ENG-1946 — Page 56

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artificial fertilizer allotted by the international distribution board was similarly distributed, due regard being paid to soil conservation as well as to the immediate needs of production.

Increased Production.

With this help and with the assistance also of supplies of seeds brought from England and Australia and of insecticide in various forms, the production of both rice and vegetables began to increase immediately. The growing of upland rice was almost entirely abandoned, as the yield had proved poor, and the fields devoted to it could be much more profitably used for vegetables. Efforts were made to intro- duce new strains of rice but these made little progress during 1946. An experiment made by the Japanese in this direction had had the effect of turning the growers against any such attempts. The Japanese had planted a certain amount of Formosan rice seed which was expected to produce a much heavier crop than the ordinary Hong Kong rice; but the experiment had been disastrous, for the wider stem of this rice plant permitted the development of a new parasite which had hitherto not been able to be propagated in the small stem of the Chinese plant, and a devastating swarm of rice-destroy- ing moths appeared. Fortunately this occurred at a time shortly after the Colony's liberation when adequate remedies · were available, and swift action by the Government led to the discovery of a form of spraying which destroyed the pests.

Drought in the Spring.

In the spring of 1946 the Colony experienced a serious drought and the first rice crop (two crops are raised each year) was badly affected. Though the agricultural area has sufficient streams to water all the rice-growing land, it has never been necessary to construct an irrigation system depend- ing on them, since there is usually sufficient rain to keep subsidiary streams and channels supplied with water. This time the rain supply failed, many streams dried up, and great areas of rice-fields were left without water. The Royal Air Force put into operation all the available pumps and for several weeks these were used night and day to pump water into the dried-up fields. The rice harvest was materially increased by this assistance, but even with it the total amount of the crop was far below the pre-war average. Indirectly the drought conferred a benefit, for many rice-fields gained by being allowed to lie fallow for half the year. The second rice crop of the year was one of the best within living memory. Control of Wholesale Marketing.

The next great need of the Hong Kong farmers was a satisfactory system of vegetable marketing. From time immemorial wholesale dealing in vegetables had been in the hands of a group of dealers, and farmers had been discouraged