials nearby) may be the causes. New leaves failed to appear in the spring of 1982 and 1983 and it has to be accepted that this tree is now dying.\n\nThe second tree is still in fairly healthy condition, although its branches and leaves are sparse. Unfortunately, it lies within the alignment of a major road works project, the New Territories Circular Route. After some negotiation, the Highways Office has agreed to a slight change in alignment in an attempt to save this tree. It has also been agreed that a stone protective wall will", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209669, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 326, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "304\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES\n\nbe constructed to safeguard the tree which will become a roadside tree when the road widening is completed.\n\nIn order to maintain this rare species in Hong Kong, Agriculture & Fisheries Department has collected seed from these two veteran trees and this has been germinated and used to grow several hundred seedlings. These have been planted out in a variety of sites in the Country Parks where many of them are now well established. The most successful is a group of four trees growing near the head of Jubilee Reservoir which have reached a height of 6.7m and a girth of 0.37m in ten years.\n\nThe former Village Representative, Mr. Man Tse-leung, whose picture appeared with the original article, is now 86 years old. Though not able to walk, he enjoys good health and still has a good memory. He recalled that during his childhood, the trees had already attracted the attention of a lot of people, from dignitaries to thieves. A former Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Cecil Clementi, had once made a special visit to the village to see them while serving as District Officer in the New Territories early this century. The unique quality of their timber for making wooden bracelets had caused a greedy craftsman named Lau to come over 50 miles from Po On County. However, when he started cutting the branches, he fell onto the ground. With his back broken, he had to abandon his illicit attempt. Mr. Man added that it was because of their \"fung shui\" value, that these two trees and several other mature camphors (Cinnamomum camphora) and banyan (Ficus spp.) were spared from the widespread felling during the Japanese Occupation from 1941 to 1945. The present Village Representative, Mr. Man Tat-pui, welcomed our proposal to plant new young seedlings in the village environs to replace the old trees.\n\nThe name of the Tai Hang Village is of some historical and geographical interest. The official publication A Gazetteer of Place Names in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories gives the following description:-\n\n\"Tai Hang (†); KVO65877; 534212; also known as Cha Hang (i), sometimes (#); a large village in three", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 209670, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1982", "page_number": 327, "title": "RAS-1982", "content_text": "NOTES AND QUERIES \n\n305 \n\nseparate sectors close to Fanling Road; population: 505; both Cantonese and Hakkas.\" \n\nIt is believed that Cha Hang (茶坑) is the original name which was derived from the location of the village, which is situated near the junction of two streams. Because of the differing pronunciations of Cantonese and Hakka, the names Tai Hang (大坑) and Choi Hang (菜坑) appeared later. Probably because of the Chinese tradition of preferring propitious characters in place names, the villagers adopted the modified version of Tai Hang 太亨,泰亨 \"Tai\" meaning peaceful \n\nand \"Hang\" meaning prosperous. In fact, 太亨 is the official name recorded in the 1819 edition of the San On Gazetteer (新安縣志). Recently, this version has been used commonly by the Lands Department and the District Office in official maps and documents. \n\nThe local names of Cha Hang (junction of streams together with Kau Lung Hang (nine dragon stream 九龍坑) and Kiu Tau (bridge head 橋頭) sheds some light on the condition of the plain between Tai Po and Fanling several centuries ago. It suggests that the area was essentially low-lying marsh land crossed by many small streams. In this connection, the ancestors of the Man clan had certainly made, perhaps inadvertently, a correct choice in bringing the water pines with them for planting in their new village, since this occupies a location very similar to the natural habitat of the species in the low lying districts of the Pearl River Delta. \n\nYU KOW-CHOY LAI CHIK-CHUEN \n\n(Senior Forestry Officer and Forestry Officer, Agriculture and Fisheries Department) \n\nMORE ABOUT THE TUNG CHUNG FORT \n\nIt is recorded in Chapter 125 of the Kwong Tung Tung Chi, Tao Kuang edition (廣東通志) that in the 22nd year of the Ch'ia Ching reign (1543), not 1817, eight guard-houses were built at Tung Chung.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1982.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mk61z420p", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210216, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1984", "page_number": 187, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "166\n\nR.A. BOWLER, D.S.C. YANG AND A.J.E. SMITH\n\nIndustry organisation\n\nThe Hong Kong oyster industry is a typical unsophisticated artisan fishery with low capital investment and organised on a family basis. Each family may use several areas distributed throughout Deep Bay so that some protection is afforded against localised events which may damage or destroy the oyster beds. Essential equipment comprises a sampan, wooden sledge, tongs, shucking hammer and some artificial substrate to which the oyster may attach and grow (Morton and Wong, 1975). The Lau Fau Shan Oyster Industry Association, the New Territories Oyster and Crustacean United Industries, and to some extent the Lau Fau Shan Chamber of Commerce, are three organisations which represent a majority of active farmers in the Hong Kong industry.