Dairy Farm Company – Further Information

HF: The Old Dairy Farm in Pokfulam, Hong Kong, was once an extensive complex of farm buildings erected by the Dairy Farm Company. The Dairy Farm was founded in 1886 when Dr Patrick Manson (a Scottish surgeon and a pioneer in the fields of hygiene and tropical medicine) persuaded five influential businessmen in the city, including Paul Chater, to invest in a local dairy farm. While in Hong Kong Manson also spearheaded the founding of the Hong Kong College of Medicine, which in turn evolved into the Faculty of Medicine of The University of Hong Kong. He was also a distinguished parasitologist and the first to state the hypothesis that the mosquito is the host of the malarial parasite and thus an active agent in diffusing the disease. The Dairy Farm Company’s declared purposes were threefold: (i) to provide a regular supply of hygienic fresh milk for Hong Kong people; (ii) to reduce the price of cow’s milk so as to make it affordable by the city’s growing population; and (iii) to realize a profit for the company shareholders.

The Old Dairy Farm occupied a 120 hectare hilly site in Pokfulam, with an initial capital of $30,000 and a herd of 80 dairy cows imported from America (and later from Australia, Scotland and Holland). In spite of the hilly nature of the land, Pokfulam was selected as the site for dairy farming for a number of reasons. First of all, Pokfulam was isolated from the disease ridden slums in Sheung Wan, but was only four miles away from the central district of Hong Kong Island. It was sloping seaward on a piece of land rising to 500 feet above sea level, making the site receive cool breezes which were especially important for dairy farming during the sub tropical summer in Hong Kong.

The cows had to be kept as cool as possible if they were to stay healthy and produce the maximum quantity of milk. Heat, together with humidity, described by a farm manager of the Old Dairy Farm as discomfort index, could adversely affect yield and breeding cycle. Furthermore, the location had a reliable water supply and good drainage. The site condition was good for cows because cows consumed a lot of water very day; water was also required, for cleaning the cowsheds and the related buildings as well as dairy utensils.

In 1899, to prevent the spread of disease from one part of the herd to another, Granville Sharp, who had served on the Board of Directors of the Dairy Farm Company since 1886, initiated the idea of dividing the herd, instead of having it all in one group. By 1899, four octagonal cowsheds were in operation, and it was proposed to erect more. Following Sharp’s initiative, the construction of segregated cowsheds in Sassoon Road commenced. In addition, each cowshed had its own separate team of workers, in order to reduce the risk of carrying diseases from one shed to another, and to facilitate isolation during any outbreak of disease. The farm was mainly composed of cowsheds, paddocks, silos, manure pits, living quarters for cowboys, etc. Silos were used to store surplus fodder during the summer and supplied as silage in the winter to the herd; whereas manure pits were for collecting cow manure for use as fertilizer. Manure was kept in pits until it was ready to spread on the surrounding grassland as fertilizer. By 1910, there were 35 cowsheds on the Pokfulam farm; and by 1955 the number had risen to 47. According to a study of the farm in 1957, about 50 cowsheds at the time were separated from each other by at least 100 yards. The business of the Dairy Farm was so prosperous that in 1936 it was reported to be the fifth or sixth in the size of the herd in the world.

Source: Historic Building Appraisal – Old Dairy Farm – Other Site Structures, undated.

This article was first posted on 15th May 2025.

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