Around the beginning of the 19th century, Żejtun continued to be a major contributor to the islands' agrarian economy. Many of the Maltese merchants and traders hailed from the city. Żejtun had the largest amount of arable land devoted to food production on the island, amounting to , or 15.1% of total land under cultivation. Żejtun was the cotton producing centre of the islands, producing 10,312 cwt (hundredweights) of cotton, or 20.8% of the total production in 1836. Such was the importance of the town for commerce, that a local merchant owned a single deck polacre, named Zeitun. As Malta's economy shifted to the servicing of the Royal Navy, much of the islands' commercial activity moved to the fortified cities around the harbour. The importance of the town declined gradually over time. A venture by the British Irish and Colonial Silk Company to introduce silk production in Malta led to the planting of many mulberry trees in Żejtun in 1826, along Triq l-Aħħar Ħbit mit-Torok. Over the years, the trees became so deep-rooted in local history that their stretch of the main road from Fgura to Żejtun became known to locals as Triq iċ-Ċawsli (Mulberry Road). Żejtun was linked with a main aqueduct providing water from Fawwara, with the project commissioned by Governor Henry F. Bouviere. The aqueduct began providing water to the town in 1845. Twenty years later, in 1865, a cholera outbreak led to 84 deaths in the city out of a total population of 5,491. These were concentrated in the highest part town, near a windmill in the "upper casal, or el rahal ta' fuk."Most of the fishermen who worked out of Marsaxlokk bay hailed from Żejtun, commuting back and forth from the shore. Around 1846, the first houses began to be built in Marsaxlokk, as fishermen from Żejtun settled there permanently. Eventually, the fishing village of Marsaxlokk was separated from Żejtun and became a distinct parish in January 1897. As the town of Żejtun continued to develop, the British colonial administration built a police station and a public school. The latter was completed in 1908. Both buildings are built in a Neo-Classical style, synonymous with public buildings under British Rule. A year later, in 1909, the Daughters of the Sacred Heart set up a children's home in the town. In 1913, Josephine Curmi established a home for girls in Żejtun, which was eventually transferred to its