ENG-1958 — Page 123

PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

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An additional thirty seven acres of land was converted into fish ponds in 1958, thus bringing the total area devoted to fish culture in the New Territories up to some 555 acres. The estimated produc- tion of carp and mullet was 400 tons (valued at $1,400,000) as against 506 tons in 1957. This decrease was largely due to the shortage of grey mullet fry supply to stock the ponds this year.

Fish fry exporters despatched some 20 million fry, as against only 14 million in the previous year. The main destinations were Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.

FORESTRY

It is only in recent years that any serious attempt has been made to carry-out afforestation on a considerable scale in the New Territories, and the landscape has not yet been appreciably changed. The hills are predominantly grass covered, but a thicker cover of shrubs is found in some areas and there is some scrub forest in remote and inaccessible places. Where the vegetation has been protected against cutting and fire, as for example on Hong Kong Island, there are also thickly-wooded areas. The villagers cut grass for fuel and this practice, combined with the prevalence of hill fires in the dry season, has brought about the complete destruction of the vegetation with consequent soil erosion in many parts of the Colony. On the lower hill slopes the villagers have forestry lots, but in most of them the pine trees are so scattered and badly lopped that they scarcely alter the barren aspect of the land.

The Forestry Division of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department encourages forestry generally and is directly concerned with afforestation of the water catchment areas, assistance to village forestry and amenity planting. A thick forest cover is essential in the catchment areas to prevent erosion and silting of reservoirs and to promote regular stream-flow by inducing maximum retention of water in the soil. In other areas forestry can provide timber and fuel for local consumption and improve the economy of the rural population. In fact, forestry is the only form of extensive land development possible in the New Territories, where three-quarters of the land could not be developed profitably in any other way.