Farming Industries

CAPE COLONY.

ROBERT WALLACE, F.L.S., F.C.S., F.R.S. Edin., &c.

Professor of Agriculture ami Rural Economy in tJie University of Edinburgh ;

Aut/wr of

" Farm Live Stoc/c 0/ Great Britain;" "Indian Agriculture ;" and " Tlie Agriculture and

Rural Economy of A ustralia and New Zealand" &^c.

With 81 Full-page Plates, 14 Maps, 6 Plans, and 92 Illustrations

in the Text.

LONDON:

P. S. KING AND SON,

12 & 14 KING STREET, WESTMINSTER, SAV.

SOUTH AFRICA:
J. C. JuTA AND Co., Capetown, Port Elizabeth, Johannesbukg.

1896.

WORKS BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS
VOLUME.

1. Farm Live Stock of Great Britain, 3rcl

Edition, with 75 full-page plates, 4 maps, and
numerous illustrations in the letterpress, I2S. 6d.

2. Indian Agriculture, with 71 full-page jilates,
3 maps, and 10 electrotypes in the letterpress, crown
Svo, 362 pages, 2IS.

3. The Rural Economy and Agriculture of
Australia and New Zealand, with 90 full-page
plates, 10 maps, and 24 illustrations in the text,
Svo, 542 pages, 21s. net.

SUBSCRIBED TO THE

Right Honourable CECIL JOHN RHODES, M.L.A.

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND
INTRODUCTION.

THE distance covered during my South African visit
completed the one hundred and fifty thousand miles
of foreign travel by land and sea which I have under-
taken during the last nine years in the interests of agricul-
tural research. During that period I have studied on the spot
the agricultural resources of India, Australia and New Zealand,
Canada, the United States of America, Greece, Italy, Egypt,
and South Africa, and I have published acc'ounts of the
results of my investigations. On this occasion my visit was
undertaken at the invitation of the Government of Cape
Colony. Soon after the appearance of my Australian work in
1 89 1, I was approached on the subject by the late Sir Charles
Mills, then Agent-General for the Colony in London, and I
have since learned that this was done probably at the sug-
gestion of the Hon. J. X. Merriman ; but my existing engage-
ments made it impossible to comply with the suggestion till the
spring of last year, when, on the completion of the five months'
course of lectures in this University in the end of March, six
months were left free for the work in hand. The ground it
was necessary to cover was so extensive that the four months
spent in the country were barely sufficient to do it without
more than the usual amount of discomfort and personal
fatigue, and the undertaking proved more trying from the
physical standpoint than even the journey of thirteen thousand
miles which I made by rail in India in the hot weather of 1887.
The railway was used where it was possible to do so, but a
reference to Maps i and 2 will show that long distances.

VI PERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION.

amounting to over two thousand miles, had to be covered by
Cape cart — a vehicle constructed like a dog-cart, but with a
pole in place of shafts, and drawn by two horses as shown in
Plate 4, or four horses as in Plate 9. The roads were often
very rough, being merely tracks on the veld, but no accident
occurred sufficient to mar the enjoyment of an almost daily
recurrence of sunshine and clear winter weather, or the
interest attaching to new experiences which continued to
unfold themselves. The sky being clear, the days were
generally warm ; but the evenings, which in that latitude
and time of year are long, were chilly, and the nights quite
cold.

I had every reason to be thoroughly satisfied with the
treatment I received at the hands of the Department of Agri-
culture, as well as from members of the Government Opposi-
tion. Everything which could add to my personal comfort
was provided. While I was left absolutely free to conduct my
investigations according to my own plan, I was supplied with
suggestions relative to the best routes to follow, and intro-
ductions to leading farmers, as well as with an officer of the
Department as guide and companion, when this was con-
sidered necessary, which was during the greater part of my
sojourn within the borders of Cape Colony. I was particularly
fortunate in my travelling companions. At first I was
accompanied by Mr Eustace Pillans, a horticultural expert,
whose knowledge of the work of his Department was of
special value to me in the western fruit- and wine -growing
areas. My companion for the greater part of the way, includ-
ing the important stock-rearing districts, was Dr Hutcheon,
the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, a Scotsman from the neigh-
bourhood of Peterhead, in common with whom I had many
kindred associations and national recollections. The Doctor's
early boyhood had been spent with an uncle who belonged
to the strictest of Calvinistic doctrinaires of the time — now
nearly half a century ago — and he had been schooled in a
thorough knowledge of the Shorter Catechism, the Psalms of
David, and in the historical and other mysteries of the books
of the Old and New Testaments. Being possessed of a
retentive memory and a decided taste for literature, and

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION. Vll

having been an omnivorous reader, he was able, during our
long and what might otherwise have been tedious drives, to
wile away the hours not devoted to agricultural discussion by
literary effusions of a most interesting and varied character.
He would tell a humorous story, sing a Scottish ditty, or
quote at length from the Bible, Huxley, or Herbert Spencer
(two of his favourite authors), with equal aptness and fluency.
Among the Boer population his knowledge of Bible history
was a valuable supplement to a courteous demeanour in
gaining the respect and esteem of those with whom he came
personally in contact. It is told of him, soon after his arrival
in the Colony, that he met at a place which shall be nameless
a body of Boer farmers, with the object of discussing certain
questions relating to diseases in live stock. The farmers, full
of confidence in their own superior knowledge, derived from per-
sonal experience in the Colony, compared with which nothing
else could be of any account, were not inclined to look with
favour or respect upon the new arrival. The chief spokesman
had a long list of what were thought to be unanswerable or
difficult queries carefully written out, and each, as he put it, was
" clinched with Scripture." The answers were, however, so
much to the point, and each Scripture quotation capped with
another so appropriately, that long before the end of the list
had been reached the Doctor had the meeting enthusiastically
on his side, and the unfriendly efforts of the ringleaders
entirely collapsed. Another important secret of the success
and popularity of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon was his
early training on the old Scottish plan, which was eminently
practical. There is no operation of the farm, from the smallest
and most insignificant to the most important, that he has not
practised to proficiency with his own hands ; and, moreover,
in the performance of his official duties, in which he comes
much in contact with individuals, he can well claim the dis-
tinction of genius, as defined, if I remember aright, by one of
our greatest economic philosophers, as " possessing the faculty
of taking infinite pains."

During the tour of investigation, in conformity with my
usual custom, copious notes were daily taken in duplicate,
and one copy mailed home each week to form a guarantee of

viil I'KKSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION.

the safety of the information collected, in the event of loss of
lugi^as^e, or any mishap occurring; to my note-books.

While visitiiiL^ farms, and meeting and talking privately
with as many farmers as possible, I make it a rule to reserve
the public expression of any definite opinions on agricultural
matters until I have completed my investigations, and to avoid
public meetings, on account of such being a waste of valuable
time, and infinitely more liable to develop heated controversial
discussions which convince no one, than to contribute to one's
stock of information relative to a new countr}\ I trust that
the executive committees of agricultural societies and associa-
tions, whose invitations I consequently felt in duty bound to
refuse, will understand and appreciate the necessity for my
doing so.

On my return to Cape Town, it still remained to be
decided what form my statement to Government, includ-
ing recommendations for improvement in the various
branches of the subject, should take, and after full delibera-
tion it was agreed that a report in the form of a blue-
book would be unattractive, and would probably not be
as widely read as a fully illustrated and more popularly
written production, and that consequently a volume on the
lines of my Indian and Australian works would be preferable,
if completed in time to be considered by the Cape Parlia-
ment during the current session. As in the case of my
investigations, I was left free to express my views on the
position of the farming industries, on the agricultural educa-
tion of the Colony, and on the constitution of the Agricultural
Department of Government, and it is my hope that it will
not be thought that I have taken any undue advantage of the
confidence placed in me by criticising too severely in those
few instances in which I felt it to be my duty to strongly
express disapprobation of existing conditions.

The arrangements for publication were entrusted to Mr
Spencer Todd, C.M.G, the acting Agent-General in London,
and myself, and I take this first public opportunity of thank-
ing Mr Todd for the personal trouble he took in supplying
information, and in furthering in every way the progress of
the work.

TEKSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION. ix

The publishers, Messrs P. S. King & Son, working equally
in the direction of facilitating progress and minimising the
labour and anxiety of the author, accepted the printing tender
of the Darien Press, Edinburgh, a firm with whom I have
had long and agreeable business relations, and who, if
possible, have on this occasion excelled their previous per-
formances in the excellence and the expedition of the
execution of their share of the work.

The blocks for the printing of the full-page plates were
the artistic work of Messrs M. & T. Scott, photo-process
engravers and zincographers, Edinburgh, and mark a won-
derful advance in the development of the appliances for half-
tone printing within recent years. The frontispiece and the
portrait of Dr Hutcheon were supplied by the same firm, and
done by the Scott process, an improvement on the gelatine
or collotype process. Many of the text illustrations were
drawn by Mr J. T. Murray, artist, Edinburgh.

My thanks are also due to my friend, Mr J. G. Bartholo-
mew, who took much personal interest in the compilation of
an original and instructive series of maps,* with, as a basis,
the new and complete map of South Africa drawn in the
office of the Surveyor-General in Cape Town, and now being
reproduced by Mr E. Stanford with the object of publication.
Proofs of three of the four sheets which will form the large
new map were supplied by Mr Stanford, but the fourth sheet
not being ready as was expected in March, the maps had to
be completed from a photograph of the missing part, which
entailed additional labour and expense, and delayed the
publication of the book for six weeks. This time was, however,
not altogether lost, as it enabled me to maintain a standard in
the last chapters similar to that originally adopted in the
earlier parts of the work. The writing' was begun in the
last week of October, and the final chapter was completed
on 15th May, within twelve months of the date on which I
left Cape Town on the long tour of inspection of the Colony.

I have followed the plan adopted by me on previous

* The C^eological Map is after E. J. Dunn's map published in 1887,
and the Rainfall Charts were taken from those of Gamble issued in 1886.

X I''^<:kSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION.

occasions, and given a brief outline of the route taken,
leaving to separate chapters the discussion in detail of the
leading subjects of interest.

I did not confine my researches or remarks merely to what
I saw and learned from farmers and others on the spot, but I
utilised to the fullest extent the large mass of reports and
blue-book literature with which I was provided by Mr Charles
Currey, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Agri-
culture ; and, in addition to others which are mentioned in
the text, I also freely employed for purposes of reference,
comparison, and illustration, the following standard works: —

1. The voluminous Reports of the Department of Agri-
culture, Washington, U.S.A.

2. The local Reports issued by Colleges, Schools, and
States in America, especially those of California dealing with
fruit culture, salt soils, and irrigation.

3. The Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales.

4. The Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony.

5- The South African Agriculturist's Almanac.

6. The Argus Annual.

7. The Official Handbook of the Cape and South Africa.

8. Essays, Lectures, and Reports of the South African
Exhibition, 1885.

9. Manual of Injurious Insects, &c., by E. A. Ormerod.

10. Veterinary Medicine, by Wm. Williams.

11. Veterinary Surgery, by Wm. Williams.

12. Plant Diseases, by Marshal Ward.

13. Useful Native Plants of Australia, by Maiden.

14. Select Extra-tropical Plants, by Von Mueller.

1 5. The Cambridge Natural History, Insect Vol., by Sharp.

16. The Works on African Hunting, by F. C. Selous.

17. Theal's Histories of South Africa.

I have endeavoured to give my authority where a refer-
ence or quotation is made, not only with the purpose of ac-
knowledgment, but also as a guide to the reader where he may
find the subject discussed. I have been specially indebted
to the American Government publications for valuable

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION. XI

subjects used as text illustrations, and I trust that the
appreciation of the value of such work as the Agricultural
Department at Washington has done for a number of years,
will be still further acknowledged in a realistic and ideal way
by the Cape Government adopting the most perfect form of
acknowledgment, viz., by imitation of the American methods of
pictorial illustration in connection with the production of the
future Agricultural Journal of Cape Colony.

Owing in a measure to what seemed to be lack of sufficient
care on the part of the Eastman Company, in developing the film
negatives supplied by the Company, and which I had un-
wittingly rather over-exposed in the South African climate,
the numbers of photographic subjects of my own taking,
available for full-page illustrations, were fewer on this occasion
than on any of my former tours. The names of those to whom
I have been most indebted for making good the deficiencies
are Mr VVm. Roe, Graaff Reinet ; Mr Percy Ashenden,
M.I.C.E., Cape Town; Dr Hugo, Worcester; and Messrs
Wilson & Co., Aberdeen, N.B., and Pocock, Cape Town.

In addition to copious illustration by plates and figures,
I have tried to maintain what I have previously endeavoured
to establish as characteristic features of my writings —
viz., brevity of expression, and the compilation of a vast
number of detailed facts, which are meant to be of value to
those interested in putting in practice the operations described.
In following this course, I have studiously avoided superficial
generalisation, which is a thing of air, and usually incapable
of being utilised in the construction of a satisfactory working
plan of anything. I have also persisted in the unusual course
of calling every one merely by his name without the meaning-
less prefix Mr, and I did so without intending to display undue
familiarity, or to be in any sense discourteous. On the con-
trary, I raise the individuals whose names I take the liberty
of mentioning from the ordinary rank and file of the number-
less misters, and place them on the same platform as long-
standing and prominent authorities in science, literature, art,
and philosophy. No one would think of doing honour to
Newton, to Raphael, to Burns, or to Carlyle, by calling
one or all of them Mr! I have, in short, adopted the course

Xll I'EKSONAL STATKMKNT AND INTRODUCTION.

of saving" printers' ink and the status of my friends in one
breath by the disuse of the most flimsy of all courtesy
tinselling.

It would be impossible, as well as inexpedient, to mention
in detail the numerous friends to whom I was indebted for
personal attention and hospitality, but I trust they will
accept this public acknowledgment — a supplement to my pre-
vious individual thanks — as an indication that the courtesies
offered have not been forgotten, nor are likely to be so.

I have, when occasion offered, acknowledged the sources
from which much of the information has been collected and
assistance received, but a pleasing duty yet remains for me to
perform, viz., to mention specially my esteemed friends, Pro-
fessor MacOwan and Dr Hutcheon. I do not exaggerate
when I say that but for their help, rendered during the period of
my visit to the Colony and throughout the past six months, it
would have been quite impossible for me to complete the work
in the time, or to make it the book of reference which I trust
it will become.

I have frequently been asked the questions — Is Cape
Colony a great agricultural country ? and is there a hopeful
future for the farming industries of South Africa ? But these
are not queries that can be answered by a categorical "yes" or
" no." I have employed over 500 pages of letterpress to state
the position as it stood in 1895, and those who do me the
honour of reading these pages will see that with qualifications
I repeatedly say "yes" and as frequently say "no" to both
queries. I would further add that much in the future prospects
of the agriculture of the Colony depends upon outside in-
fluences which have nothing to do with the energy or skill of the
farmer, and the stock-rearing capacity or the grain-producing
power of the soil. I feel convinced after years of careful
study of the question, that there is little hope for the agri-
culture of the future in Cape Colony, or in any part of the
world, so long as the standard of currency remains in the
unsatisfactory condition in which it is found to-day. That
agriculture will be carried on, and that stock will continue to be
reared after a fashion, goes without saying, whether the world
be prosperous or not ; but the question which the currency

TERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION. xiii

matter will determine is, whether agriculture is to assume its
rightful position as the oldest and most honourable among
the arts, and be practised ahd supported, as in the Roman
Empire of old, by the best in the land, or be left, as by the
Greek philosophers and soldiers, to serfs and slaves. Are the
agriculturists of the future to occupy that independent and
honourable position among their fellow-workers in other
spheres which they have done in times past, or are they to
be the hewers of wood and drawers of water to the rest of
the community? These are the points which the course
taken by the nations in the great problem of the world's
currency will settle for the farmer, however skilled or unskilled
he may be in his practices.

My visit to South Africa was associated with a number of
pleasing experiences and incidents of a personal character
apart from interests of a purely agricultural nature. From
the scientific point of view, perhaps the most gratifying expe-
rience was found in the conclusive confirmatory evidence
which I have been able to lead, of the universal nature of the
phenomenon pointed out in my Indian work relative to the
skins of cattle and other animals whose habits lead them to
exposure to the influences of tropical sun, being black or
dark in colour, although the hair is very frequenth' white.
Writing to me on this subject in 1888, the late Professor
Huxley said : " The fact you mention is of very great in-
terest, as showing a hitherto unsuspected relation between
colour and climate."

One of the conspicuous advantages of foreign travel,
especially if a journey be taken in an official capacity, is the
opportunity afforded of meeting, and in so doing taking the
measure of, such prominent historical and distinguished per-
sonalities as Mr Cecil Rhodes, Mr F. C. Selous, President
Kruger, Sir Edgar Vincent, Sir Henry de Villiers, Sir David
Tennant, and Sir James SivewTight. In addition to these, but,
not individually, may be mentioned the numerous millionaire
magnates who have, through a happy combination of ability
and good luck, been the architects of handsome fortunes de-
rived from the diamond mines of Kimberley, the gold-bearing
reefs of Johannesburg, or from the once too well-lined and

XIV

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION.

open-mouthed pockets of an unsophisticated, over-confident
and over-confiding British public and French peasantry. The
study of such a heterogeneous multitude is one of infinite
variety, but its interest becomes none the less in consequence.
Congenial spirits and social pleasures often unexpect-
edly present themselves to the traveller when in a mood for
their enjoyment, and like an oasis in the desert, are hailed

Mine Hdsr of Yellow Wood,

I'lioto. I-v the . liitho)

with great satisfaction. One of the most pleasing incidents
by-the-way which hold a foremost place in the author's recol-
lection was the night spent at Yellow Wood, under the roof
of Mr H. R. Hazelton, the hospitable landlord, retired sailor,
and poet. His good fellowship, his fund of anecdotes, his
familiarity with standard literature, his collection of poetic
gems, and his own by no means ordinary poetical effusions,

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND INTRODUCTION. XV

formed a complete bill of fare for a nitjht of intellectual
revelry. " Mine host " will excuse the reproduction, pro-
bably somewhat imperfectly from memory, of his charming
Address to a Mosquito,* which on account of truthfulness
of description and beauty of poetic expression cannot fail to
be appreciated : —

"Away, away, thou wily, buzzing pest,

Torturing my musings with thy hated hum,
Chasing an angel's voice when it would rest,

Thou imp! ol^truding, spoiling flowers that come.
Surely some fiend hath cast thee from his den

To tease, perplex, and worry us at leisure ;
And with a Judas kiss steal blood from men,

Leaving his venom as you take your pleasure.
Away, foul foe, soft beauty's rude destroyer.

