ENG-1950 — Page 55

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 On these reservoir was built in order to avoid polluting the water. terraced areas the question of erosion and seepage water is less important than the question of finding a productive use for good agricultural land on which it has become necessary to prohibit cultivation. Melaleuca has been the species exclusively used for this purpose thriving as it does under damp or waterlogged condi- tions. Extensive afforestation of the hillsides in this area is also in progress.

Restoration of a forest covering can only be achieved if the strictest possible protection is given to the vegetation both from wood-cutters and from fire. Any planting that is done must be supplemented by protection, since either wood-cutters or fire can Protection against rapidly annihilate a whole season's planting.

wood-cutters has always been a difficult problem in Hong Kong in view of the close proximity of such a large population to the forest areas. Since the war the position has worsened by the spread of the population into former forest areas, and in an endeavour to stop this spread many arrests were made during the course of the year by the Forestry Department of would-be squatters found in the process of erecting huts in the plantations.

To combat the fire menace the lookout post established on Kowloon Peak can report outbreaks over very large areas of Hong Kong and the mainland by telephone before they can spread and cause extensive damage. Notices are also erected during the dry season warning the public of the danger of fires to the plantations.

Approximately 350,000 trees were planted in 1950 and at the end of the year the stock of seedlings in the nurseries was over 300,000.

MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES

There are few places in the world comparable in area to Hong Kong (391 sq. 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 valuable finds in the future. Unfortunately, much of the Colony is covered by a thick lateritic type of decomposed rock which effectively masks the solid geology below.

The principal minerals so far identified in the Colony are: kaolinite, argentiferous galena, wolframite, molybdenite, garnet, pyrite, mica, magnetite, haematite, cassiterite, fluorspar and quartz. However, the chief minerals mined to date, either by modern European methods or traditional Chinese surface scratchings, are kaolin, lead, iron and wolfram.

Lead deposits are widely scattered throughout the Colony. The lead is usually associated with silver as argentiferous galena. There

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