\n\nProduction figures have been kept since 1977 by the oyster organisations, and these figures are shown in Figure 2 in comparison with records from the Annual Reports of the Agriculture & Fisheries Department of the Hong Kong Government, and those from previously published reviews (Mok, 1974b; Morton and Wong, 1975). Official exports from China are also shown in Figure 2 and are discussed below.\n\nThe apparent discrepancy in the records of the oyster industry and the Hong Kong Government reports may arise from the interlocked nature of the Hong Kong and China-based industries and the tendency to produce in accordance with market needs. Any supplement to the Hong Kong industry production by the practices of purchasing beds and oysters outlined later in this paper would not be determined by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department figures which attempt to measure purely Hong Kong production.\n\nInterviews in 1984 indicated that about 300 households are directly involved in the Hong Kong oyster industry representing 1,200 to 2,000 individuals. In addition, a further 1,000 are employed on a part-time basis. Additional people are involved indirectly in the restaurant and processed oyster-products industry.\n\nThe industry in China has by contrast some 20,000 individuals", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210251, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1984", "page_number": 222, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "201\n\nfrom both the primary producers and protein-enriched detritus.\n\nResults from a Venezuelan lake suggest that the influence of detritus may be even more far-reaching than has been suggested here. Bowen (1980) has analysed detritus and reported that it contains significant quantities of a range of non-protein amino acids. On the basis of this finding, and on investigation of the physiology of the fish's alimentary canal, he attributed the rapid growth of tilapia to assimilation of non-protein detrital amino acids. Obviously this subject would repay investigation in the case of other fish and shrimps (vide Table 5).\n\nIn any event, removal of the mangroves from around the kei wais would remove the main source of detritus and thus lead to diminishing productivity of the kei wais. This points up the practical importance of maintaining the mangrove community.\n\nA kei wai, such as No. 7, gives a reasonable return of economic produce which is both varied in kind and distributed throughout the year. The actual financial return depends on the amount of rent paid to the landlord; in some cases this may be so high as to make the operation financially unattractive. Given the periodic nature of the work, operation of kei wais would seem to be best suited to a small cooperative which owned the freehold.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nMost of this work was carried out during the period June-December 1978 when C.Y.H., K.Y.T. and S.W.T. were employed under the Summer-work programme of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department; we wish to thank the Director for arranging that financial support. In addition, we wish to thank Mr. Chan Sau and Mr. Wong Chiu for allowing us to investigate conditions in the kei wai and for answering our many questions so helpfully. Our thanks are due also to Mr. Lau Sin Pang, Mr. D.S. Melville, and Mr. Wong Pak Hei, all of the A.F.D., for their advice and help in carrying out the project, and to Dr. Chan Kwong-yu for kindly advising us on bacteriological methods. We acknowledge, with thanks, Mr. Melville's permission to use two photographs taken by him.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210325, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1984", "page_number": 296, "title": "RAS-1984", "content_text": "275\n\nA large clump of such \"public\" trees (HAB) exists, for instance, on the north-east slope of Kowloon Peak.\n\n10 See, however, section 2 of this Note. The late Mr. T. S. Woo, MBE (formerly of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association) stated that local “Hill Tea” was once dealt in by Gibb, Livingston, but that this later died away, probably as a consequence of the great growth in Indian and Ceylonese tea exports in the late nineteenth century (Note by K. C. Iu).\n\nPlate 39.\n\n12 Elsewhere in this journal, D. Faure in \"Notes on the History of Tsuen Wan\" mentions tea growing on Tsing Yi and at Chuen Lung in the earlier part of this century.\n\n11 Section 3 of this Note discusses this \"tea\" more fully.\n\n14\n\nPlate 40.\n\n15\n\nSessional Papers 1907, p. 221.\n\n16 \"A Notice of the Sanon District\" reprinted JHKRRAS, Vol. 7, 1967, p. 122.\n\n17 The Mau Tso Ngam Village Representative, Mr. Cheng Kau-hung, has also spoken to me (PHH) about herb collection. He stressed that knowledge of herb collection was kept as a secret and handed down from father to son, the father going to remote spots on the hillside to point out herbs to his son where prying eyes could not see what was done. Only some of the Mau Tso Ngam village families knew how to collect herbs, and this information was kept even more carefully from villagers from other villages. The prepared herbs were sold to shops in Kowloon City, a few cents being paid before the War for a well-prepared catty of the less frequently found herbs. The herbs were usually not those found in the Standard Pharmacoepia but \"Mountain Drugs\" (山藥), representing local folk remedies. Sellers of “Mountain Drugs\" can still be found in the New Territories Market towns. Mr. Cheng stressed the difference between medicinal herbs the identification and preparation of which was kept secret, and those herbs usable as food in famines, which it was the duty of the elders to ensure every villager could recognise, and know how to prepare, in case the need ever arose (Note PHH).