Hence to some tainted form and revel there.
And not on Iseauty's cheek, thou vile annoyer ;

If fiend thyself, thou hast no business there."

Robert Wallace.

Thk University, Edinburch,
A/r7f 1896.

* Mosquitoes, following the railways, have spread from the coast dis-
tricts, and increased much in numbers in the Colony within recent years.

HISTORICAL PREFACE

By harry STRATFORD CALDECOTT.

JOHANNESKURG, March 1896.

Dear Professor Wallace,

I shall endeavour to relate the story of South
African history in broad outline in the shape of a familiar
letter rather than in the more ponderous form of a set treatise.
I had commenced something in the latter form, when my
work was interrupted by the exciting political and other
events of the past ten or twelve weeks. I was also becoming
afraid that the more ambitious project would have become
too bulky for your purpose, and the time in which you required
it was too limited to do justice to the whole story in detail.

The authorities I chiefly rely on are Theal's " Histories of
South Africa," VVilmot's " Expansion of South Africa," Basil
Worsfold's " South Africa," Caldecott's " English Colonisation,"
Scott Keltie's " Partition of Africa," and Lucas's " Historical
Geography of the British Colonies " ; and if I sometimes use
their ipsissivia verba without special acknowledgment, it is
only to save needless elaboration of footnotes.

HISTORICAL SUMMARY.

For this I am mainly indebted to Mr Worsfold.
B.C. 1700. Land of Punt (S.E. Africa) conquered by the Egyptians.
B.C. 1000. Solomon's E.xpedition to the land of Ophir (S.E. Africa).
B.C. 600. Yoyage of Phcenician seamen (from Red Sea) round

Africa.
A.D. 35. Sabaen King Kharabit is in possession of the E. coast of
Africa.

HISTORICAL PREFACE.

Portuguese Period.

i486. Discovery of the Cape (Cabo Tormentoso) by Bartholomew

Diaz.
1497. Vasco da Gama sails to India by the Cape.
1505. Alvarez de Cahnl occupies Sofala (East Coast).
1580. Sir Francis Drake passes the Cape on his (return) voyage

round the world.

Dutch Period.

1602. Netherlands East India Company Chartered.
164S. Wreck of the " Haarlem " in Table Bay.
1652. Arrival of expedition under Van Riebeck.

Government by the Dutch East India Company.

1657. Nine of the Company's servants settled as "free burghers" at

Rondebosch.
1679. Simon van der Stell appointed Commander.
1688-89. Huguenot emigration.

1709. I'he use of French in official communications forbidden.
17 14. Returns show Cape Town has 300 houses, and that the whole

population of settlement = free burghers, 647 men, 341

women, 900 children, employing 93 men-servants, and

owning 1,178 male, 240 female slaves.
1779. The Franco-Dutch settlers send representatives to Holland

praying for reforms. ■

1783. Birth of Tshaka. ^

1786. Fish River declared the limit of the Colony, and magistracy

established at Graaff Reinet.
1795. British Force (under Admiral Elphinstone and General Craig)

take possession of the Cape.
1803. Restoration of the Cape to the Dutch after the Treaty of

Amiens.
1806. Surrender of the Cape by General Janssens to Sir David

Baird.

Period of British Rule.

1806. Population of Colony = 73,663, of whom 26,720 were of

European descent ; exports _;^6o,ooo, imports ^^100,000.

1807. Earl of Caledon appointed Governor: postal communica-

tion, circuit courts, reuulations for Hottentots.

HISTORICAL PREFACE. XIX

1812. Sir John Cradock : "loan-leases" converted into perpetual
quit-rent properties — public schools established in country
districts. First Kaffir War (181 1-12) : Kaffirs driven back
to original Dutch frontier (the Fish River). Foundation of
Grahamstown.

1 814. Lord Charles Somerset.

I Si 5. The Cape formally ceded to Britain by Holland. (The
agreement passed the Cape and other possessions [notably
Ceylon] to the British Government in return for Java and a
sum of money.)

181 7-19. Second Kaffir War: Defence of Grahamstown by Wiltshire —
boundary advanced to Chumie and Keiskamma Rivers —
missionaries sent to Gaika tribe.

1820. Albany settlement : arrival of 5,000 British emigrants at
Algoa Bay. Foundation of Port Elizabeth.

1824. Natal first colonised by party of British settlers.

1826. General Bourke : ordinance declaring free coloured men
equal in law with the whites.
Report of Royal Commission : establishment of Executive
Council, Supreme Court, Resident Magistrates (in place
of Landdrosts), Schools, &c. (conversion of Dutch into
British Colony). English ordered to be used as official
language.

1833. Abolition Act.

1834. Sir Benjamin D'Urban : Slave Emancipation carried

out.

1^34-35. Third Kaffir \\'ar : invasion of Colony by Kaffirs — boundary
advanced to Kei River : Lord Glenelg's despatch ordering
evacuation of new territory — disaffection of " Boer " popu-
lation.

1835-36. Exodus of the " emigrant farmers" into Natal, Orange Free
State, and Transvaal.

1837. Defeat of Moselekutse by Hendrik Potgieter.

1838. Massacre of Retief's party by Dingaan.

Pretorius (Andries) is Commandant-General of Boers — defeat
of Dingaan (Dec. 10).

1843. British Government established in Natal, and Natal annexed
to Cape Colony.

1846-48. Fourth Kaffir War (War of the Axe) : War with the Gaikas
terminated by Sir Harry Smith.

1847. Sir Henry Pottinger first Governor and High Commis-
sioner.

XX HISTORICAL PREFACE

1848. Sir Harry Smith : declaration of British Sovereignty up

to the Vaal River and the Drakensberg Mountains.

1849. Convict agitation in Cape Colony.

1851-53. Fifth Kaffir War : Moresh, Basuto chief, submits.

1852. Sand River Convention. Boers beyond the Vaal are absolved

from their allegiance, and Pretorius is pardoned.
1853-54. Boers of Orange River sovereignty revolt. Imperial
Government decide upon a policy of non-interference —
withdraw troops — acknowledge the Orange Free State by
the Convention of Bloemfontein.

1853. Representative Government (elective Council and Assembly)

granted to Cape Colony.

1854. Sir George Grey. New Kaffir Policy. Transvaal acknow-

ledged as a free and independent State.

1856. Natal formed into a separate Colony.

1857. Settlement of Anglo-German legion (2,000) on the Buffalo

River (East London founded).

1858. Agricultural German immigration (2,000).

1862. Sir Philip Wodehouse : policy of retrenchment insisted

upon by the Imperial Government.

1863. First line of Railway opened — public works policy initiated.
1865. British Kafraria incorporated into the Colony.

1869. Sir Henry Barkly : authorised to bring in Responsible

(lovernment. Discovery of diamonds.
187 I. Proclamation of British authority over the diamond fields.

1872. New Constitution (Responsible Government) received Royal

Assent : Sir John Molteno first Premier.

1873. Colony divided into legislative districts.

1874. Mr Froude's mission in favour of confederation scheme of

Lord Carnarvon.
1877. Sir Bartle Frere : authorised to carry out confederation of

South African States as Governor of the Cape Colony and

High Commissioner in South Africa (April). Annexation of

the Transvaal (April 12).
1877-78. Subjugation of Kreli and Sandele.
1879. The Zulu War.

Lord Wolseley, High Commissioner for South-East Africa

(June). Administrator of Transvaal.

1850. June 29. Federation Proposals defeated in Cape Parliament.
Aug. I. Recall of Sir Bartle Frere. Sir Hercules Robinson

succeeds. Boers revolt under Triumvirate — Kruger, Joubert,
and Pretorius (Dec. 16).

HISTORICAL PREFACE. XXI

1 88 1. Convention of Pretoria (independence of South African
Republic [Transvaal] recognised. Suzerain rights of British
Government maintained).

1883. Imperial Government takes over Basutoland.

1884. Convention of London (modification of Convention of

Pretoria): Bechuanaland Protectorate (Feb. 27).

1885. Sir Charles Warren's Expedition. Extension of Protectorate

and formation of Crown Colony.

1886. Discovery of Gold at VVitwatersrand (Johannesburg).

1887. Zululand taken over by Imperial Government,

1888. Treaty with Eobengula and mineral concessions obtained in

Mashonaland.

1889. Sir Henry Loch succeeds Sir Hercules Robinson.
Customs Union Convention (first step towards federation of

South Africa).
Charter granted to British South Africa Company.

1890. Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister. Pioneer Expedition to Salis-

bury.

1891. Anglo-Portuguese Convention.

1893. Matabele War, and Responsible Government granted to

Natal.

1894. Matabele Settlement. Dr Jameson, Administrator.
Glen Grey Act.

British South Africa Company undertakes administration of

. country north of Zambesi (Nov. 4).
Svvazi Convention (Dec. 10).

1895. Sir Hercules Robinson reappointed. Annexation of

Pondoland.

1896. Invasion of Transvaal by Dr Jameson with a body of 480

volunteers, for the purpose of assisting the Uitlanders
(chiefly British subjects) to obtain redress of grievances.
Outbreak of Rinderpest among cattle, sheep, and goats in
Bechuanaland, Matabeleland, and the Transvaal. Matabele
Rebellion.

This brings the history of South Africa down to date. It
is a story of constant worry and war — expansion and progress.
Mr I.ucas is quite right in saying that the colonisation of
South Africa has been no easy task, owing to conflicting
interests. The work has been complicated by the presence of
Dutch settlers, with long-established claims, and a vast native
population, not decaying in numbers but holding their own

XXll HISTORICAL PREFACE.

with the white man. Consequently the progress of the British
power has here been more faltering" than in other parts of the
world. Caldecott states that the problems before our South
African Colonies are : (i) {a) To arrive at a thoroughly-
workable understanding with our Dutch fellow-colonists, and
{I)) with such Dutchmen as are still independent neighbours ;
and (2) to do the best for the native races, especially by
training them to take their place at our side in the formation
of a mixed community.

In solving the former of these the British and the Dutch
have managed to live on, but in a hand-to-mouth fashion, and
the Boer War of 1 879 showed how far they were from real and
effective harmony after dwelling together for eighty years.
The inclusion in our Empire of a large territory to which dis-
satisfied Dutchmen had moved across the Vaal River proved
to be premature ; we had to fight, and the Boers had the
best of it ; and then we decided not to bring our strength to
bear, but to give way. The Boers occupy accordingly two very
extensive regions, one quite independent, under the name of
the Orange Free State ; the other, the relinquished Transvaal,
or South African Republic, internally independent, but under
our control so far as relations with other States are concerned.
The writer I am quoting continues : " But although the actual
settlement of this part of the problem is still to be worked out,
we can have no doubt what the result will be when we look at
the problem in a really comprehensive way. The incor-
poration of these countries in a federated South Africa is
only a question of time. The Boers, though in the majority
in South Africa at present, are not increasing so fast as the
British colonists, and no stream of emigration of anything
like the volume of the stream from the British Isles can be
directed from Holland. Already indeed the British element
is becoming unmanageable by the Boer Governments, and
such men as go out there are of a temper not to be trifled
with whenever they take their affairs heartily into their
own hands. Another Imperial war is not likely ; it would
be exceedingly unpopular at home, even for the support
of fellow-countrymen, and if it came to an actual conflict
our colonists would be all the better for depending on them-

HISTORICAL PREFACE. xxili

selves. ... At present the extensive areas of the Transvaal
and the Orange Free State are occupied chiefly for pasture,
but their rich mineral resources will soon be tapped. A net-
work of railways is being laid down, which will develop a
community of interest that must go far to make concord
among all Europeans in South Africa both easy and indis-
pensable. Mr Worsfold admits that the national difficulty
exists, and the native question exists ; but neither of these are
insoluble problems. There is no inherent divergency between
the Dutch and British character sufficient to prevent the
amalgamation of the two peoples. The Dutch in South Africa
have won the admiration of authorities as distinguished as the
late Mr Froude and Mr Selous. ... At the beginning of
the century, when Britain assumed the administration of the
Europeans in South Africa, these people had been cut off for
more than a hundred years from European influence — that is
to say, from civilisation. From that time onwards the quarrel
of the Boers has been against the Government as such, and
not against individual Britons. As a British colonist, having
lived all my life in South Africa, I can personally confirm this
opinion and statement of fact. Mr Rhodes has, according to Mr
Worsfold, from the commencement of his career grasped the
fact that what divides the Europeans in the Cape Colony, and
in South Africa generally, is not nationality but education ;
and additional merit belongs to his public services, because
the appeal for support to carry out his measures has been
addressed to all enlightened men, irrespective of nationality."

At the present moment, however, when the future destinies
of South Africa are in the melting-pot, I am not inclined to
pursue the question raised by these writers and the solutions
suggested by them, which in every case is federation under
the suzerainty of the British flag. The solution will work
itself out by the mutual recognition of the common interests,
necessities, aspirations, hopes, and fears of the entire European
population of South Africa. We only ask not to be made
the cockpit of European dissensions.

You must understand that one of the most formidable
problems that confronts these European populations is what
is commonl}' called the " native question." Not to intrude my

XXIV HISTORICAL PREFACE.

individual opinions upon this question, I quote again from the
latest and most thoughtful writer on South African affairs,
who puts the matter in this way : —

" The question which lay at the root of the original separa-
tion of the Europeans in South Africa was the question of
slavery. The same cause threatened to rend apart the United
States of America, but there its operation was prevented, and
the national unity was maintained at the cost of a civil war.
The question has disappeared in this acute form, for, apart
from the Conventions, no European community could venture
to maintain an institution which has been condemned by the
moral sense of the whole civilised world. But the question of
the treatment of the natives, in the form of the admission or
not of the coloured people to political and civil rights, still
constitutes the main cause which tends to maintain the separa-
tion of the Dutch and British. In the Republics the coloured
people are entirely excluded from political, and partially
excluded from civil, rights. In the British Colonies the prin-
ciple of political equality, irrespective of colour, is established.
Nor is the significance of this difference affected by the fact
that both in Natal and the Cape Colony limitations have been
introduced to prevent the abuse of such privileges, for these
limitations are the result of practical experience, and as such
they commend themselves to all reasonable persons."

Thus the position stands — full charged with dangers and
difficulties, and not to be solved by impetuosity, violence, or
haste; on the other hand, not to be shirked, evaded, nor trifled
with.

I do not feel that I can, at this time, add much of value
to the discussion of the matters awaiting solution in South
Africa. I have indicated the sources of information easily
available to the student of South African affairs. I leave the
Fates to unravel or cut the Gordian knot in which they are
entangled.

Believe mc,

Dear Professor WALLACE,
Yours faithfully,

HARRY S. CALDECOTT.

CONTENTS.

III.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

Personal Statement and Introduction
Historical Preface, by H. S. Caldecott
Observations on the Route in the Western

Province . . . • . .

Observations on the Route in the Free State,

Transvaal, Natal, and the Eastern Province

op^ Cape Colony . . . . .

Geolooical, Orooraphical, and Land Surface

Features .....

General Floral Features

Grass and Green Forage Plants

Weeds of Arable Land other than Grasses

Forestry ......

Viticulture ....

Cape Colony as a Centre for Profitable Fruit

Growing and Fruit Export
Fruit Growing and Marketing
Ostriches and Ostrich Farming
The Wild Game of thk Colony
Cattle and their Management
Diseases of Cattle ....

Horses and Mules ....

Goats and Goat Farming
Sheep and Sheep Farming

I'AGR
V

114

ri9

134

161

176
219
238

2 C2

274
308

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

XVIII. Wool and Hair .
XIX. Scab or Brand-Ziekte in Sheep
XX. Diseases of Sheep and Swine .
XXI. Population, Ladour, and Wages
XXII. Irrigation ....

XXIII. A(;ricultural Implements and Machines

XXIV. Field Crops, Rotations, and Manures
XXV. Education in Agriculture and Agricultural

Schools .....

XXVI. The Agricultural Department of Government
Appendices ......

Index .....

I'AGE

359
367
381
395
409

437
447

497
510
520
528

LIST OF PLATES.

PLATE

The Author ..... Frotttispicce.

1. Cape Town and Table Mountain . . To face paQ;c

2. Botanic Gardens, Cape Town ...

3. Typical Dutch Residence of the Better Class .

4. Typical Boer Farmhouse

5. Mountain Scenery, Worcester

6. View at J. D. Logan's Place at Matjesfontein .

7. Schilderspan, Jackson's Farm, on the Karoo near Brits

town ......

8. A Locust Storm, by J. G. Millais

9. Entrance to Zwaarte Berg Pass going from the North

10. Transport Ox-Waggons approaching the Zwaarte Berj

Pass ......

11. Modern Dutch Farmhouse near Oudtshoorn

12. View of Johannesburg from the North .

13. The Morning Market, Port Elizabeth .

14. Colonial Government Bacteriological Institute, Gra

hamstown (E.xterior View)

15. Ross's Farm, Bedford, Located in a Dairying District

16. Alluvial Plain, North of Graaff Reinet— an Old Lake

Bottom ....

17. Swimming a River in Flood

18. A Deep Sluit

19. Steam Jumper Drill Bormg for Water

20. WelUvood Farm, in the Mountains North- East of Graaff

Reinet ......

31. A Rollason Wind- Motor ....

22. Mule Train and Convicts -Spreading Town Refuse

23. Arum Lilies .....

24. A Farm on the Southern Borders of the Great Karoo

25. Kaffirs Cutting the Fleshy Leaves of the Prickly Pear

26. Lucerne Roots grown at Rothamsted in Rich Soil to

depth of Two Feet

27. A Road through the Forest

28. Big Yellowwood Trees

29. Typical Bush Forest

30. Avenue of Firs at Rondebosch

31. Park Gate, Mossel Bay .

32. Grape Gathering, Constantia

17
18

20
21
24
30

31
34

56
58
59
60

64
72

79
84
91

108
120
121
123
126
128
136

LIST OF TLATES.

