ENG-1947 — Page 81

wasted; cajeput oil, used for liniments, is obtained from its leaves, its bark is used for caulking and its stem for poles. A similar nursery was planted at Fanling to provide tree seedlings for the denuded hills in that area.

During the course of the year the first tung-oil plantation on the hillsides was made, when about fifty acres between Kowloon Reservoir and the 7 milestone on the Taipo Road were planted with Aleurites Montana. An experimental sowing of seeds direct into the pits proved quite successful.

An entirely new method of raising tree seedlings was intro- duced to the Colony during the year. In this method the seedlings, after being raised to about 1" in height in seed boxes, are transferred to small metal tubes packed with earth and about 8" high, which are fastened by a clip. They remain in these tubes for six to eight months by which time they are ready for planting on the hillsides. During this period the seedlings have grown to about two to three feet in height and have effectively bound the earth with which the tubes are filled. On planting, the tube is unclipped and the seedling allowed to drop into a small hole made by a pick. The advantages of the system lie not only in the rapidity with which tubing can be done (one man can tube about 300 seedlings per day) but also in the ease with which the seedlings can be transported for planting with the minimum disturbance of the roots. By the end of the year there were 90,000 seedlings tubed which will be ready for planting from March, 1948, onwards.

During 1947, for the first time, roadside trees were planted along many of the thoroughfares of Kowloon, but the absence of tree guards and the wilful damage caused by passers-by in breaking off the leaves and uprooting the stakes caused many of the trees to fail. It is intended to persevere in 1948 with larger trees which will not be so easily damaged. Roadside planting on the Island was carried out with success.

Hill fires, the result of a period of drought, occurred very frequently during the latter part of the year, especially on the hills behind Kowloon. In two instances these fires entered areas where pine seedlings had been broadcast earlier in the year, but no extensive damage was caused. Up to the end of the year, 27 fires, principally on the mainland, had been extin- guished by foresters.

MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES.

There are few places in the world comparable in area to Hong Kong (391 square miles) which have such a varied geological record. Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are all represented, but it is the igneous rocks, ranging from granites to rhyolites, which are the most widespread. A wide range of economic minerals has been formed. Not all have been located in sufficiently large deposits to be worth working but it is possible that modern prospecting methods may reveal

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