\n\nDr. Chong Siu-cheung, with a group of local herbalists, has prepared a 5 volume book in English and Chinese “Chinese Medicinal Herbs of Hong Kong\" (Commercial Press, Hong Kong, 1978-84) describing and discussing the uses of about 1,100 species of plant with medicinal properties found in Hong Kong. This book, however, does not cover the place collection or preparation played in the village society or economy (Note KCI).\n\nPlate 41.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210450, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1985", "page_number": 57, "title": "RAS-1985", "content_text": "38 \n\nBARBARA E. WARD \n\ngiven land, a new dwelling, a new pig-sty, free transport for himself, his family, livestock and all belongings, and an agreed sum of $50 per person per month to tide his family over the first six months until he could begin to get an income from his new land. It is important to stress that the negotiations, which were conducted by the District Office, were entirely correct, the enquiry meticulous and the terms most generous. Only the fishermen were left out of account. \n\nThe omission was, at the time, not unnatural. The stereotyped view of the Boat People as essentially mobile (“like gypsies” was a common English phrase) made it difficult even to imagine that some of them might be attached in any permanent sense to any particular place. It was assumed, too, that fishing could be carried on as well in one part of the water as another (or, if not, that it would be impossibly difficult with such a transitory population to determine who normally fished where) and that therefore only the land people of Kau Sai could be considered. \n\nThere were in fact two separate issues, affecting respectively two separable categories of fishermen. On the one hand were those who claimed that because firing practice interfered with their fishing operations and therefore reduced their income they were entitled to monetary compensation; on the other hand there were the others who did not want compensation but simply desired to be allowed to go on using Kau Sai as their permanent anchorage. The former group, mainly small long-liners and others engaged in day-time fishing, put in their claim to the District Office during the course of the negotiations with the land villagers. It was referred to the Fisheries Section of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and investigated by its officers together with those of the Fish Marketing Organisation. Finally, a list of claimants was drawn up, and a once-for-all payment agreed and handed over. The organisation of this claim and its significance are discussed more fully below. \n\nThe second group of fishermen were mostly, but not all, night-time operators, purse-seiners, who normally spent the days at anchor in Kau Sai bay. At first, they seem to have shared (though for different reasons) the District Officer's assumption that the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1985.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gt54s866x", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210741, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 92, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "75\n\nernment House. It then occupied temporary accommodation on several occasions until it was eventually accommodated, in 1954, near the Department of Biology in the Northcote Science Building of Hong Kong University.\n\nTo satisfy the increasing requests for advice and technical assistance, the Gardens Department began, in 1949, to issue a series of monthly articles on everyday local gardening matters and provided them free on application. They were also published in a local magazine to obtain a wider distribution. The local and introduced plants in the Botanic Gardens were identified and re-labelled and the first post-war flower show was held in June 1954.\n\nFollowing another major restructuring of Government offices, the departments of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry and Gardens were amalgamated into one Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in October 1950. Later in 1953 the Gardens Division, including the Botanic Gardens and the Herbarium, was transferred to the Urban Council and Urban Services Department which was also responsible for a wide range of services in the urban area.\n\nThe herbarium staff was comparatively active, making field collecting and preparing the Check List of Hong Kong Plants. It was first issued in 1962 as a cyclostyled edition, enumerating all of the identified species and varieties of vascular plants growing in Hong Kong, both native and introduced. The check list was revised in 1965 and 1966.\n\nIn 1965 Mr. J.D. Whitehead was appointed Principal Amenities Officer on the retirement of Mr. R.E. Dean and the post of Superintendent of Gardens was abolished. The programme of providing recreation areas had been expanding rapidly to meet the demand of an increasing population and increasing standard of living. The Botanic Gardens were maintained though serious botanic work was carried out mainly by the herbarium staff. The herbarium collection was moved back to Government premises, on the 8th floor of Causeway Bay Magistracy Building, in 1967. The booklet, Hong Kong Trees, illustrated with coloured photographs, was published in 1969, which became the first of a series of", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210742, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 93, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "76\n\nD.A. GRIFFITHS AND S.P. LAU\n\npopular booklets on Hong Kong flora, fauna, and minerals.