I'LA IE

33. The Farmhouse, Groot Constantia (the Government

Wine Farm near Cape Town) . . To face page

34. Hermitage Grape Vine .

35. Austrahan Ladybird, Vcdalia cardiitalis

36. Ostrich Camp, Hen and Nest, in the Karoo
yj. Prize Cock and Hen Ostriches .

38. Heads and Horns of Three Large Antelopes

39. Eland Antelopes (Females) in a state of Domestication,

and a Jersey Cow ....

40. Koodoo Cow, and Rhinoceros Birds feeding upon Ticks

and other Skin Parasites

41. Koodoo Antelope Bull, with Rhinoceros Birds givinc

an Alarm before leaving

42. Springbuck Feeding ....

43. Imported Friesland Bull ....

44. Friesland Cow, Colonial Bred

45. " Royal Dalesman," Typical Shorthorn P)ull for Breed-

ing Milch Cows ....

46A. Dexter-Kerry Bull ....

46B. Dexter-Kerry Cow ....

47 A. Dexter-Shorthorn Bull, " Tiny Tim " .
47B. Dexter-Shorthorn Heifer

48. Jersey Cattle, and Table Mountain from Newlands

49. An Afrikander Cow being Milked by a Kaffir Boy

50. Travelling by Ox -Waggon in South Africa

51. Bullock Waggons Fording a River

52. Dr Hutcheon, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon

53. The Cattle Tick, the Carrier of Texas Fever or South

African Red-Water ....

54. A Burchell's Zebra Jack ....

55. Hackney Stallion, "Rifleman IL," 2,242

56. Imported Suffolk Punch Stallion

57. Imported Cleveland Bay Stallion

58. De Beers Horse-Breeding Farm near Kimbcrley

59. Poitou Jack Donkey ....
60A. Maltese Jack Donkey, 14 hands i inch
60P.. Poitou Mule, 17 hands ....

61. Goats Feeding in the Veld

62. Angora Goat, Old Buck, " Prince"
63A. Angora Goat, Young Ewe . . .
631?. Angora Goats, Young Rams, Property of Dr Smartt,

Britstown .....

64. Fat-Tailed Hairy Afrikander Sheep (Rams)

65. Flock of Fat Cross-Bred Merino and Fat-Tailed Sheep
66a. Vermont Merino Ewes, bred in New Zealand
66n. Pure Negretti Merino Ram bred in Australia .

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

I'LATE

67A. A Cheviot Ram ..... To fac,

671;. Border Leicester Ram ....

68. Boers Resting" at an Outspan

69. Native Quarters .....
10. Site of a Proposed Irrigation Dam for Oudtshoorn
71. A Selection of Six Evolved Types of Wheat

Two Evolved Types of Wheat .

An Evolved Wheat Cross

Side Views of Two Evolved Types of Wheat with One

Parent between ....

Kaffir Women Stamping Mealies
76. An Evolved Type of Oats with a Bell-shaped Head

only slightly inclining to one side
An Evolved Type of One-sided Oats
Strawson's Attachable Five-Row Sprayer for Horse

and Hand Power, 1896
Ur Edington at Work in the Laboratory of the Bacterio

logical Institute, Grahamstown
80. Laboratory of the Bacteriological Institute, (irahams

town ......

72.
73-
74-

75-

11-
78.

79-

P^\K

356
356
401
404
424
458
459
460

461

464

470
471

496
514

5'5

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT.

1. Lourensford, the Property of Sir James Sivewright, K.C.M.G.,

Somerset West ......

2. A Peep at the Drive to Lourensford . ...

3. Glen Heatlie, the Residence of the Hon. T. T. Heatlie, near

Worcester ......

4. Cerastes, or Horned Vipers, in the .Sand (i} nat. size)

5. Karoo and Ant-heaps .....

6. The Chicago " Aermotor" (16 feet) Pumping Water on a Fixed

Steel Tower (50 feet) .....

7. Sectional Elevation of a 12-feet diameter Rolla§on Wind-Motor

8. Form of Ant-hill so commonly seen in Cape Colony

9. Ants — a number of the more common forms of Termites

10. The Cape Ant-eater, Orycteropus capensis, Geof.

11. Australian Salt Bush, Atriplex nuiiunularia, Lindl. (the Male

Plant) .......

12. Prickly Pear — Leaf-like Fleshy Stem-joint and Fruit .

13. Group of Mares on De Beers Horse-Breeding Farm

14. Diib Grass, Cynodon dactylon, Pers.

15. 'L\icexx\& OY Mi^Ma., Afediccii^^o sativa

16. Nut-Grass or Coco, Cyperus 7'otundus

17. Broken Bush of so-called Mimosa, Acacia Iiorruiu, Willd.

14
19
49

62
64
66
67

87
89

lOI

107
116
125

XXX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1 8.
19.
20.
21.

24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

33-

34-

35-
36.

yi-
38.

39-
40.

41.

42.
43-
44-

45.

46.

47.
48,

50
51

( )ld Oaks at Lourensford

Colonial Wine Measures .

The Grape Mill, Foiiloir Ci^rappoir

An Attemperator or Must-Cooler, showing the Upright Position

of the Coil of Piping through which Cold Water is made

to Flow ....
" Iron Age" Horse-Hoe .
Vermorel's Torpille or Sulphur I5ellows
Phylloxera Vastatrix
Phylloxera Root Form magnified
Phylloxera Mature Wingless Female magnified
Section of Vine-Leaf magnified, and Eggs of Phylloxera
Vine-Leaf Injured by Phylloxera
Grapes {Raisin Blanc) Grown in White Sand on Mowbray

Flats in imitation of the Hungarian practice, with the object

of securing immunity from Phylloxera
Rootlets of Vine magnified, exhibiting Galls produced by

Phylloxera . . ...

Phylloxera Larva magnified
Hungarian and Austrian Methods of Grafting
A Colonial Wine Cellar or Store, showing Wine Vats and

Riders (or Leaguers) .
Two Diagrams illustrating the Rainfall Curve at Cape Town

and Grahamstown
Raisin Making at Worcester
American Blight, Schisoneura lanigcra .
Codlin Moth, Carpocapsa ponionella
Peach Maggot, Ceratitis citriperda
Lemon Blown by Ceratitis
Antipest Spraying Machine, .Strawson .
The "Progress" Spraying Outfit .
The Strawson Horse-power Standard Sprayer
The W^olfskill Fumigator .
Plucking an Ostrich Cock with a Bag or Hood over his Head

to keep him quiet
Head of a Steenbok
A Wounded Cape Buffalo

The Tsetse Fly, Glossina niorsitans, magnified
Dam of Stagnant Water on the Karoo .
Bots adhering to the Cuticular Lining of the Stomach of a

Horse ......

The True Gad-fly of the Ox, Tabanus bovinus, Linn.

The Parasitic .Micro-organism found in the Corpuscles of the

Blood of an Animal which died of Texas Fever
Great Cattle Tick, Amblyomma hebrcEum
. Head of the True or Mountain Zebra, Equus zebra

I'AGE
131
136
139

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxxi

lAGK

54. Micro-oryanism of Horse-Sickness .... 320

55. A Lamb of a Merino Ewe, showing marked Indications of

Reversion to a Hairy-Sheep Ancestor . . . 332

56. Head of a Baboon ...... 338

57. The Sheep Kade pr Louse-fly, Melophagus ovinus . -343

58. The Sheep Louse, Trichodectcs spharocephalus . . -345

59. Angora Goat Louse, Trichodcctcs liiiihaius, and Common Goat

Louse, Trichodectes climax . . . . .347

60. Sectional Side View of a Dipping Tank and Dripper . -351

61. Wool, Hair, and IMohair ...... 360

62. Diagrammatic Illustration showing how Wool Felts . . 361

63. Scab-Mites of Sheep and Goats: Sheep Mites, Boer Goat Mites,

Angora Goat .Mites, all greatly magnified . . . 370

64. Mites found in the Manure of Sheep Kraals, and mistaken for

Scab Insects ....... 374

65. Common Scab-Mites, Psoroptcs coiiiinunis^ vars. oins and cgui 375

66. The Li\er-Fluke, Distoina hcpaticuin {Fasciola hepaticd) . 384

67. Wire-worm, Strongylits cottforlus, the Twisted Stomach Worm 386

68. The Broad Tape-worm, Tcoiia expansa .... 3S9

69. Any Work, Baas ? ...... 408

70. Oliver's No. 140 X Chilled, Double-Wheel, Walking Plow . 440

71. Oliver's N.D. Steel-Bottom, Two-Furrow, Gang Plow . . 441

72. Common Zigzag Harrow ...... 443

T^. Disc Harrow or Pulveriser ..... 443

74. Cambridge or Ring Roller ..... 445

75. Rust Y\xCi'gw~,,Piicciniaorannnis^o\\\<\\Q-A\. and Barberry Leaves 453

76. Mealies or Indian Corn, Zca inays, L., the Dura Shami of

Lower Egypt ....... 463

77. Kaffir Corn or Great Millet, Sorghum vulgarc^ Pers., the Dura

Beledi of Upper Egypt ..... 465

78. An Evolved Six-Rowed Barley between Two Parents (natural

size) 473

79. Metamorphoses of the W\gYa.\.ory 'Locu?,^ Acridiinn pcregrintun 489

80. The Powerful-Jawed Locust which Ravaged Cape Colony in

1895-96 ........ 491

81. Sand Wasp . . . . . . ^gc

82. Brummer Fly ....... 495

83. Victoria College, Stellenbosch . . . ... ^gg

84. Podaxon carcifiomatis . . . . . .520

85. The Chicago Aermotor . . . . .521

86. Section of Laval's Alpha A I Separator . . '. . 522

87. The Humming-Bird Milk Separator

88. The Thistle Mechanical Milking Machine at Work . • 5:_

89. Massey-Harris Steel-tined Cultivator . . . -524

90. Oliver's No. 56 X Double-Wheel, Steel Mould-Board, Hillside

Plow ■. . . . . . . .525

9i.' Oliver's Chilled-Bottom, "Blue Bell," Gang Plow . . 525

92. Massey-Harris Self-Binder ..... 526

3-J

LIST OF MAPS.

South Africa (Northern Section), showing Orograpldcal

Features and Autliof's Route

To face peige i

14.

South Africa (Sout'sern Section), showing Oyographical

Features and Author's Route .
South Africa, showing Geological Features
South Africa, showing Land Surface Features .
South Africa, showing Distribution of Ostriches
South Africa, showing Distribution of Cattle .
South Africa, showing Distribution of Norses, Mules,

and Asses ......

South Africa, showing Distribution of Goats

South Africa, showing Distribution of Sheep .

South Africa, showing the probable .T/ifa^ Temperature —

{a) for January, {b) for April ....
South Africa, showing the probable JAv?;/ Temperature —

{a) for July, ib) for October ....
South Africa, showing Distribution of Rainfall— {a) for

January, (b) for April .....
South Africa, showing Distribution oi Rainfall— {a) for

July, {b) for October .....
South Africa, showing — {a) Mean Annual Temperature,

(b) J/ean Annual Rainfall ....

I
51

75
232
270

316
325
353

526
526
526
526
526

LIST OF PLANS.

I'AGE

1. Plan of the Drift-Sands near Port Elizabeth . . . 71

2. Ground Plan of an Australian Wool Shed . . -341

3. Ground Plan of a Sheep Fold, Shedder, and Swimming Bath 348

4. Plan of Scotch Sheep-Folds, including a Dipper and Shedder

or Race ...... facing 350

5. Plan of a New Zealand Sheep-Yard on Whakaki .facing 351

6. Plan showing the Egyptian way in which Barren Salt Land is |

Laid Out to be Washed to make it Fertile and capable of
Growing Crops ...... 4-8

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF
CAPE COLONY.

CHAPTER I.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROUTE IN THE WESTERN
PROVINCE.

Cape Town and its Vicinity — Somerset West — The Cape Flats — Stellen-
bosch District — Boer Houses — Government Trout Hatchery at
Jonkershoek — South African Streams — Nooit^redacht Nursery —
Rustenburg and Schoongezigty — Proposed Experimental Stations —
Paarl and Wellington Districts — Afrikander Custom — Position of
Small Holdings — Caledon and Bredasdorp Districts — Sir Lowry's
Pass — Wild Birds — Antelope — Swellendam, Robertson, and , Wor-.
cester Districts — Montague — Hex River Pass — The Karoo —
Matjesfontein — Cape Pheasants and Partridges — Aspect of the
Karoo — The Nieuwe Veld — Beaufort West — De Aar and Britstovvn —
Bushman Drawings — Caterpillars and Locusts — Kimberley District
— Newlands Farm — Snakes — Secretary Bird and other Birds — The
Meer-Kat- Oudtshoorn District — Zwaarte Berg Pass — Cango Caves
— Irrigation — Railway Communication — Russian Jews — Kocljerg and
Malmesbury Districts — Manures.

Vicinity of Cape Town.

The author landed at Cape Town on 2nd May 1895, and
left it on his return voyage on nth September. The inter-
vening period of over four months was devoted to a study of
the agricultural resources of South Africa in general, but of
Cape Colony in particular. As a map of the route taken,
showing dates of arrival at the most important places, i.s
attached, it will be unnecessary in referring to the various
districts to- mention in detail the places visited.

The first few days were spent in Cape Town, in making
the acquaintance of members of Parliament (which was in

2 FARMINC INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

session at the time), and officials and others interested in
agriculture. The first visits to districts near at hand were
undertaken from Cape Town as a centre before the extended
tour through the Colony was begun. That to Koeberg oc-
curred at the end of the investigation.

Cape Town, with a population of about 50,000,* is only
interesting from the agricultural point of view as an important
market centre for the sale of farm produce. From it,
however, one has not far to travel before reaching, in the
famous Constantia wine district, much that is interesting
and instructive to an agriculturist.

The Botanic Garden t has been well described as " one
of the prettiest promenades in South Africa." It is more a
pleasure-resort than a Botanic Garden properly so called, the'
site not having been judiciously chosen for the latter purpose.
It has been in existence for about sixty-five years, and until it
was taken over in January 1892 by the Municipal Authorities
of Cape Town from the Board of Government Commissioners
who controlled it there had been an incessant struggle, which
ab.sorbed the time and distracted the attention of those in
charge from scientific botanical work, to make the enterprise
a commercial success. The Government now contributes
annually a sum of .1^500 towards its maintenance.

Although Cape Town in itself is somewhat bleak and
wanting in arboricultural decorations, being swept by the
terrible South-Easters, the elongated suburban district lying
in the direction of Constantia, and beginning with the village
of Mowbray, may be said to have developed, under the
sheltering influences of Table Mountain, a grand avenue of
trees and other vegetation so luxuriant, so varied, and at
times so brilliant, that it would readily pass as semi-tropical.

Constantia, in which is situated the Government wine

* The population of Cape Town, its suburban residential villages, and
rural district, numbered in 1891, the year of the last census, 97,074 —
consisting of 48,381 whites, 1,332 aboriginal natives, and 47,361 others.

t The garden was well laid out by M 'Gibbon, a Scottish gardener,
who occupied the unenviable position of gardener for over thirty years.
He was succeeded by Professor MacOwan, now the Government Botanist,
and curator of the extensive and valuable Government Herbarium, who
was for the last ten years of the old regime curator of the garden,

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. 3

farm described at page 138, is favoured by good fortune above
most vine-growing areas in the Colony, as it has not yet
suffered from the devastations of the phylloxera in the vine-
yards. The merits of the disintegrated granite soil of the
locality for the production of wines of superior quality have
been known for generations, and recent experiments have
demonstrated that most of the common fruits, and table
grapes for export, can also be grown to perfection.

Market gardening naturally finds an important place in
the producti\'e industries of the place, owing to the isolated
position of CajDie Town, and the limited amount of garden
land within easy reach of the city.

At Rosebank, on the way back to town, is situated the
show ground of the Western Province Agricultural Societ}%
^\'h^ch was laid out in 1893 ^^ a cost of five or six thousand
pounds. The annual show to be held in this attractive and
well-appointed centre ought to prove one of the best possible
means for undermining the stolid indifference of a large
section of the farming population to progressive agriculture.

A visit to Sir James Sivewright's estate of Lourensford,
Somerset West, proved not only interesting but highl}-
instructive in the matter of demonstrating what excellent
results in orchard culture and landscape gardening mone}' can
produce under South African conditions.

On the way by train to Somerset West the barren wikler-
ness of the Cape Flats is crossed, a worthless stretch of
Rhenoster-bush country belonging geologically to the Flats
Sandstones in the Tertiary formation, much of which being
covered with drift sand, is liable, when cleared for Cultivation,
to blow into sand dunes, which shift their position, and form
a menace to cultivation or to any property of value that may
lie in their immediate neighbourhood. Here the soil is de-
fective, and the rainfall abundant. So perverse is Nature at
times in the distribution of her gifts, that up country, where
the soil is of much better quality, the rainfall is deficient. A
few stray specimens of ostriches are to be seen on these flats,
but there is too much rain in winter, and the soil is too poor
for them to thrive well.

Guinea fowl of a darker shade and more uniform colour
than those generally seen in Great Britain arc found in this

4 FARMINCi INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY^

part of the country as well as in the Eastern Province, and are
increasing in numbers since locusts became more numerous.
They prefer those parts where the soil is good, and, being
fond of acorns, are partial to the shelter of oak-trees, which
grow very rapidly in that region of the Colony which is
favoured by the fall of winter rains.*

Stellenbosch District.

Stellenbosch has been one of the chief wine-growing
districts, and recently, since the phylloxera made its appear-
ance, it is beginning to acquire a reputation for fruit. In
addition to being a great educational centre for the Western

Photo, by Dr Hugo.

LOURENSFOKD, THE PROPERTY OF SiR JaMES SiVEWRIGHT, K.C.M.G., SOMERSET WeST.

