ENG-1958 — Page 124

98

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

Depending on the weather, planting is usually started in the cool, wet spring and is continued until June or July. Although planting has been done successfully in the late summer, it has usually been found that trees planted after July have too short a period in which to settle down before the onset of the dry weather in October.

The 1958 season was more favourable than usual for planting work. Frequent light rain from January to March facilitated an early start and the bulk of the programme of pine planting was completed before the beginning of the hot weather. April and May were drier than usual but were followed by a further period of suitable weather commencing in June. The programme of work for the year was completed without difficulty and, as results were good and little restocking required, planting material was saved, enabling several additional areas to be planted late in the season. A total of 2,127 acres of new plantations was formed in forest reserves during the season. That this constitutes a very large increase on previous years, can be seen from the following figures for areas planted during the past five years :

1954 =1955

734 acres

690

1,065

1956

1957

1958

Total

25

1,272

93

2,127

95

5,888 acres

1

The forest reserves are, for the most part, co-extensive with the Colony's water catchment areas. In the Tai Lam Forest Reserve, afforestation has been completed in the areas adjacent to the reservoir, and in the northern part of the catchment area the hills, which were in 1953 so completely devastated by erosion, are now well covered by a thick green mantle of pine plantations. Afforestation was continued in the remaining grass areas of the direct catchment area and a nursery was started at Tai Tong in a seriously eroded section of the northern indirect catchment areas. In the Shing Mun Forest Reserve, afforestation continued on the southern slopes of Tai Mo Shan and in areas along Route Twisk. Afforestation of the small Tai Po Kau Forest Reserve, in which there are many older plantations dating from the pre-war period,