\n\nThe Hong Kong Herbarium was transferred to the Agriculture and Fisheries Department in 1972. The Check List of Hong Kong Plants was updated and formally printed and published in 1974. It was again revised and published in 1978.\n\nIn 1975 the Botanic Gardens were renamed the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, resulting from a significant expansion of the zoological work under the curatorship (in an honorary capacity) of Dr. K. Searle, in the early 1970s. The collection housed rare or endangered species of animals and birds for conservation and educational purposes. In 1983 the construction of a new large free-flight aviary and a new mammal complex were completed though the most prominent horticultural feature of the Gardens, the Fountain Terrace, had to be removed to allow for the reconstruction of the roof of the service reservoir over which it was built. Work was completed in 1987 with the provision of a larger fountain of attractive design, an expanded collection, enlarged catering facilities and a book shop.\n\nIn 1984, a typhoon again caused serious and widespread damage throughout the Gardens. The Gardens had to be closed for a week to allow for the clearance of debris to proceed. The large greenhouse was damaged beyond repair and had to be rebuilt.\n\nThough the facilities of the Gardens have improved greatly over the years, steady urban encroachment has reduced its original size of about 7 hectares to the present 5.35 hectares. It is conveniently located at the centre of the city and is a popular outdoor recreational and educational facility in Hong Kong. It attracts 3 million visitors a year, including overseas visitors, and is looked after by a staff of 66, including a park keeper, a zoo keeper and numerous gardeners.\n\nSOURCES OF REFERENCE MATERIAL\n\n1. The Bentham Correspondence\n\na) Vol. 2 and Vol. 5\n\nb) Chinese and Japan Letters ALC-HAN 1865-1900", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 210743, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1986", "page_number": 94, "title": "RAS-1986", "content_text": "77\n\nLibrary and Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England\n\n2. C.O. No. 129 series for the years 1844 to 1865\n\nPublic Records Office, London and Hong Kong.\n\n3. Annual Reports:\n\na) Gardens Department, Hong Kong Government, for the years 1872 to 1879\n\nb) Botanical and Forestry Department, Hong Kong Government, for the years 1880 to 1939\n\nc) Gardens Department, Hong Kong Government, for the Financial Years 1946-47 to 1949-50\n\nd) Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department, for the Financial Years 1950-51 to 1953-54\n\ne) Urban Services Department and Urban Council, Hong Kong, for the Financial Years 1953-54 onwards.\n\n4. Eitel, E.J. 1895, Europe in China: The History of Hong Kong from the Beginning to the Year 1882, Kelly & Walsh Ltd. Hong Kong.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1986.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 213585, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-1995", "page_number": 181, "title": "RAS-1995", "content_text": "151\n\nRecent Developments\n\nThe Government formally re-adopted a forestry policy in 1953, the aims of which were to afforest the waste hills of the Colony, many of which were eroded and bare and as such were a threat to effective water catchment; to manage the forest so that it would produce a sustained yield of poles, fuel and small timber; to encourage private forestry and assist the villagers in the New Territories to establish and manage their plantations. By 1963 there were about 10,000 acres (4166 ha.) of Government plantations and around 2,000 acres (833 ha.) of Government-assisted village plantations. The erosion control planting in particular was often on a heroic scale, and it is this planting which characterizes much of Hong Kong's Country Parks today.\n\nAround this time, however, the programme was scaled down considerably. The village population was declining as people emigrated or moved to the urban areas; the demand for wood fuel was declining as alternatives became available; and the problem of hillfires was as serious as ever. In 1966-67, the area of Government coniferous forest alone which was burned was 1,265 acres (527 ha.), and village plantations and naturally regenerating woodland also suffered. From 1970 to 1985, the total number of trees killed exceeded those planted, and the total area affected by fire was nearly twice as large as the woodland cover in 1985. In the event, the total planting programme was reduced, and the replanting of village woodlands was discontinued (Daley 1975).\n\nFor better facilities for informal \"countryside\" activities, such as walking and observing wildlife, more effective management of the hill areas was required. In 1977, the first Country Park was established in Hong Kong (Neil & Harding, 1983). Some 40% of the area of Hong Kong and the New Territories, covering most of the upland area, had been designated under 21 Country Parks by 1979. Under the Country Parks Ordinance, all development within the Country Parks is strictly controlled. As well as the Parks, the conservation framework in Hong Kong includes 13 special areas and 37 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which are sites chosen for their rare flora, fauna, and geology, or because of special educational, archaeological, or historic interest.\n\nThe Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, which manage the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1995.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g", "rank": 0 } ]