Province (having the agricultural school, described in a later
chapter, attached to the Victoria College, and a theological
seminary as well), Stellenbosch is one of the most picturesque

* The crowned guinea fowl, Numida coroftata, Gray, is widely dis-
tributed in Southern and Central Africa. It possesses no white feathers
in the wings like the domesticated birds in Europe, and the general
colour of its plumage is black thickly spotted all over with white. Guinea
fowls feed much on berries and roots. They form good eating. A full-
grown cock will weigh over 3 lbs. They roost on the branches of trees —
by preference those overhanging water for the sake of safety from the
wild cats. They are tame for wild birds, and are easily domesticated.

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE.

of South African Boer towns. The old Dutch style of
architecture, uninjured by modern innovations, was at one
time supreme. The ordinary colonial house consisted of one
story and a garret, and was built of stone and lime. The
walls, which were frequently whitewashed, carried a' steep
roof thickly and uniformly thatched with reeds or rushes, and
the gable ends rose well above the thatch. To make a useful
general purpose store, and to render the floor of the loft fire-
proof, so that the thatch might burn and the dwelling below

A Peep at the Drive to Lourensford. Photo, by Di- Hii^o.
An Agave or American Aloe is seen in the foreground to the right.

remain intact, a covering of brick and clay was laid over the
lining of reeds forming the under surface of the floor. So
strong and well seasoned were the beams used by the early
inhabitants, that many are still to be seen in different parts of
the country in a good state of preservation after the lapse of
250 years.

The roofs of many Boer houses in the drier regions of
•the Colony are flat and almost level. They are covered

6 FAKMIN(; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

with clay and a layer of " brak " earth* spread on the top on
account of its well-known property of keeping the rain from
penetrating. The edges are raised a few inches above the
general level to act as shields from the wind, which would be
liable to displace unprotected loose soil; and spouts are intro-
duced at intervals to allow the rain-water to escape.

Many fires have occurred in Stellenbosch, and some were
said to have been incendiary fires, lit by certain coloured
people of a vicious type to increase the amount of labour in
the place. This has led to the disappearance of many of the
old Dutch thatch roofs, and to the substitution, on the plea of
greater safety, of probably the least artistic of all possible
coverings, corrugated galvanised iron. Even this degrada-
tion could not completely neutralise the natural beauty of
Stellenbosch, with its broad and regularly laid out streets
lined with boulevards of oak-trees, and watered by a network
of irrigation channels.

The Government trout hatchery at Jonkershoek is situ-
ated on the Eerste River (the first river from the mountains
emptying into False Bay), from which the water supply of
Stellenbosch is taken. Complaint was made that the water
was polluted by the fish. If this has been so in the past, there
is no necessity for any such pollution in future. Fish exist in
large numbers in rivers from which good and pure water
supplies are taken in this country, and act more as scavengers
of streams than otherwise. Fish kept under control need not
pollute a running stream any more than those living under
natural conditions. The stagnant water from a pool requiring
to be cleaned could be run over a piece of land like irrigation
water, and thereby filtered and made sweet and pure. If the
area were large enough, none need find its way back into the
stream, but remain until removed by evaporation.

In view of the existence of many beautiful pebbly but
troutless streams flowing to the sea along the southern coast, a
visit to the hatchery ought to be a source of genuine interest to
all who claim to possess a share of the sporting proclivities
which are associated with the name of Izaac Walton.

* Earth charged with excess of soda and other salts, brought up in
solution to the surface by capillary action and left there, as the water
escapes by means of evaporation.

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. J?

J. L. Scott, the overseer in chart^e, was trained in an
excellent school, viz., the Solway Fishery in the South of
Scotland; and the hatchery appliances, so far as completed,
are of the most recent and most approved pattern. Glass
grilles are used (in place of those made of zinc) to hold the
eggs, like trays, so that when the proper time comes the
young fish fall through or get carried over the sides. The
ova take about eighty days to hatch ; but after forty days,
when the eyes develop, the ova may be moved and washed.
The water used must be scrupulously clean, and to secure
this it is passed through a flannel filter with four screens, in
addition to a settling tank outside. Three concrete tanks,
four feet each way, fed by water from a large settling tank, arc
kept for "full" fish. A number of year-old fish, some of them
|- lb. in weight, were seen feeding greedily on chopped liver
and lungs and clotted blood. In another pool, two- and three-
year-old fish, of 4 lbs. and 5 lbs. weight, were kept apart.
During the season it was expected that 200,000 fish would be
hatched, and a possible 600,000 may be reached when the
hatchery is completed. Spawning occurred in July and
August, some fish only a year old producing eggs. In
Scotland the spawning season extends from the 14th of
October till about Christmas. The best variety was the red-
fleshed Loch Leven trout, but the common yellow Scottish
burn-trout were also well represented.

South African streams, which do not dry up periodically,
are not absolutely without fish, as they swarm with the fry of
the " springer," a freshwater mullet. Up on the Karoo, where
water is at times to be found passing along underground
channels, — fissures or " aars " in the rock, — blind fish have
repeatedly been found. This may be regarded not only as
an indication of extensive water channels under the surface,
but also that they have been in existence for a very long
period of time.

One of the most interesting object-lessons in this district
was to be seen on Nooitgedacht — a large mixed wine and
corn farm with about thirty acres of nursery garden —
five miles to the north of Stellenbosch. The nursery had
been established by the Pioneer Fruit Company in anticipa-
tion of the demand for fruit-trees resulting from the destruc-

8 FAKMIN(] INDUSTRIES OF CAI'E COLONY.

tion of the vines in the district by the phylloxera. The soil
of the district being deficient in lime, is more suitable for the
growth of fruit-trees or of American vines than of European
vines. Apart from a large collection of fruit-trees which had
been introduced from Europe and California, the most interest-
ing feature was the wonderful influence of thorough cultiva-
tion on the soil. Land which had been broken in from a
condition as hard and as unsuitable for ]jlant growth as a
turnpike road, was kept by frequent cultivation in a beautiful
state of tilth, and made to grow plants in splendid condition
without the application of irrigation water.

As models of public - spirited private enterprise, two
contiguous farms — Rustenburg", belonging to Sir Jacob
Barry, and Schoongezigty, the property of the Hon. J. X.
Merriman — must be mentioned. In the management there
was a happy combination of new and progressive ideas toned
down by a wealth of colonial experience. Butter and fresh
cream of excellent quality and in perfect condition were put
up and sent to the Cape Town market. To illustrate, among
other things, how very difficult it is to drag people out of old
grooves to which they have been for some time accustomed,
although Cape Town stood much in need of large supplies
of similar produce if it were only to be had, so unapproachable
were the consumers that for the time being the possible limits
of the little industry were soon felt. Fruit-tree planting was
going on apace, and the minor wants of the country in products
like sweet violets and tomatoes were being attended to — as
many as seven tons of first quality fruit being marketed from
one acre.

Before Stellenbosch was left, G. du Toit's farm, which it
was once proposed Government should buy for an experi-
mental station, was visited. It was found in a very bad state
from weeds and neglected cultivation, and the opinion was
readily formed that it is not suitable for an experimental farm
even if it were expedient for Governhient to acquire one. The
land lies very level and low, and forms a typical place for
the development of rust in wheat. ^^4,000 was said to be
the price asked for about 1 50 acres, and £2 000 more would
be required to put the holding in repair. In addition to this,
an annual expenditure of over ;!^ 1,000 to meet the deficit in

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. 9

the accounts of an experimental station under Government
management would no doubt prove to be a minimum
estimate.

Frank Myburgh's farm, of Elsenburgh, near Mulder's
Vlei Station, — lOOO acres in extent,— was also examined, on
account of a proposal that the Government should become the
purchaser. It was interesting from the point of view that the
imagination filling up the blanks could paint a place of much
rough country grandeur and prosperity in the old slave days.
The mansion and numerous ornamental buildings about were
built by slaves as long ago as 1761, and a vine which was
planted at the time still covers the courtyard and bears
grapes. One hundred slaves were at one time retained
and supported on the place. Now fifteen " Cape boys " —
the name applied to the " off colour " labourer irrespective of
age — are all the men employed regularly. Why the Govern-
ment should purchase a farm at all, or why it is usually
proposed that it should invest in a property which would
involve the expenditure of a large sum of money to put it
in repair, and a large sum of money annually to keep it up,
are questions which to understand would involve much patient
study and research.

Paarl and Wellington Districts.

Paarl, stretching for seven miles along the foot of a
mountain, and beautified for a considerable distance with a
central avenue of well-grown fir-trees, is one of the most
attractive and most uncommon of Western Province towns.
It is the centre of a decaying wine industry and a developing
fruit trade. The Government have here a nursery for phyllox-
era-proof American vine stock, described in Chapter VIII.

The Wellington district next visited, and now specially
noted for apricots, is by nature well adapted to fruit growing.

A delightful Afrikander custom (for those whose diges-
tions are robust enough to endure the treatment) was here
first experienced, viz., the offer to a visitor, during the fore-
noon, of a cup of tea, with a liberal supply, placed in his
saucer, of some beautifully preserved home - made confyt,
manufactured by the females of the establishment from orange,
lemon, shaddock, or almost any kind of fruit. The jam

10 IARMIN(] INDUSTRIES OF CAPE c:OLONV.

iind preserve factories are now attempting t(^ produce it, but
they can hardly emulate the skill dis[)layed by the Boer
housewives, whose recipes have been handed down in their
families for many generations.

The wild olive grows freely on the rising ground not
capable of cultivation, and oranges grew in great profusion on
the richer soils until a large number of the trees were destroyed
by the dorthcsia. Some very fine alluvial soils and some very
poor decaying granites are to be found.

While excellent orchard practice may be seen, some of
the poorest and most neglected of small holdings, with six
or eight acres of vines and a kw fruit-trees, are too much in
evidence. Most farms are mortgaged, but exorbitant rates
of interest are not charged. Private individuals getting good
security are satisfied with six per cent., while banks generally
exact seven or eight per cent. Mortgages were much increased
about ten years ago, when the price of wine fell very low.
The staying power of the small Afrikander farmer in such a
district as this is quite astonishing. While many continue long
on the verge of insolvency, few become bankrupt. Their food
is simple and inexpensive, consisting largely of coarse bread
and treacle (made by boiling grape juice till it is reduced to
one-third of its original volume) supplemented by pickled fish,
which is very cheap.

Caledon and Bredasdorp Districts.

The extended tour in the interior of the Colony was
begun on 21st May, and the first short stage was by rail to
Somerset West, and thereafter by Cape cart through the Sir
Lowry's Pass into the Caledon district, and thence to Napier
and Bredasdorp through the Ruggens and the districts of Swel-
lendam, Robertson, and Worcester.

The grandeur of the pass is in marked contrast, in the
matter of interest, to the extreme poverty of the scanty
covering of soil on the sandstone hills surrounding it, and the
sparse and uninteresting vegetation which there maintains a
miserable existence. As the lower level is reached on the
other side, the Lower Devonian (Table Mountain) sandstone
gives place to a shaly or clay rock, belonging to the Lower
Silurian or so-called Malmesbury beds, and the soil improves,

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. U

although it could not be classed as of good cjuality. A refer-
ence to the geological map will show that the journey for a
considerable distance was made through country belonging
to this formation.

Aspinall, the landlord at Houwhoek, had, with marked
success, during three years used as manure on this soil
considerable quantities of Thomas's phosphate slag powder.
The price in England of the last consignment of 50 tons
had been £2. los., but the gross cost when delivered on the
farm mounted up to £a,. los. per ton. Guano, which had
formerly been used, was quite discarded for the slag.

Caledon is a large wheat-growing area, but its development
is retarded by defective means of transport. A railway was
being agitated for, and is certainly needed if the district is to
be cultivated at all. It may be an extensive, but it never can
be a truly great grain-growing district. The soil is not rich
enough, and it is not there in sufficient quantity (often being
less than one foot in depth to the hard dense clay), to enable
this claim to be fairly made on its behalf Good arable land
in the district is worth about 25s. per morgen (rather over two
acres), but no one will sell for less than about ^^3 per morgen,
unless he happens to come to grief financially. The yield
of wheat is about twelve to fifteen fold under favourable
circumstances, but the crops suffer severely from rust. The
practice, fully described under rotations of crops, is to crop
the land with grain for a few years, and when exhausted to
let it lie out for four or five years to rest. This is probably
the best system of management to adopt under existing
circumstances. The soil is not one to which either lucerne
or turnips would take kindly. The great misfortune about it
is that while it lies out resting it grows little but Rhenoster-
bush, and is practically worthless for feeding the sheep and
Boer goats which graze in considerable numbers on the ad-
joining extensive areas of half "sweet" and half " sour " veld*
which have never been broken by the plough.

The country is slightly undulating, bleak, and treeless,
although both oaks and pines would no doubt pay for planting
if there were prospects of means being provided for getting

* The terms " sweet' and "sour" veld are explained at pa^c 81.

12 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF GATE COLONY.

the produce when ready to market. A few belts of plantation
would be a boon as shelter for stock where shelter is much
required at times. Government has been with advantage
offering encouragement for planting on similar terms to those
offered in the United States of America.

Wild birds are naturally more plentiful in this grain-growing
district than if it were devoted entirely to stock. Turtle-
doves are numerous, also bush-doves (which strongly resemble
wood-pigeons in everything but colour), and plovers, which
the Boers call " keeweets " — a name probably given, like the
Scottish " peeweet," in imitation of the well-known call of the
green plover. Among the small birds, larks, sparrows, and
the little green South African canary are conspicuous. The
Bredasdorp district is further noted for a local variety of the
Blesbok antelope, called the " Bontebok," of which the chief
distinction is that the white about the tail extends above
it in the case of the latter variety. A very fine specimen, shot
at the time by F. C. Selous on the property of Piet Van der
Byl, weighed 200 lbs. Rhebok e.xist in numbers to afford
good sport in the season.

SWELLENDAM, ROBERTSON, AND WORGESTER DISTRICTS.

The country traversed from Swellendam to Worcester
was of quite a different nature from that of the districts last
described, a fact probably due to some extent to an admixture
in the soil of debris from certain richer beds of the Devonian
or Table Mountain sandstone rocks which rise along the
course indicated, and form a range of mountains, the foot-
hills of which may be described as a rich rolling country
capable of growing fruit or any ordinary farm crop. Much
soil is red in colour, and abundance of water might be caught on
the mountains for irrigation purposes, but the locality is not
one which absolutely requires irrigation water every year, and
in conformity with the preponderating influence of the hopeful
side of human nature, little preparation is made against an
evil day, the time of whose coming is uncertain, and natural
possibilities have not been taken advantage of The southern
slopes of the mountains are green and fertile, but on the north
side they are rugged and barren.

A few ostriches are kept, but it is not a great ostrich

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. 1 3

country. Numerous herons are to be seen, and also a
small bustard, the knorhaan (scolding-cock),* Eupodotis afra,
Lay., which is numerously represented and widely distributed
through the Colony, and is regarded as one of the South
African game birds, though not of the first rank. The
'* hammerkop," or hammer-head, or tufted umbre, Scopus
iinibrctta, is another bird of a dull brown colour seen in this
and in other districts, which builds an immense nest, in which,
like a magpie, it stores lost articles which it picks up. It is a
typical African bird, and the sole representative of its family,
generally frequenting places where water is found in search of
frogs and small fish, of which it is fond. It is harmless, and,
though somewhat solitary in its habits, rather tame and
domestic for a large wild bird.

Montague is a picturesque village, hemmed in on all sides
by mountains, so that it can only be approached by a narrow
water-worn gorge or pass five miles long, and rugged and
grand in appearance. As the chief industry of the place is
the production of brandy, its prosperity has not been so great
recently as it was a few years ago.

Worcester stands near the northern extremity of a con-
siderable plain on which little cultivation is practised. A
portion of the surface is covered by gravel, \\hich appears to
have been washed down from the mountains during flood
times, but the great drawback to the extension of cultivation
is the system of commonage under \\hich the village cattle
graze and occupy the land which might have been utilised in
vastly increasing the importance of Worcester as an agri-
cultural centre. It is in the power of the local authority to
let certain areas for cultivation, but such a tenure is necessarily
uncertain, and difficulties arise owing to the power to let
resting in the hands of those who are personally interested in
maintaining the advantages of having the pasture for the
village cattle near at hand.

On the way by rail from Worcester to Matjesfontein, the
next halting-place, an interesting geological feature, the Hex
River Pass, was traversed, and by this a steep and rugged
way was found through the first range of mountains to the

* The common name is derived from his cry, which " is hke a shrill-
voiced woman's nagging heard afar, so that the words are not intelligible."

FARMIN(; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

elevated plateau of the Karoo, 3,000 feet above sea-level.
The lower valley is decidedly rich from the agricultural point
of view, and there the Cape Orchard Company have estab-
lished a large fruit farm, on which i 50,000 orchard trees of the
best varieties for producing fruit for the London market have
been |)lanted, and are beginning to come into bearing.

The Karoo.

J. Douglas Logan's place at Matjesfontein is like an

oasis in the desert. The rainfall there is so scanty that

nothing but Karoo bushes would grow without artificial

watering. Water is got for railway requirements and for

Photo, hy Dr Hugo.
Glen Heatlie, Residence of the Hon. T. T. Heatlie, near Worcester.

irrigation from springs not far distant on the Karoo. Fruit
and forest trees of many varieties have been growing for
three or four years, and now, in combination with the taste-
ful floral cultivation of the place, make the desert actually
blossom like the rose. But the conditions do not impress
one with the idea of permanency unless under a system of
constant renewal. The soil is very shallow, and the Boer
method of irrigation (subsequently described) being adopted,
the concomitant evils of brak soil and canker at the roots of
the trees begin to show themselves. The death of a number
of fir-trees was locally thought to be caused by the roots

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. 15

touching the hard rock underlying the shallow soil, and the
cankered condition of the lower bark of some of the fruit
trees to the presence of lime in the soil.

