ENG-1949 — Page 71

1947 Weight

(in piculs)

Local Imported Total 326,374 128,666 455,040

Average price

per picul

Value

(H.K.$)

1948 Weight

(in piculs)

Value

(H.K.$)

1949 Weight

(in piculs)

Value (H.K.$)

5,269,385 2,079,305 7,348,690

$16.1

369,610 167,005 536,615

5,411,491 2,444,930 7,856,422 $14.64

441,900 211,663 653,563

8,968,429 4,258,080 13,226,509 $20.18

(16.8 piculs 1 ton)

FORESTRY

Hong Kong derives its water supply from thirteen reservoirs which to a large extent obtain their water from surface run-off into catch-waters running along the contours of the hillsides. As there is a total average annual rainfall of 84.26 inches, most of which occurs between June and September, and as the hillsides are very steep, the strict maintainance of an adequate forest covering becomes a necessity, not only to reduce erosion to a minimum in order to avoid silting up the reservoirs, but also to increase the seepage run-off and extend it as far as possible into the dry season when water shortage becomes acute, especially since the surface run-off is normally more than adequate to fill all the reservoirs before the end of the wet season. Consequently it is not surprising that afforestation work has been largely concentrated on the catchment areas with the object of restoring and maintaining a forest covering, so much of which disappeared during the war years.

The catchment area most urgently needing reaffore- station was in the neighbourhood of Kowloon reservoir in some parts of which severe surface erosion is in evidence. Extensive planting of eucalytus and tristania was carried out but the soil and climatic conditions on the hilltops are rather too severe to support vegetation and consequently it is necessary in the first place to establish a forest covering on the lower slopes near the reservoirs and gradually to extend it.

From a somewhat different standpoint the afforestation of the Shing Mun catchment area is of interest in so far as a large part of the area consists of deserted paddy fields vacated when the reservoir was built in order to avoid

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