92
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
following the harvest of the second rice crop is planted with short-term sweet potatoes, the vines of which are used for pig feeding.
Other Field Crops. About 683 acres are cultivated in numerous small areas for field crops such as peanuts, taro, radish, yams and sugar-cane. These crops are grown mainly for home consumption in the New Territories.
Fruit. The local production of fruit is small at present but is expanding with the successful establishment of village orchards. The main varieties produced are wong pei, local lemon, tangerine, Japanese apricot, guava, papaya, laichee, pineapple and orange. Accurate statistics are not available, but it is estimated that 31,814 piculs of assorted fruits were harvested during the year, valued at about $2,000,000, for export and local consumption.
Crops and Fruits for Export. A limited range of fruits and crops are processed for export to Chinese living overseas. The main market is the United States of America. Although the quantities exported are small, they provide an additional source of earning for the small farmer. These products include water-chestnut, Japanese apricot, local lemon, taro, bitter cucumber, white cabbage, ginger, radish, laichee, wong pei, mushroom, lotus root, olive, turnip, yam and mustard. It is estimated that the area planted to these crops in 1959 was 3,580 dau chung and the value of exports was in excess of $2,000,000.
New crops. The recent interest shown in the revival of tea cultivation is continuing and an experimental area on Grassy Hill to the north-east of Tai Mo Shan is being prepared for the culti- vation of this crop. Certain hilly areas in the New Territories are being planted up with ginger under arrangements with local fruit preserving firms, which wish to reduce their dependence on supplies from China. Some fair crops have been harvested and the quality is improving as the farmers gain experience.
As part of the Government's agricultural policy, much has been done over the past six years to improve water supply and irrigation for farming. Up to the end of 1959 the Government, aided by grants from Colonial Development and Welfare funds (see Appen- dix I), had constructed two impounding reservoirs of 48,000,000 gallons capacity at Lo Fu Hang and Hung Shui Hang, 133,000 ft. of irrigation channels, 72 diversion dams, 19 water ponds for
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