The existence of a water-dam (filled by a windmill ]jum]:»)
accounted for the appearance of coveys of Cape Pheasants,
which only live near water. These are dark grey birds with
red legs, in shape more like small guinea-fowl than the
British game bird.* The common Cape Partridge resembles
the English bird, but it is smaller in size. It may be found
anywhere near to or far from water. t

The aspect of the country on the way by rail to Beaufort
West, through the " Gouph " or hollow of the Karoo, is at
the season referred to desert-like and uninteresting in the
extreme, with hardly a tree to be seen, and only a scanty
covering of dwarfish and closely-eaten Karoo bushes to re-
present vegetation. A platelayer's cottage every five miles,
and gangs of five men (one per mile of railway), each with a
ganger, are about the only indications that the surrounding
wilds are not entirely removed from the pale of civilisation.
The soil is very shallow, except in the hollows or along the

* No true pheasant and no true partridge is found in Africa. The
guinea-fowl is the South African bird most nearly related to the pheasant.
Several species of francolins belonging to the same family, Pliasianidcr,
are known as pheasants. The two most commonly so-called are (i) the
noisy Cape francolin, F. capcnsts, Steph., easily recognised among the
various species by its large size ; and (2) F. Jiudicollis, Bodd., the red-
necked francolin, a bird partial to forest districts like George and Knysna,
where it replaces capensis, which it resembles in all its habits. The
pheasant of the Matabele-land colonist is Swainson's bare - throated
francolin, Pternistes swainsoni^ Smith, a powerful and coarse-looking bird
of an umber-brown colour finely dotted with black. Another francolin,
called the red-wing, F. levaillajiti, Valen*;., is very generally distributed
throughout Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, and
Natal. All these birds prefer to escape by fleetness of foot rather than by
flij^ht. They feed largely on the roots of grasses and other plants, includ-
ing small bulbs, which they scrape up, but they also eat seeds, berries,
and insects.

t The grey-winged francolin, Francolintis africaniis^ Steph., is the
so-called Cape partridge, a bird which is very widely distributed in Cape
Colony and the more northern regions of South Africa. It is a "high-
ground bird," but not confined to mountain regions. It possesses a
hooked bill, which is useful in digging up bulbs and insects on which it
feeds,

l6 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

banks of the rivers (at this season only dry channels), having
been washed away by the heavy thunder rains of summer.
Brak or salt may be seen in hollow places, where it naturally
rises readily — the result of the combined action of capillarity
in the soil and free evaporation from its surface.

In some places lime has come up to the surface by the
same agencies through the shattered rock, much of the latter
being basaltic and columnar in structure. The surface is
not by any means level or plain-like, being generally uneven
and rugged, rough, and stony in places.

The Nieuwe Veld is a higher plateau running west from
near Beaufort West to Fraserburg, and north nearly to Victoria
West. The southern and eastern edges of this table-land, as
seen from the railway, resemble flat-topped hills. The species
of bushes which grow on the Karoo veld are nearly all
aromatic, and the best of them specially suited as food for
sheep, while on the Nieuwe Veld aromatic bushes are mostly
absent, and cattle and horses do better.

Beaufort West is situated in a grazing district, but an
interesting experiment in cultivation under a system of irri-
gation from a large dam* adds an additional interest to the
place. A number of small holders of morgen (two-acre) lots
do very well, growing a succession of farm crops and vegetables.

Oaks do not thrive in the district owing to the presence
of brak in the soil, but Robinias and pear-trees do well, the
main street in Beaufort West (extending to a mile in length)
being lined on each side by a row of pears. A stretch of rich
alluvial plain, nearly twenty miles in length, lies to the north-
east of Beaufort West in the direction of Nels Poort, where
the surface rises and becomes more rugged and like the
western part of the plateau of the Great Karoo traversed, but
the soil, as one goes north, although still shallow in many
places, has not been so much washed away. In some parts
it is deep and of good quality, and there is no lack of lime.

The country to the west of De Aar (the junction on the
Kimberley Railway line for the Eastern Province and the
Transvaal) is genuine sweet Karoo, forming excellent pasture
for sheep, goats, and ostriches. The two most important

* Described in the chapter on irrigation.

I i

t> ■ I'

^xi f .^' V ''

:i ' '''>'^ ; ^v;t'is»/^

1 <

J I i 1

'>. ' i

,■)

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE. 17

places visited were the property of the Smartt Syndicate near
Britstown, and Jackson's farm, Schilderspan, a good day's
journey farther in the direction of Prieska. Most of the
limited work of crop growing now practised is done under irri-
gation ; but, as will be explained later, both dry-land cultivation
and irrigation might be considerably extended. The soil is
not too heavy for irrigation purposes, being light, and even
liable to blow in places ; but as brak already appears in some
parts, the amount of water will require to be skilfully regu-
lated. At Tygerpoort, the site of an important irrigation
scheme, a very fine assortment of Bushman drawings may
be seen, — the figures having been chipped out, by probably a
hard piece of stone, on the smooth and polished surfaces of
the basaltic boulders covering the sides of the Bushman's
Kopje. One easily recognised the outlines of a bushman,
baboon, horse, lion, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus,
buffalo, eland, koodoo, wildebeest, porcupine, and snake. The
fact that a horse with a bushy tail is among the figures brings
the date of these: rude works of art down till after the im-
portation of horses by the early settlers. It is interesting to
notice that no attempt to portray a bird has been made,
although water- fowl are plentiful in the vleis and other wild
birds elsewhere in the district. (See Appendix A.)

Some parts of the veld had a few months before been
eaten quite bare by vast numbers of black caterpillars
(rispers), h inch to i i inch in length, the larva; of a drab
or cream-coloured moth. The only personal experience of
a swarm of destructive locusts was made while driving from
Britstown to De Aar. The swarm was not massed in close
order, and the locusts flew about in numbers sufficient to
remind one of a fall of broad flakes of snow.

KiMBERLEV District.

The geological formation being the same all the way
from Matjesfontein to Kimberley — viz., the Lower Karoo or
Ecca beds— accounts in a great measure for the similarity of
the soil, as seen on the course taken through the central jjarts
of the Karoo country.

Round Kimberley, and for miles in a north-eastern direc-
tion, much of the soil is brick-red in appearance, a warmer

l8 FARMING INDUSTKIICS OF CAI'F COUJNY.

and brighter colour than the dull brown of the Karoo soils ;
nevertheless, the colour is far from being appreciated, when,
during the frequent dust-storms from which both Kimberley
and Johannesburg periodically suffer, everything becomes
covered with red gritty powder.

The red soil is rich in quality, and is characterised by an
abundant growth of grass (the Karoo bush having disap-
peared), the " Kameel-doorn," Acacia giraffes, the largest of
the Cape acacias, and a poisonous bulb, Ornitlwglossum
g/aitciiin, Sal., which is known b)' the local name of " Slang-
kop." * Lying to the north of Kimberlev is a great alluvial
plain, which, like many similar plains in the Colony, once
formed the bed of an ancient lake. In this instance, when the
water escaped it must have discharged into the Orange River.

The De Beers Horse-breeding Farm, and something of the
grazing qualities of the district near Kimberley, 4,000 feet
above sea-lqvel, are described in Chapter XV.

The Orchard of 45 acres of fruit-trees, also belonging to
the same Company, is another feature of interest. All the
common fruits do well, with the exception of custard-apples,
loc}uats, and oranges. There the trees are pruned in the most
approved fashion, and irrigated according to a scientific prin-
ciple.

Perhaps the largest private property examined in the
Colony was George Paton's farm of Newlands, situated fifty
miles north-west of Kimberley, and extending to about 50,000
acres of well-selected grazing veld. This part of the country
is much better adapted for cattle than for sheep, and some
4,000 of the former and only 400 of the latter were kept.
The dairy, fitted with modern British appliances, including
refrigerating plant worked by the ammonia process, was a
recent successful development. About 100 lbs. of butter
were made dail}', salted (i oz. to the pound of butter), and
sold in Kimberley at 2s. 6d. per lb. Until the refrigerating
plant was secured, the great difficulties to contend with in
manufacturing the dairy produce were the high temperature
of the well-water supply, which registered 72" ¥., and the
great heat of summer.

* See page 96.

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE.

The height above sea-level is 3,400 feet, and the average
rainfall for ten years amounted to 19.55 inches, which mostly
fell during- the summer months — November to April inclusive.
Strong winds blow in the latter part of September and in
October, bringing up the summer rains from the sea. Crops
grow very well under irrigation, but only limited areas can
be satisfactorily cultivated, owing to the small amount of
irrigation water.

Lime is abundant in the soil, and, contrary to the general
belief, though this is the case snakes are numerous — the deadly
puff-adder, and the Cerastes or " Hornsman " snake, by the

Cerastes or Horned Vipers im the Sand, fths Nat. Size.

From tlic Royal Natural History.

bite of which Cleopatra committed suicide. The horn-like
appendages * of this snake come out immediately over the
eye, like the horns of the little "shangaan" or Livingstone
antelope.

Of birds that had not been previously observed, the secre-
tary bird, which was recently reported in a sporting British
newspaper as extinct, was decidedly the most conspicuous. It

* These are curiously modified and enormously enlarged scales, which
are shed in the process of desquamation.

20 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

is still present in considerable numbers in the Colony, and
widely distributed, being seen near to Port Elizabeth, and
also to the north of Kimberley. It is rarely molested, being
looked upon by people generally as a friend. It lives on
snakes, lizards, insects, and in fact on any living and moving
thing which it can find as it stalks majestically over the veld
on legs which in length resemble those of the modern game-
fowl. (See Plate 42.)

The horseshoe plover, named from a marking on its
neck, is a small bird which practises the interesting custom
of repeatedly jumping upon pats of hard cow-dung to disturb
the beetles sheltering underneath. These it very quickly
devours as they try to make good their escape. Like the
plover, the sand-grouse or Namaqualand partridge is nume-
rous in the veld. This is said to belong to the same species
as the birds which came from Persia to England a few years
ago. The meer-kat, Suricata tetradactyla, of the Colony is
wonderfully like the prairie-dog of the Western States of
America. They are about the same size, they both take
shelter in holes on the open level ground, and sit up on their
buttocks by way of elevating themselves to command a
longer range of view, but the meer-kat has a long bushy
tail, which is wanting in the prairie-dog.

OUDTSHOORN DISTRICT.

After completing the tour of the Eastern Province, the
author made an interesting and instructive detour from the
main line of railway at Prince Albert Road Station, with the
object of seeing the Oudtshoorn district, and of returning
to Cape Town by way of Mossel Bay. The first part of the
journey to Prince Albert lay through the plateau of the
Great Karoo, which does not differ in general appearance
from the Karoo country already described.

The range of mountains which separates the Karoo from
the bush country, lying at a lower level to the south, was
crossed by way of the Zwaarte Berg" Pass, which displays
some of the grandest illustrations of stratified rock contortions
to be seen in any part of the world.

The mountains close by also contain another marxellously

ROUTE IN THE WESTERN RROVINCE. 21

interesting feature, from the geological point of view, in the
world-famed Cang"o Caves, which no visitor to Cape Colony-
should fail to see.

The site of the great irrigation scheme which Govern-
ment is asked to carry out was examined, and is described in
a succeeding chapter on irrigation.

Little wonder that extended irrigation should be looked
upon by the people of Oudtshoorn as an additional blessing
which the Government might be induced to confer upon them,
as the prosperity of the community is largely due to the suc-
cess of the association of lucerne growing and ostrich farm-
ing, which has been made possible by irrigation. Tobacco is
one of the minor products grown in the district ; but this and
the ostrich and lucerne farming are discussed at length in
future chapters.

The two desiderata which this prosperous district requires
are (i) railway communication to convey produce to market ;
and (2) some effective means of exposing and combating
the usurious practices of feather pedlars, frequently German,
Polish, or Russian Jews of a low type, who swarm about the
country as feather bu)'ers. Their method of working is to
bewilder the ignorant and imperfectly educated farmers by
offering them ready cash, of which they often stand much
in need. They buy the feathers on the ostriches months
before they are ready to pull, and advance a part or the
whole of the price, for which they accept a bill bearing
interest at 5 per cent., but not 5 per cent, per annum, as
the ignorant people believe, but 5 per cent, (or is. per pound)
per month — 60 per cent, per annum ! The}^ not only secure
the exorbitant interest, but have security for the money
advanced in the feathers they purchase. Another trick they
play on isolated people living in a country place is to send
relays of buyers, and offer, one after the other, sums much
below the market value of the feathers — -probably immediatel}'
after a sudden rise in the market has taken place. After three
or four buyers have offered probably 30 per cent, less than the
real value, one man is instructed to offer 5 per cent, more
than the highest of the previous offerers, and he thus secures
the purchase at 25 per cent, below its market xalue, and the
rogues divide the plunder among them.

22 FARMINC; INL)U.STRIES OF CAE'F COLONY.

KOEliERG AND MaLMESBURY DISTRICTS.

A short visit was made to the Koeberg district, an
important grain-growinc^ area lying thirty miles to the north
of Cape Town. The soil, like that of the grain-growing dis-
trict of Caledon, is on the Silurian beds, but here there have
been granitic intrusions in the geological strata, which pro-
bably account to some extent for the soil being very different
in character from that of Caledon. The Koeberg soil is
shallow, a foot being considered a good depth, and very stiff
and heavy to work. In the Tygerberg district it is more
open, and the crops come earlier to harvest, although sown at
the same time as the crops in Koeberg. All the surface ex-
cept stony places is fit to plough, but the depth to which the
plough goes is usually not more than four or five inches. It
is found more satisfactory to plough in the seed in the hard
soil than to trust to covering it with a harrow. The reddish
soil forming the tops of the low rounded hills is of better
quality than the brown soil of the hollows. The soil cannot
be said to be exhausted, although the growing power is now
not so good as it used to be thirty years ago. At one time
it grew six or seven grain crops in succession ; now only
two can be satisfactorily grown without a rest. Land now
lies out two or three years. Better results would be got if it
were left five years, but the farms are so small that the land
cannot be left vacant so long. In this district, under existing
conditions, no farm should be less than i,ooo acres in extent.
There is no possibility of irrigation, and a good rotation of
crops is impracticable, as grass disappears in summer. Guano
has been found to lead to the exhaustion of the soil ; but
farmers, although they do apply manure to certain crops, are
not skilled in the selection of the most suitable manures, and
fall into the dangerous and expensive practice of bu\'ing
mixed corn manure, for which they pay ;^8 per ton. Owing
to high winds, difficulty is experienced in getting concentrated
manures uniformly spread over the ground.

The Malmesbury grain producing district lying to
the north of Koeberg is very much like it, but not quite so
good. The farms are larger, the land lies out for four years,
and greater numbers of sheep and cattle are kept.

CHAPTER II.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ROUTE IN THE FREE STATE,
TRANSVAAL, NATAL, AND THE EASTERN PROVINCE
OF CAPE COLONY.

Journey made North of Cape Colony — Surface Appearances of the Orange
Free State — Surface Appearances of the South African Repubhc —
Trees near Johannesburg — Basuto Land — Irene Model Farm — A
Whirlwind — Farm Crops — \'alue of Land — Coach Journey, Johan-
nesburg to Standerton — Appearance of the Country — Natal — East
London — German Settlers — The Queen's Park — Port Elizabeth —
Kragga Kama — Uitenhage — Grahamstown — Albany and Bathurst —
Market - Gardening and Fruit-Growing — Poultry — Cook-house — ■
Somerset East — Bedford — Dairying — Winter Food for Cows — Fort
Beaufort, Stockenstrom, and Victoria East — Tobacco — Lovedale
Mission Station — Cradock — Middelburg and Steynsburg— Irrigation
— Albert andWodehouse — Raise Brothers' Farm, Carnarvon — Tenny-
son Settlement — High Grass Veld — Burghersdorp — Spreos — Parson
Crows — Aliwal North and Barkley East — Five Days' Drive into
New England — Queenstown — Winter Food — Cathcart, Stutterhcim,
and King William's Town — Forest Station — Kei Road — German
Settlers and their Difficulties — Government Aid Necessary.

Before beginning his tour of investigation in the Eastern
Province, the author made a run through the Orange Free
State and the Transvaal as far as Johannesburg" and
Pretoria, and returned by way of Natal, taking steamer at
Durban for Port Eh'zabeth, and calling at East London in
passing.

After crossing the Orange River and entering the Free
State, the character of the surface rapidly changes from a
Karoo-bush to a grass country, although both are at first on
the same geological formation ; and so far as appearatice goes
there is little difference all the way through the South
African Republic to Johannesburg.

The grass consists largely of the valuable rooi-grass
which was observed to predominate in the grass-veld near
Kimberley. At first the formation is rugged and full of

24 I'ARMINC INDUSTRIES OF CAPE C^)L()N^^

kopjes, but it soon opens into extensive plains, on which
hu'<^c numbers of cattle, shee[), and horses are found t^razing.
One of the finest of these is seen by day from the mail train,
extending almost from Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange
Free State, to Winburg Road.

The farms are well fenced with wire, on the "Coerimony"*
principle, supported by wooden or sometimes stone posts
placed thirty feet apart, and bound by five double ties between
each pair of posts. The plains arc dotted with numerous
ant-hills.

The soil is of a light alluvial nature, deeper than in the
Colony, and it works into sandy heavy roads under the wheels
of the ox-waggons. Near Johannesburg it becomes still
deeper, and is of a bright red colour. It is very sandy, and
rises with strong winds into disagreeable dust-storms. Crops
grow without irrigation, but the soil is poor, and has little
staying power unless manure be applied.

Trees grow in a marvellous way, but this is not to be
wondered at, as their roots can readily penetrate to a good
depth, and they require so very little from the soil as compared
with a succession of crops. Millions of the Australian " blue-
gum " or "fever-tree," Eucalyptus globulus, I.abill., have been
planted within a few miles of Johannesburg, in the belief that
wood would be rec]uired in large quantities for the mines.
These have grown very rapidly, but the deep levels, consisting
of very hard rock, are said not to require nearly so much wood
as the first mines that were worked. The belief is consequently
gaining ground that before many years there will be an over-
supply of wood of the inferior kind produced by the blue-gum.
Specimens which had been grown along the edges of the
plantations, so that they benefited by abundance of air and
light, were found one foot in diameter at the base while not
more than four years planted. Although no other species of
Eucah^ptus grows nearly so rapidly as the blue-gum, some —
notably E. aviygdaliua and E. rostrata (the red-gum) — pro-
duce wood of superior quality, and grow remarkably well.

Basuto-land was not seen, but the evidence was over-
whelming that this rugged and mountainous country, inhabited

* Named after the farm near Inverness, Scotland, where this form of
fence was first erected in Britain.

ROUTE IN THE TRANSVAAL. 2$

by one of the most civilised, energetic, industrious, and inde-
pendent of the native peoples, is possessed of probabl}- the
richest soil and the most suitable climate for crop-growing of
any part in Southern Africa.

The Irene Estate, ten miles south of Pretoria, has for a
number of years been as a model farm one of the show places
in South Africa. It has at the same time been a white
elephant to its owner, the late A. H. Nelmapius, who bought
it for iJ^45,ooo from the original owners, a large and influential
family of extensive landowners and cattle farmers named
Erasmus. The outlays on improvements raised the capital
invested in the property to ;{^i 20,000, and it was reported to
have been recently sold by the trustees of the late owner for
^^32,500. It was originally believed that the land would
become valuable as building sites for the residential places of
wealthy Johannesburg citizens, but anticipations in this direc-
tion were not realised, and financial disaster was the con-
sequence. The area is about 17,000 acres, but only 600 to
800 acres of alkuial land near the river are under the plough.
With the exception of the cultivable land, which does not
much exceed 1,000 acres, the quality is only second-rate. As
a grazing farm, it is incapable of supporting its ordinary
stock of cattle during winter, with the exception of the dairy
of seventy Friesland cows which receive artificial feeding. It
is favourably situated for the Johannesburg and Pretoria
markets, as much as 4s. per lb. being paid all the year round
by at least some customers who are supplied with butter. It
was not as a grazing farm that Irene was known to the public,
but as an extensive flower, vegetable, and fruit garden, and
for the perfection of its amenities, 20,000 fruit-trees and
100,000 forest-trees having been planted. Although this part
of the concern was an unqualified success as regards practical
results, the expenses of production and management were
great. As the high prices of the Rand markets are not likely
to continue permanenth', it will take very careful and econo-
mical management, extending to the stock-rearing as well as
to the horticultural part of the business, to prevent the estate
continuing as a white elephant even with the enormous reduc-
tion of the amount against capital account.

The results obtained in connection with this model farm

26 FARMING INDUSTRUCS OF CAPE COLONY.

have been more fully stated than the importance of the subject
requires, were it not for the necessity of providing an object-
lesson to those in Cape Colony who are desirous that
Government should embark on a model-farm enterprise at
the expense of the State.

A few facts relating to a whirlwind which occurred in the
neighbourhood of Pretoria in 1893 will give some idea of the
intensity of some of the climatic difficulties, fortunately not
often occurring, which are met with in South Africa. The
great fury of the storm came from the west, and was confined
to a narrow belt of a few yards in width. In its course it
struck Rietvlei, the residence of S. P. Erasmus. It carried
away the corrugated iron roof of the house, and some of the
ribbons into which it was torn were dropped five miles away.
A number of cattle were dashed together against the walls of
a kraal and killed. A Kaffir boy who was in attendance had
a marvellous escape, being lifted from his feet and carried
several yards, but dropped into the boughs of a tree, which
broke his fall. Stones, an inch in diameter, were swept up
from the surface of the ground, and dashed against the west
and south walls of the house with such force that indentations
half an inch deep remain as a memento of the occasion.

The mealie or maize crop, the staple food of the black
population, is the one which grows best in the Johannesburg
and Pretoria district. Kaffir corn, Sorghinn vulgare, Pcrs.,
does very well on the alluvial soil following the banks of
rivers. The common grain crops cannot be safely grown
during summer on account of rust and hail. On the high
veld not more than one crop in five might be secured, if we
e.Kcept oats, which do not suffer quite so badly as barley and
wheat.

Land suitable for cultivation near Pretoria is worth about
£2 per morgen, and grazing land lOs. per morgen, down to 5s.
in the heavy bush country lying to the north, to which the
cattle arc driven from the grass veld for shelter and better
food during the winter season — May to September.

The journey of ninety miles, which occupied fourteen
hours,* from Johannesburg to Standerton, was done by the

* The ticket for one passenger cost ^3. los., and ^i extra was charged
for luggage over a very moderate amount.

ROUTE IN THE TRANSVAAL. 2/

mail coach, drawn by ten hardy active Httle horses, in good
working condition. The start was comfortably made at 4 A.M.,
when the air was perfectly still ; but a little before, and for a
time after daybreak, a keen piercing wind (a common feature
of the South African climate), combined with dense clouds of
road dust, seriously interfered with the enjoyment of the early
part of the journey. Towards the end of 1895, the railway
from Natal having been completed, the coach was discontinued,
and simple facts now recorded regarding the manner of coach
travelling will in a little while acquire an historical interest.
The horses, which were yoked in pairs, and changed by relays
every ten or twelve miles of the way, were driven at a pace
of about eight miles an hour. A Kaffir held the reins, and
handled them with ease and dexterity, and a white man, with
whom the chief responsibility rested, used the long-thonged
bamboo-handled whip, and worked the brake with a powerful
foot lever.

The country traversed for a good part of the way
is hilly, and covered with grass — the familiar rooi-grass pre-
dominating. The greater part of the surface consists of a
reddish-brown soil. In the hollows, which after rains become
charged with moisture during summer, the soil is black, owing
to the accumulation of humus from the vegetation, which is
there more rank.

Homesteads are dotted here and there at wide distances
apart, but there is little cultivation, and few cattle are to be
seen at this season, owing to their being away in the milder
climate of the bush-veld. The wasteful practice of burning
off the withered grass during winter is here in fashion.

After passing Standerton, wide grazing plains are crossed,
but the nature of the country becomes more hilly as the Natal
boundary is approached. The hills arc volcanic, and covered
by rounded boulders, which in decaying give off a red sandy
soil of poor quality. With the increasing humidity of the
atmosphere near the coast, an increased area of black soil is
found. All the way numerous ant-hills, two to three feet in
height, stand up like so many gigantic warts on the surface of
the vclcl.

There is little of agricultural interest in the surroundings
of Pietermaritzburg, the seat of the Natal Government.

28 KARMINC INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The country is rugged and picturesque, and the climate mild,
the elevation being 2,000 feet below Johannesburg. The soil
is red and deep, but poor and very hard, partially owing to
the presence of too much iron in its composition. Both pine-
trees and blue-gums which grow so well near the coast, in
Cape Colony, become unhealthy after they arrive at a certain
age.

Going east towards Durban, the mountain scenery, as the
railway zigzags and winds on its way from the high plateau
to the sea-level, is very fine. The foot-hills are extensively
utilised as market-garden ground, and among a great variety
of products grown, the pine-apple appears conspicuously.

The aspect of Durban and its immediate surroundings
is decidedly tropical or semi - tropical, and the growth of
vegetation is as beautiful as it is luxuriant.

The great sugar-cane plantations, which form an important
feature in the agriculture of Natal, lie along the coast country
to the south, but time for their investigation was not available.

District of East London.

East London only acquired municipal rights in 1880, but
the settlement of the district took place immediately after the
Crimean War, when the German legion was disbanded. An
allotment, varying in size from one acre within the town
limits to four-acre and twenty-acre farms situated outside
along the coast and up to King William's Town, was given to
each German soldier. Although they proved to be excellent
settlers, hard working and industrious, the size of their hold-
ings was much too small to give scope to their energies, and
they have remained poor. With rare exceptions, the few who
survive and their descendants might now be classed as " poor
whites " but for their industry. The country adjoining the
area of small settlements is now occupied by an independent
and progressive class of English sheep-farmers.

Pending the opening of a contemplated railway from the
mouth of St John's River, East London claims the position
of being the only important rival to Port Elizabeth as a
seaport in the Eastern Province engaged in the landing of
goods for the inland trade. In its favour it is claimed that

►

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 29

the gradients on the railway leading" from it are more easy
of ascent than some of those on the Port Elizabeth line,
consequently transport up-country should be less costly; yet,
nevertheless, it, like many parts in the Colony, connected as
well as disconnected with the railway system, possesses a
railway grievance. The railway charges are so high, that
during dry seasons ox-waggons can successfully compete with
the railway for a hundred miles or more inland. This is
surely a waste of energy, and must be due to some mistake in
governmental policy 1

Although East London, like Port Elizabeth, suffers from a
sand-bar at the entrance to the harbour, over which navigation
is dangerous or impossible for hours or days during stormy
weather, she can justly claim a beautiful river-mouth, suitable
alike for shipping purposes or pleasure seeking.

The Queen's Park, within the precincts of the town, is a
uniquely interesting spot for a lover of botany, as well as a
healthful and pleasurable resort for loiterers of all descrip-
tions. Under the fostering care of W. H. Wormald, the Town
Clerk, who was the author's guide, the park has become not
only a beautiful garden, but a rich herbarium of South
African and other plants, some of which are seen under the
influences of cultivation, and others forming a tangled jungle
in conformity with Nature's own inimitable arrangement.
Only a very few of the most conspicuous plants or those
most interesting for the moment can be mentioned. The
Poinscttia or Indian Landmark was there, with its row of bright
red leaves surrounding its comparatively insignificant flower ;
also Tecovia venusta, a creeper frequently met with in the
Colony, with orange-coloured bugle-shaped flowers hanging in
bunches ; and Strelitzia, called " wild mealie " by the natives,
with an inflorescence resembling the head of a crown crane,
all the petals being of a beautiful orange colour with the
exception of a purple one, which also differs by projecting like
a pointed tongue. A curiosity was present in the shrubby
" Papaw-tree," the fruit of which hangs in clusters. A leg of
mutton rolled up in its leaves becomes exceptionally tender,
and it is said that a stallion tied close to it becomes
sexually impotent. The flower on the male tree is beautifully
scented, and resembles a waxy primrose. The female flower

30 FARMINC, INDUSTKIKS OF CAl'E COLONY.

is much larger. The avocado pear was interesting, the foliage
being not unlike that of the orange-tree, although the leaf is
longer. Beside it grew the custard-apple, with large mulberry-
like apples, and also the large variety of pine-apple culti\'ated
in Ceylon.

District near Port Elizaiseth.

In the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth the soil is poor,
being on the Cape Flats Sandstone and Upper Devonian beds.
A drive of thirteen miles west to Kragga Kamma, the property
of J. B. Christian, was made through one of the most barren
districts seen in the Colony. The character of the country
improved near the end of the journey, and near the coast the
surface is covered to a considerable extent with a large dense
bush. In the case of this betterciuality soil, where cultiva-
tion is possible, three grain crops are taken in succession, and
then the land is allowed to fall out for three years to rest.
Although no pasture seeds are sown, a thick sward of grass
and weedy plants soon covers the ground. One of the chief
farm products is oat hay, cut while the crop is still slightly
green, and sent to the Port Elizabeth market. A common
price is 3s. gd. per 100 lbs., but in times of scarcity, such as
was experienced throughout the prolonged drought of
1894-95, the price runs up to 9s. The open bush affords
excellent grazing for cattle, and bush-buck are numerous in
the district.

Uitenhage is a picturesque but sleepy village, with an
abundant water supply, distributed by open channels along
the capacious tree-lined streets. It is an important centre for
wool-washing — an operation to be described later. Smith
Brothers' nursery garden for fruit-trees forms another local
industry, which is on the increase.

Districts of Albany and Bathurst.

Grahamstown, the site of the recently established Bac-
teriological Institute, was, until about thirty years ago, an
important military station, and the demands for supplies for
the troops and transport riders going up-country stimulated
agricultural production in the neighbourhood. Albany is

ROUTE IN Till-: EASTERN PROVINCE. 3 1

essentially a rolling grazing country, of sour veld towards
the south and sweet \'eld to the north, but the alluvial soil in
the valleys is capable of producing" crops without irrigation.

The trials to which the farming population in the district
of Bathurst have been from time to time subjected are sub-
sequently referred to. The agricultural produce of the level
alluvial land in the Kowie Valley is .sent to Grahamstown
market. Kraal manure is not there thought to be of much
value when applied to grain crops. It encourages bulk of
straw v.'ithout grain, and produces coarse, inferior fodder.
Most probably the manure is deficient in phosphates, like the
soil on which it is produced.

Bathurst is a straggling village, laid out, like Grahams-
town, on the American plan, with wide parallel streets, crossed
by others at right angles. It skirts the base of a rounded hill
in a well-bushed veld, providing good pasture for cattle.
There is abundance of lime in the soil, and consequently
in good seasons numerous excellent leguminous plants grow
wild. Nevertheless horses always look unthrift)-. Bathurst
was settled in 1820 by about seven hundred British emigrants,
who mostly received small farms of from 100 acres to 250
acres, a few only being given 500 acres. The tendency now is
for the farms to increase in size, and the population to become
less numerous. No manure is used, and the arable land has
been so long culti\'ated that wheat goes off with a white
blight when it ought to begin to fill. The chief industry of
the village is market-gardening, including fruit-growing-.
All of the seventy families who live there are more or less
interested in it, although only three growers, w^ho possess the
right to a sufficient supply of irrigation water from a large
spring in the village, can grow cabbages or cauliflowers. The
others grow mealies, potatoes, and the smaller vegetables.
Vines do badly after the second year of bearing. The value
of garden land is on the increase. An offer of ^,"500 had
been refused by one energetic resident for a fifty-acre lot which
six years before cost i,"i20. Part of the increase, it must be
admitted, was due to the improvements made by clearing off
bush and planting fruit-trees. The red scale on the orange-
trees seems to be the chief bugbear of the place. The pro-
duce is sold at Grahamstown dail}- market, and at the weekly

32 FARMIN(; INDUSTKIKS OF CAPE COLONV.

market at Port Alfred, — cauliHcnvers fetching often 6cl. each ;
cabbai^es, 2.s. 6d. to 3.S. per dozen ; and oran<re.s, 2.s. 6d. per
100.

Many of the inhabitants are progressive and industrious,
and anxious to be taught the most approved methods and
practices of their occupation ; but some of the old residents
want energy and application, and are too much inclined to
drift on in the old lines — a state of matters which is not at
all suitable to the district in question.

Poultry keeping is well advanced. Good specimens of the
best British breeds have been introduced here, as at other
centres in the Colony, during recent years. All the villagers
own a few cows, which pasture on common land, but the
numbers have decreased since the extension of red-water to
this part of the country.

Of the farmers in the surrounding country, the most suc-
cessful are those who stuck to farming, and did not divide
their attention by going in for " transport-riding." *

The road from Bathurst to Grahamstown by way of the
Kowie Valley lies through a rolling country, which, until the
appearance of heart-water among sheep, was a typical sheep
country of half sweet and half sour veld. Now sheep cannot
live. Many snug, well-cultivated farms, with the land well
fenced with wire, are passed on the way. Where bush exists,
there is something of a semi-tropical appearance, given by the
occurrence of a large euphorbia (milkbush),and by the presence,
in addition to an abundance of mimosa, Acacia /lorrida, of a
considerable variety of evergreen trees loaded with creepers.
The evidences of successful bamboo, pine-apple, and plantain
cultivation, which is not yet widespread, although it is on the
increase, confirm the impression.

A considerable extent of soil of a dark colour being in the
hollows between the rounded elevations of red-brown soil is
admirably suited for fruit-growing, but before the great
possibilities in this direction which the district possesses can
be taken full advantage of, there must be better means pro-
vided for marketing the produce, and also an increase of white
population in the Colony to consume it. The latter might be

* The occupation of dri\ing ox-\vaygons up-country with stores, &c.

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 53

broui^ht about by turning towards South Africa the stream
of emigration now being diverted from America.

The country to the north-west of Albany, in the direction
of Riebeck, is healthy and good for sheep, the boundary
h'ne between the area affected with heart -water and the
sheep area passing north of Grahamstown. The land seen in
travelling from Grahamstown to Alicedale rises to a good
elevation, and is rolling and grassy, very few bushes occurring,
with the exception of rhenoster bush, which increases in
quantity as x'\licedale is approached. But for the prevalence
of heart-water, it would be an excellent sheep-run.

To the north-cast, in the direction of Heatherton Towers,
the general level of the surface of the country descends, and
the veld becomes much more bushy. The district is excellent
for ostriches, and both cattle and sheep thrive well. The
prickly pear, Opitntia, has firmly established itself, but it is
not there regarded entirely as a weed, as its leaves are chopped
in large cjuantitics, anci successfully used as food for ostriches
and dairy cows during periods of drought and general scarcity.

District of Somerset East.

Cookhouse, the nearest railway station for Bedford and
Somerset East, is also close to the side of the proposed
Slag"tersnek irrigation scheme, referred to in a succeeding
chapter on irrigation.

The town of Somerset East stands to the west of Cook-
house, two hours by post cart, at the foot of a steep slope
flanking an elevated plateau of sweet-grass veld, on which
horses and cattle do well. The town is the site of the Gill
College, and of the Agricultural School for the Eastern
Province to be mentioned later.

A few facts relating to the farm of Glenavon, four miles
north of the town, will illustrate some of the chief features of
the district. The area of the holding is about 10,000 acres,
but only 200 acres are cultivated, and the annual rent is ^^^500.
Five years ago, John Gumming, the present occupier, began
with 200 cattle, a flock of 1,300 sheep, which has decreased to
350, and 400 Angora goats, which have multiplied until they
now number 1,100, — circumstances which indicate the unsuit-

34 FARMING INDUSTRIES (JF CAPE COLONY.

ability and suitability of existini^ conditions for different
classes of stock.

The arable soil is shallow as a rule, and there is a good
proportion of heavy clay formed by the disintegration of shale
or clay-rock.

Mangel wurzel is grown and dibbled out in the field from
a seed-bed sown in November.

Some farmers in the district let land to Kaffirs on the half-
share principle, who cultivate badly and plough very shallow,
being afraid to break their old and rotten implements. They
also steal about one-third of such a crop as mealies, which
they can carry away at night in small quantities and consume,
and the rent is in consequence reduced to one-third of the
produce.

Bedford District.

Driving from Cookhouse in the direction of Bedford, the
open grass -veld, growing rooi-grass chiefly, and being at a
higher elevation than the mixed grass and bush veld left
behind, is soon reached. Both varieties here form sound and
healthy pasture for stock. The knowledge as to whether veld
is sound or otherwise, is necessarily a matter of experience, as
there is nothing in the appearance which meets the eye of an
observer to indicate to which class it belongs.

The vicinity of Bedford has recently come prominently
before the public as an important dairying centre, numerous
creameries having been erected, and an important trade in
fresh butter established with distant populous centres.

A beginning has been made in the growth of green winter
food for cows, so that the condition, which becomes very low
in spring, and also a certain flow of milk, may be maintained
all the year round. It is to be hoped that the growth of food
for the winter supply of other farm animals may gradually
extend not only in this but in other districts. Under the
existing system, much of the land of the Colony is too heavily
stocked, yet it does not maintain nearly so many animals as
it might do if systematic means were instituted for the supply
of winter food. Silage has been successfully made of green
mealies (maize); and mangels, turnips, pumpkins, and lucerne
have been grown by the aid of irrigation in the rich holm-land
of the Cowie Valle}\

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 35

The rainfall is about 28 inches, which is sufficient to
enable the Kaffirs to grow mealies and Kaffir corn on the hill-
sides forming the valley, on land from which the trees have
been intentionally and wastefully burnt off.

Mimosa {Acacia Jion-ida) trees are pretty numerous even in
the open veld of this part of the country, but they are pre-
vented from growing, as they tend to do, into an impenetrable
thicket by a small brown scale insect, Ccroplastes, which pays
periodical visits, and in three or four years, when an attack
occurs, the trees are killed wholesale. The last attack began
in 1889, and continued for four years. The rotten wood is
cleared off by grass fires, although burning the veld is not, as
a rule, there regularly practised. Young trees soon spring
from the numerous seeds that are annually shed on the
veld. A moderate number of trees is most useful, supplying
excellent food for sheep in the form of green leaves and of
seed pods which drop after ripening.

The district is well fenced, and sheep and cattle are run in
separate camps ; but when a sheep camp becomes too rough,
cattle are turned in to eat off the long grass. Sheep at times
suffer from autumn fever, which is described in a future
chapter on diseases of sheep.

Districts of Fort Beaufort, Stockenstrom,'
AND Victoria East.

Sweet veld prevails in this area of country, which is well
adapted for sheep. Stockenstrom has, in addition to a good
reputation for sheep and wool production, some claim to notice
on account of tobacco culture. The Government tobacco farm,
which was given up in 1895, was located in this district, the main
reason for discontinuing it being that the farmers in the
neighbourhood thought that the Government tobacco expert
made a mistake in his selection of a farm, and to emphasise
this belief they boycotted it, and would not go to see and
benefit by the object-lessons which it was intended to provide.

Canker at the roots of the orange-trees appeared in 1883,
and few are now left in the district.

The Mission Station of Lovedale, under the control of
Dr Stewart, lies to the east of the area now under considera-
tion, and a few miles from the village of Alice. The instruc-

36 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

tion given is divided into three departments — religious,
educational, and industrial ; and nearly 800 natives, of whom
500 are boarders, take advantage of the facilities offered, — a
wonderful development since the year of its foundation, 1841,
when eleven natives and nine Europeans made up the number
in attendance.

At first, instruction was given free to natives, but in 1871
an annual charge of £4 for the board and education of each
pupil was introduced. The fee has subsequently been raised
to i,8, the lowest payment for elementary instruction and
simple food ; but i^i2 and i^20 are paid by some who receive
higher instruction, and participate in greater luxury at the
table. The food consists chiefly of mealies and milk. The
fees paid by natives on their own account amount to over
i,2,ooo per annum, and the Colonial Government educational
grant comes to another iJ^2,ooo, to which sums require to be
added the funds contributed by the Foreign Missions Com-
mittee of the Free Church of Scotland, and private donations,
which bring up the average income to about ^10,000 per
year.

The great inducement to go to school in the native's
mind is the desire to acquire the magic power of being able to
write a letter, and full-grown men come to the institution from
the diamond mines of Kimberley, and the gold mines of
Johannesburg, and deposit their savings, amounting probably
to ;^20, £^0, or i^50, to guarantee their position and power to
pay while they remain.

Much of the work done is also eminently practical. A
large farm is associated with the institution to assist in
providing food for the numerous members of the household,
and also to supply means for hand labour in the open air.
In addition to farm and garden work, carpentering, waggon-
making, blacksmithing, printing, and bookbinding are taught ;
and if, after a period of probation in one of these branches of
work, it is seen that a pupil is not likely to succeed in becoming
proficient, he is not permitted to continue at it.

Cradock District.
The railway going north from Cookhouse, passing along
the boundary line between the districts of Bedford and Somer-

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 37

set East, runs at first through a rugged and broken country,
badly infested with prickly pears. The soil, which is not
deep, is light and red in colour, growing quantities of "tulp"
or poison bulb, with a light-blue flower, among the scrubby
bushes, and also a plant called " stink-blaar," StramoniiLin,
which poisons chick-ostriches. Neither are eaten by goats,
nor as a rule by sheep or cattle that are reared in a district
in which they appear. The district of Cradock is hilly and
stony, and both in appearance and in reality a typical place
for Angora goat farming.

Excellent holm-lands lie along the banks of the Great Fish
River, which flows almost due south through the district, but
where irrigation is not practised with care brak soil is liable to
occur. At Halesowen, Hilton Barber's place, about a mile
from Cradock, some of this alluvial soil was seen undergoing
the process of levelling in preparation for the irrigation of a
lucerne crop. Irrigation is necessary owing to the rainfall
being light, only about 15 inches, and coming mostly during
summer. The good quality of the land was to be gauged not
only by the excellence of the products of cultivation, but by
the gigantic size of a number of pear-trees ; and there is little
doubt but that it has also had a material influence upon the
size of bone of the thoroughbred stud of horses, which has
developed into one of the best in the Colony.

MiDDELBURG AND StEYNSBURG DISTRICTS.

The districts of Middelburg and Steynsburg, lying to the
north of Cradock, and at a higher elevation, are quite different
from it in appearance and character. In going north by rail
towards Tafelberg station, the stony country is soon left
behind, and a regular Karoo veld entered. The plains are
at first not extensive, but broken by rising ground. In the
districts under review, there are large tracts of land which
would suit excellently for cultivation, and which possess unique
facilities for the supply of irrigation water, but at present the
holdings are too large for any one to personally supervise the
work associated with crop cultivation. Charles Southey's
farm of Culmstock, in the Middelburg district, for example,
extends to 14,000 acres. The soil does not become so hard

38 FARMINC INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

under the influence of irrigation as do the alhivial soils on the
Great Fish River banks, but in certain low-lying areas brak
is liable to appear, the result either of the soakage of water from
brak springs which exist in the district, or from capillary
action in, and eva|)oration of water from the soil itself. There
is little doubt but that the surface has, upon the whole,
become considerably drier since it has been stocked with
sheep, owing to the formation of "sluits" and even rivers by the
washing of escaping rain-water.

The Steynsburg Government scheme of irrigation is
probably the most promising of all the large irrigation schemes
in the Colony, not only on account of the natural facilities for
storing water, but also for the extensive area of good land to
which it is possible to apply it.

Albert and Wodehouse Districts.

The Albert and Wodehouse districts contain an extensive
and elevated area of grassy veld which runs up to the Storm-
berg range. On the highest parts it is sour veld, while at
lower elevations it is half-sweet and half-sour. The hills as a
rule are water-worn and bare of soil, with volcanic rocks pro-
truding in places. A portion of the soil has lodged in the
hollows, and this has subsequently been cut in many places
by deep sluits, and is again beginning to wash away.

The largest cropping farm seen in the Colony was found in
Carnarvon Farm, worked by the Halse Brothers, near Sterk-
strom. The total area is 11,500 morgen, and nearly 3,000
morgen (roughly 6,000 acres) are under the plough. The
bicycle is found to be of the greatest service to the manage-
ment in covering the long distances between the different
centres of work on a farm of this size. The average rainfall
is about 22 inches, but irrigation water is necessar}- for most
crops, and storage in dams has been provided to the capacit)'
of 1,500,000 gallons. As many as 300 acres of potatoes
have been grown in one season ; but they are not irrigated, as
the adch'tional supply of moisture is believed to aggravate the
" ring disease " from which the crop suffers. Mealies can also
be grown without irrigation, but most of the other crops require
artificial watering. It was on this farm that the Tennyson

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 39

Settlement was placed; but the excitement of making money
in a short space of time at the Rand, and the want of ex-
perience in manual work, have proved too much for the majority
of those who formed the settlement, and it has broken up.

The high grass veld of which the Stormberg forms the
centre, is healthy for stock, chiefly sheep ; but at this elevation
salt is not present in sufficient quantity to form an antidote
for parasitic attacks, and wire-worm and liver-fluke are
troublesome. The country lies bleak and bare, and there is a
great want of natural shelter for stock, which leads to the loss
of condition during winter and spring, the time when animals
can least afford to suffer in this way.

In the vicinity of Burghersdorp, which does not lie at such
a high elevation as the land last referred to, there is good
arable land, and a considerable amount of cultivation, in
addition to the grazing of sheep and cattle.

A few miles to the north a Welsh settler named Davis, who
had only been about four years in his farm, is, as the result of
steady application to work, rapidly growing into a position of
independence on a holding of 3,000 morgen, which he leases
for ^^130 of yearly rent, £"] of taxes having also to be paid.
The stock, which was steadily increasing in numbers, consisted
of 1,100 sheep, and 70 head of cattle, including 40 milch cows.
Cheese is manufactured and readily sold at is. per lb. The
soil is pretty heavy, but with good cultivation and the skilled
application of irrigation water, it grows good crops. Barley
does very well, and English winter oats, introduced from
Natal, do not seriously suffer from the severity of the climate,
although they are slightly injured by winter frosts. It is the
general practice to irrigate the common grain crops, but both
mealies and wheat grow in the district on land which it is
found impossible to irrigate.

One evening was spent at Ellesmere, the well-known
place of E. Hughes, who farms a large tract of sheep land
of superior quality. The veld is not annually burnt, but only
now and then when it becomes too rough. Here a sheep per
morgen is light stocking, whereas on some parts of the Karoo
three morgen are required to keep one sheep.

Provision for the reception of irrigation water, to be used
in cultivation, was found in a large dam (with a bank 300

40 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAI'F COLONY.

yards long, too feet wide at the base, and 34 feet high at the
centre), which had cost about i^8oo.

The district is capable of great development both in the
direction of cultivation and of keeping stock, but before the
best results can be obtained the large farms must be split up,
so that a greater amount of personal supervision ma)' be given
by the farmers to the work going on.

An interesting natural phenomenon was observed in the
form of a warm spring, which issued at a temperature of
100° F. from a 6-inch bore-hole 70 feet deep, made by one of
the Government water drills. Water at this temperature, and
free from an excess of soluble salts, is a boon for irrigation
purposes, and may also be used with advantage in dipping
sheep, and even for household needs.

The spreo, Spreo bicolor, Gm., is one of the most widely
distributed and numerously represented of the wild birds of
the Colony. It is a little larger and more massive than a
starling, to which it is allied, and it occurs in a number of
distinct plumages — the most common colours above being
bronzy, with a distinct gloss of green under certain lights, and
purple and white below. It is at times the friend, and under
other circumstances the enemy, of the farmer. It is most
destructive of fruit, and also of grain crops, when its natural
food is scarce; but it greedily devours locusts, ticks, and other
injurious insects, to make amends for its shortcomings at other
times. An interesting feature in the life-history of the bird
was observed at Ellesmere. Thousands of them collected at
sunset in a clump of tall white poplar trees, coming from the
veld in all directions in flights of one hundred or more, and
keeping up an incessant chirruping until all had arrived and
darkness set in.

The parson crow, Corvns scapulatus, Dand., is another
bird which occupies a position somewhat similar to that of
the spreo with regard to the farmer, and corresponds to the
common rook in this country. It is widely distributed in
South Africa, but it is not seen in crowds of such large
numbers as the rook. It takes its familiar name from the
fact that it has a white breast and white ring round its neck,
while the rest of the body is black, or nearly so, like a
parson's coat.

route in the eastern trovince. 41

Districts of Aliwal Ncjrtii and Barkly East.

Although the country generally is devoted in the main to
stock farming" — the breeding and rearing of sheep, cattle, and
horses — cultivation is possible on a considerable area, and
crops are grown pretty extensively by a number of progressive
farmers. Dairying has also been introduced in a modern form
at Braam Spruit. J. Bekker has a model and ideal dairy, fitted
with recent and approved appliances. The roof of the building
is amply shaded by trees, and the well has a temperature
which rarely rises, even during the heat of summer, much
above the normal winter reading of 58° F. The butter is sent
to Johannesburg, and the price realised is 2s. per lb.

An extensive system of cultivation is practised at Fair-
view by A. J. Orsmond, who four years ago bought the place,
extending to 500 morgen, for i," 1,000. Locusts have been
exceedingly destructive in this district during each of the last
four years. In fact, if their ravages are to continue, it will
be impossible to carry on cultivation at a profit. The growing
of fodder (oaten and wheaten hay) is the chief object at
present, but the district is favourably situated for the produc-
tion of grain. Soft wheat, which is in greater demand than
hard wheat with colonial millers, grows well without being-
attacked by rust, and leguminous crops as well as root crops
and pumpkins thrive admirably. The potato also thrives, and
it is even thought to be a fertilising crop, — a circumstance which
is probably due to the thorough cultivation which the crop
requires, rather than to any inherent quality in the potato.
The soil is of such a nature that irrigation makes it very hard
if it be allowed to dry, and even a heavy thunder-shower will
harden the surface two inches down. On soil of a lighter
description nothing is heard of the potato contributing to its
fertility.

By way of giving a second illustration of the value of land,
it may be mentioned that a stock farm on the way to Karne-
melk Spruit, area 1,700 morgen, and capable of carrying under
the present system of management 2,000 sheep and 100 cattle,
was recently bought for iJ^ 1,500. There is a capacious dam on
the place, which would contain enough irrigation water to
grow roots sufficient, under a more enlightened system of

42 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF ("APE COLONY.

mana^cnicnt to almost double the stock-supporting- capacity
of the property.

The winters arc very dry, cold at night and clear. A
great advantage to the coast land in the east of the Colony,
which docs not extend so far inland as Aliwal North, is the
heat derived from the tropical Mozambique current which
laves the shore, so that frost seldom occurs. Rains then
come with the south-east trade winds in November and
March, but the higher elevations up-country are mostly
dependent upon thunder rains.

The high price of agricultural implements is a serious
drawback to a struggling cultivator, who does not possess
much capital to invest in appliances. Self-binding reaping
machines still cost £^S each in this district, although they can
now be bought in Great Britain for a little more than half
this price.

A five days' drive by cart was taken from Aliwal North
through Lady Grey into the Barkly East or New England
district, an elevated track of grass-veld on which sheep, cattle,
and horses do well in summer, but, as is the case in Aliwal
North and in many other parts of the Colony, become very
poor during the barren months of spring, when the grass
shows up withered and brown. The predominating rooi-
grass gives it the appearance of withered bent of a reddish
colour. It is a rugged, hilly country, with fiats cut deeply
by narrow valleys, and an abundance of rich black soil on
the flats and in the hollows that, under cultivation, works
down into the condition of a garden mould. The farms are
mostly ring-fenced, but want subdividing. Where this is
done, and sheep are allowed to run at large, they thrive much
better than when herded in flocks. It is in this district that
so much success has already been achieved in the growing
of turnips to supplement the natural winter food of sheep.

It would seem, from the introduction of Lincoln sheep,
that, excellent though it be, more is expected of the supple-
mentary turnip crop than it can possibly accomplish.
Reginald Orpen had, early in 1895, imported 70 well-bred
Lincoln rams, which, landed at Cape Town, cost about ;^20
each, with the intention of putting them to 5,000 merino
ewes, and continuing to breed from the half-bred ewes with

L routp: in the eastern province. 43

pure-bred Lincoln rams. This subject need not be followed
here, as it is fully dealt with in a succeeding chapter on sheep
and sheep-farming.

A serious drawback to the extension of cultivation with
the object of grain production in this high region is the
danger of its being frosted at midsummer.

The two great wants of the district are common to many
parts of the Colon}-, viz., more farming capital at the disposal
of the occupiers, and a railway to convey the produce to
market. Neither desideratum need long be denied to the
district if farmers will only follow the excellent example
which has been set them by Orpen, of Avoca, and Wallace,
of Holbrook, in growing turnips for winter and spring food.
The higher parts of the New England district being more
humid than the interior plains of the country where ant-hills
are numerous, these disappear. The work of soil manufacture
which the ant undertakes is, however, in this and the humid
coast districts, taken up by earth-worms, which in moist soil
in favourable situations assume an enormous size — some being
over three feet long, and about an inch in diameter.

OUEENSTOWN Dl.STRICT.

Oueenstown is one of the most prosperous and progres-
sive of the districts visited. The farming community is mostly
of British extraction, and the practices adopted are largely
English in origin. The area cultivated is extensive, and the
stock of cattle kept is superior, including many well-bred
animals, belonging to the Holstein and the shorthorn breeds.
A few superior polled Angus cattle were also observed. Crosses
between the Ayrshire cow and Friesland bull are held in high
estimation as dair}- cattle.

The cutting of sluits or open channels in the veld by the
action of water, the process described as occurring further up-
country, is being carried out in favourable localities in this
district, where only a few years ago no drainage of the kind
existed. It is necessary to burn the withered grass on the
veld, as it is to some extent " sour," to improve the qualit}' of
the " koper-draad " or copper- wire grass, Andropogon, which,
when burnt, shoots up a month earlier than other grasses in
spring Burning also prevents the tufts of copper grass

44 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

spreadini^- too widely, and killing out good grasses which are
valuable later in the season.

Green winter food for sheep and cattle is mainly provided
by the growth, under irrigation, of barley and wheat as green
forage. Thousand-headed kale has been tried, and it does
best when planted out in January. Turnips are liable to suffer
seriously from the attack of the turnip flea-beetle or kirnip-
fly, Phyllotreta neinonan, when the young plant first appears
in April. The Aberdeenshire remedy of steeping the seed in
the oil of turpentine for a few hours before sowing might be
tried in the initial stages, until the area of cultivation extends
sufficiently to warrant the use of one of Strawson's spraying
machines, by which a few gallons of paraffin could be distri-
buted per acre over the crop of young plants while yet they
possess only the first pair of leaves or cotyledons. Either
remedy would, as a rule, probably save the crop.

The bean crop does not give a heavy yield, but it is an
excellent forerunner of grain crops. A wild vetch, a variety
of the common vetch, has become a very troublesome weed Jn
cultivation; but it is not an altogether unmixed disadvantage,
as it, like the bean, is most active in the fixation of the free
nitrogen of the air for the benefit of succeeding crops.

Although one generally hears more of the losses sustained
by the farmer as the result of a prolonged drought, it is
admitted in this district, as well as in other parts which are
at times liable to suffer from heavy falls of rain, that the
losses sustained, both in crop-growing and in stock-farming,
are greater with excessive wet than with too much sunshine.

Districts of Cathcart, Stutteriieim, and King
William's Town.

On the way by rail from Queenstown to Kei Road, a
good grass country is soon entered, dotted with mimosa
trees and bushes. During the seasons 1891, '92, '93, a large
grey-striped caterpillar attacked the mimosa in the area
located between Tyldcn and Cathcart, and large numbers of
all classes of farm stock, and even Kaffir w^omcn aborted,
it was believed, in consequence, although the results of some
experiments, conducted by the Department of Agriculture,

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE. 45

did not confirm the popular belief. The mildness of the
climate, as compared with the areas traver.sed up-country,
was indicated by the appearance of the early leaves on the
mimosa-trees.

The district of Cathcart rises to a good height, and is
bare and bleak, and not unlike the Stormberg country, there
being no trees, and a distinct want of shelter. The Bontebok
flats lie to the west, and Gaika-land to the east. The whole
area was at one time thickly stocked with springbuck and
other game, the grass being short and suitable for antelopes
or sheep, although mostly grown on sour veld. The land is
sound and healthy for stock, but for liver-fluke and other worm
parasites, which, owing to the heavy falls of rain during
summer, are more prevalent here than in drier districts. The
ant-heaps, in presence of the extra supply of moisture, are
less numerous than where the rainfall is less.

The farms are fenced, and sheep are not herded in mobs,
but permitted to spread naturally to feed, as is the custom
on the hilly ranges in Great Britain. During the lambing
season the lambing ewes and the young lambs are brought
near the homestead at night, as a precaution against the
depredations of jackals. Similar practices had been previously
noticed near Bedford. Double lambs are not numerous on
the veld. This is a matter which is dependent to a large
extent upon the supply of food, and the annual lowering of
condition in winter and spring militates against the occurrence
of large numbers.

To the south of Toise River Station is the Fort Cunyng-
hame Government Forest Station, where a large number
of trees, mostly pines, have been planted for experimental
purposes. Close to Kabousie Station is Waterford, the
estate of the late J. J. Irvine, who is reported to have spent
i^ 1 50,000 upon it in improvements. Although the sum may
be somewhat exaggerated, it was in any case sufficiently large
to be an object-lesson worth considering by those who advocate
the establishment of Government model farms. As a lower
level is reached, ant-hills become more numerous.

In the neighbourhood of Kei Road, turnips do not
grow so well as in New England, on account of the
irregularity in the rainfall, and the numbers of insect enemies.

46 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE C(JL(JNY.

The turnij) fly and the red ant are both destructive. Mangels
sown broadcast do well at times, but in 1894 some crops were
cleared off by caterpillars, thoug^ht to be those of the white
cabbage butterfly.

Roots are too uncertain in this district to be solely
depended upon for winter food, as there are frequent droughts,
and irrigation is not practised, but with silage in addition, as
a second line of defence, the safety of the live stock at all times
could be ensured.

The dimensions of the earth-worms on the flat and in
moist land are quite phenomenal.

An effort is being made by some to improve the quality
of the flocks. A lot of Tasmanian sheep (six ewes and one
ram) was examined, which cost on landing nearly ;^200.
These animals cross very well with the Cape merino, but a
general movement in this direction cannot proceed far until
better provision is made for sheep during the barren spring
months and dry seasons.

The cultivation of wheat is checked through the injury
done by rust and by frost, and all branches of cultivation
have during the past four years suffered from the ravages of
locusts.

Attempts at thorough cultivation on the English plan
have not always proved successful. John Landrey,* of Mow-
bray Park, gave a good illustration of the occasional
superiority of certain native customs over European innova-
tions. A crop of mealies in a field which had been three
times ploughed during summer was devoured by grubs, while
a Kaffir's crop close by in which the soil had been only
scratched escaped. The parent insect seems to have found
the well-worked fallow the more attractive place to lay her
eggs. In the growth of mealies, English farmers have some-
thing to learn in another direction from their Kaffir neigh-
bours. In places w^here an English farmer wall only harvest
one crop out of three, grown under a system of dry-land
cultivation, the Kaffirs will secure five crops out of six. The
explanation seems to be that the Kaffir is always hoeing the

* To whom the author was much indel^ted during his visit to this
district.

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN I'ROVINCE. 47

surface while the crop is growing, and keeping the soil in a
loose state, and consequently in a condition to conserve the
soil moisture.

Mowbray Park, extending to 2,500 acres, cost ^^^2,500
eleven years ago, but with the fencing and other extensive
improvements which have been made, it must have more than
doubled in value during that time.

The great majority of the population are English farmers
of a progressive type, but the district contains many of the
German legion already alluded to as settling in the vicinity
of East London. Though industrious and hard-working,
their condition of poverty, verging on starvation, is similar to
that already described. The average size of a holding is
about 25 to 30 acres of arable land, and that not of the best
quality, with right to pasture a number of stock on the village
commonage. Each village possesses a board of management,
which regulates the number of animals to be kept by each
occupier. At the village of Wiesbaden which the author
visited, the number of cattle is fixed at forty, or of sheep
eighty. But most of the people are so poor they have very
few beasts, and are thus unable to take advantage of their
grazing rights. Fate has been against them. Their small
holdings, at all times too small, have gradually become
poorer, like themselves, although they carefully preserve
manure, and even buy it from Kaffirs for sixpence or a shilling
for one of their small waggon-loads, and carry it from the
native quarters on to their land.

The usual rotation adopted by the settlers is — (i) Mealies ;
(2) Wheat ; (3) Potatoes (manured) ; (4) Barley (seeded) or
side oats, Avena orientalis, which does not require rich soil,
and may be grown for forage (oat-hay). After barley, the land
must be manured in preparation for any crop, with the excep-
tion of mealies. The return got from wheat is about eight-
fold, and the seed sown is one bushel per acre. When sown
late in spring, the grass grows almost as quickly as the crop,
and it is more liable to rust. The Kaalkop wheat has been
in years past the best rust-resisting variety, but its power in
this direction is becoming less and less.

The potato, which at one time formed an important stand-
by, has gone down both in quality and yield. The German

48 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

blue variety, imported from Brandenburg, dwindled till it grew
itself out a few years ago, and other varieties which have been
too long cultivated in the district are following in the same
direction. Land that without being manured would at one
time have produced sixty bags of very fine potatoes per acre,
is now unable, even when manured, to grow more than forty
bags of tubers of inferior quality. Potatoes and forage crops
may be planted twice annually. At one time one potato-
crop would follow another on the same land, but that exhaust-
ing system is not now possible. This may to some extent be
due to the exhaustion of potash. The east of the Colony has
no store of granite to yield felspathic potass elements as the
west has. The German settlers are so poor that their case is
on a par with the small Irish farmer, and calls for the sus-
pension of some of the ordinary rules of political economy,
and the interposition of Government, with the object of
helping them because they are unable to help themselves.

New varieties of seed of all descriptions are wanted, and
some method could surely be devised by which a Government
given to paternal acts might bring the means of procuring
seed within the reach of the poorest and most helpless class
without pauperising them.

The most important matter, and one to which the Govern-
ment might well devote itself without delay, is the extension
of the size of the holdings. If something is not done to
enable this industrious community to reap the benefit of the
labour they are able and willing to undertake, the time will
soon arrive when something probably more costly and less
worthy may have to be undertaken for them as paupers or
" poor whites."

In place of every facility being offered to those who are
desirous of taking up new land at reasonable rates, the
difficulties in the way of any one being able to acquire un-
occupied Government land are practically insuperable. There
is no complete survey which can be referred to, and if a man
applies to Government for a small plot of land, he has not
only to pay for the land, but also the expenses of a surveyor
going from King William's Town to do the work, which pro-
bably does not occupy him more than a few minutes. The
brief statement of the facts of a case brought to the notice of

■■vl

'^^

'■■"T

■i

-tv^

ROUTE IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE.

the writer will show the unsatisfactory nature of the existing
position, and how ripe it is for adjustment on liberal and
possible lines. A settler desired to purchase an acre lot,
which, on being appraised by a local committee, was found to
be worth £i in fair market value; but it was discovered that
the plot had no less than £^. I2s. 6d. of survey and transfer
expenses (!) standing against it, and the transaction did not
take place. This sum the aspirant to its possession will be
bound to pay before the land can be rescued from the state of
nature in which it lies. Surely some more equitable and
reasonable plan, which would be mutually advantageous to the
Government and to Mould-be purchasers, could be instituted.

Karoo and Ant Heats.

CHAPTER III.

GEOLOGICAL, OROGRAPHICAL, AND LAND SURFACE
FEATURES.

Geological Survey Commission — Geological Map of Cape Colony — Con-
tributors to the Geological Knowledge of South Africa — Littoral
Zone, Malmesbury Beds, &c. — Table Mountain Sandstones — Rand
Gold Mines, Johannesburg — Johnstone on the Deposition of Gold —
Bokkeveld (Devonian) Beds — Elephant Rock — Carboniferous Era--
Dwyka or Trap Conglomerate — Ecca and Karoo Beds — The Hills —
Fresh-water Basin — Diamonds — Stormberg Rocks — Coal — Cave
Sandstone — Volcanic Action — Three Chains of Mountains — Cape
Colony Watershed — Rivers — Soil Washing and Wearing— Character
of Soil — Want of Surface Water — Underground Supply — Report of
Inspector of Water Drills — Shallow and Deep Boring— Dolerite
Dykes — Artesian Water — Pumping Water by Windmills — Deep
Drill for Geological Survey — Warm and Brak Springs— Drift Sands
near Port Elizabeth.

Although South Africa has proved to be surpassingly rich
in minerals of many kinds, it is somewhat anomalous that no
systematic geological survey has ever been made of it. So
far as Cape Colony is concerned, this defect is about to be
amended. After much preliminary discussion and hesitation,
the Colonial Government appointed in 1895 a Geological
Survey Commission, consisting of Dr Muir, Superintendent-
General of Education ; the Hon. J. X. Merriman; Dr Gill, Her
Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape ; C. Currey, Permanent
Secretary of the Agricultural Department ; and Thomas
Stewart, C.E., F.G.S. This was done in compliance with
the recommendation contained in the report of a Select
Committee of the House of Assembly, dated 8th July 1895.
This Committee also recommended, in view of the fact that
since 1876 a sum of ^^36,905 has been "incurred in connec-
tion with geological research,"' that " as a preliminary step,
great service would be rendered by the collection, collation,
and publication of all the existing information on the geo-

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 5 I

logy of South Africa," but the Survey seems to be the most
interesting- and important matter in hand.

The Commissioners had a grant of ^1,500 placed at their
disposal, ^^1,250 to be devoted to the Survey, and ;^250 to
miscellaneous expenses.

The accompanying geological map is taken from that
compiled by E. J. Dunn, and published in 1887. Although
admittedly far from complete, it furnishes a general outline of
the geology of South Africa, so far as it has been explored
from time to time by geological experts. Frequent reference
to the map, and the explanatory key to the classification of
the strata represented, make elaborate descriptions of the
positions of the different rocks unnecessary.

As the knowledge of facts relating to South African
geology is likely soon to expand, the shortest possible
reference will now be made to the subject.* The first im-
portant worker in the geological field was A. G. Bain, a road
engineer, who, while superintending the construction of the
magnificent mountain passes in the Colony, had a unique
opportunity to follow his natural inclination in the line of
geological research. Andrew Wyley, of the British Geological
Survey ; E. J. Dunn, of the Geological Survey of Victoria ;
T. Bain, the late Geological and Irrigation Surveyor of the
Colony ; Dr Atherstone, of Grahamstown, and a number
of others, have contributed their share to the general stock of
geological information pertaining to the Colony.

The littoral zone, which appears in the south-west of the
Colony, belongs to the " ancient sedimentary deposits of the
paLxozoic or primary formation," and is classed as Silurian.

The lower " Malmesbury " and " Lydenburg " beds are
clay slates, varying from soft mud-stones to fine argillaceous
schists and gritty sandstones.

Masses of granite pierce these rocks, and overlie them in a
considerable number of places indicated on the map.

Lying unconformably to them, and covering the clay slates
and granites, "is a great horizontal deposit, at times 10,000 to

* Indebtedness is acknowledged to the chapter on geology in the
Official Handbook of the Cape and South Africa, and to a paper by D.
Draper on " The Rand Conglomerate," reprinted, with discussions thereon,
from the Staiuidrd and Diggers' Ncws^ Johannesburg, nth June 1895.

52 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

12,000 feet deep, of unfossiliferous quartzose (Table Mountain)
sandstone, with, in some places, embedded pebbles or con-
glomerate." This stretches east and north from the elbow
formed in the Cape Town direction, and caps the first or coast
range of mountains.

It is in the auriferous conglomerates of this formation that
the famous Rand Gold Mines at Johannesburg are situated,
which before the end of 1895 employed 70,000 natives, and
produced gold at the rate of iJ^9,ooo,ooo per annum, with a
prospect of an increase to ^12,000,000 or ;i^ 1 4,000,000 within
a few years, when the deep-level mines now being sunk (some
to a depth of 2,500 feet) come into active production. At one
time it was thought that the gold-bearing conglomerate on the
Rand or ridge formed the edge of a great basin, and that the
beds in the centre of this area, probably 200 miles in diameter,
would be found lying horizontally, and comparatively near the
surface ; but this theory is exploded, and it is believed that
the conglomerates yielding gold were forced up from a great
depth by the protrusion of granite, which accounts for their
clipping to the north and also to the south of the granitic mass
lying to the south of Pretoria.

Wherever the Table Mountain conglomerates appear, the
oldest yet discovered in Africa, they contain gold, but generally
not in " payable " quantities.

The g"old is not found in the pebbles, but in an invisible
condition in the matrix of indurated cementing material
joining these rounded water-worn masses into a hard and solid
rock. It is believed that the gold in solution, probably as the
chloride, must have been precipitated in a very fine state of
division, as it filtered through the conglomerate during the
process of its formation into rock.

The following interesting note by the Hon. J. C. F. John-
son, Adelaide, on the " Deposition of Gold," recently appeared
in the Transactions of the Australasian histitutc of Mining
Engineers, and the specimens referred to were exhibited at the
Imperial Institute, London, in February 1896: —

The question as to how yold was originally deposited in our auriferous
lodes is one to which a large amount of attention has been given, both
by mineralogists and practical miners, and which has been hotly argued
by those who held the igneous theory and those who pronounced for the

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 53

aqueous theory. It was held by the former that as gold was not'provably
existent in nature in any but its metallic form, therefore it had been
deposited in its silicious matrix while in a molten state, and many
ingenious arguments were adduced in support of this contention. Of
late, however, most scientific men, and indeed many purely empirical
inquirers (using the word empirical in its strict sense) have come to the
conclusion that though the mode in which they were composed was not
always identical, all lodes including auriferous formations were primarily
derived from mineral impregnated waters which deposited their contents
in fissures, caused either by the cooling of the earth's crust or by volcanic
agency.

The subject is one which has long had a special attraction for the
writer, who has published several articles thereon, wherein it was con-
tended that not only was gold deposited in the lodes from aqueous
solution, but that some gold found in the form of nuggets, had not been
derived from lodes, but was nascent in its alluvial bed ; and for this
proof was afforded by the fact that certain nuggets have been unearthed,
having the shape of an adjacent pebble or angular fragment of stone
indented in them. Moreover, no true nugget of any great size has ever
been found in a lode such as the Welcome 2,159 oz., or the Welcome
Stranger 2,280 oz. ; while it was accidentally discovered some years ago
that gold could be induced to deposit itself from its mineral salt to the
metallic state on any suitable base, such as iron sulphide. Following
out this fact, I have experimented with various salts of gold, and have
obtained some very remarkable results. I have found it practicable to
produce most natural-looking specimens of auriferous quartz from stone
which previously, as proved by assay, contained no gold whatever.
Moreover, the gold, which penetrates the stone in a thorough manner,
assumes some of the more usual natural forms. It is always more or less
mammillary, but at times, owing to causes which I have not yet quite
satisfied myself upon, is decidedly dendroidal, as may be seen in one of
the specimens which I have submitted to members. Moreover, I find it
possible to moderate the colour and to produce a specimen in which the
gold shall be as ruddy yellow as in the ferro-oxide gangue of Mt. Morgan,
or to tone it to the pale primrose hue of the product of the Croydon mines.

I note that the action of the bath in which the stone is treated has a
particularly disintegrating effect on many of the specimens. Some,
which before immersion were of a particular flinty texture, become in a
few weeks so friable that they could be broken up by the fingers. So far
as my experiments have extended they have proved this, that it was not
essential that the silica and gold should have been deposited at the one
time in auriferous lodes. A non-auriferous silicious solution may have
filled a fissure, and after solidifying, some volcanic disturbance may have
forced water impregnated with a gold salt through the interstices of the
lode formation, when, if the conditions were favourable, the gold would
be deposited in metallic forms. I prefer, for reasons which will probably
be understood, not to say exactly by what process my results are obtained,
but submit specimens for examination : —

54 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

1. Piece of previously non -gold -bearing stone. Locality, near

Adelaide, now showing gold freely in mammillary and den-
droidal form.

2. Stone from New South Wales, showing gold artificially intro-

duced in interstices and on face.

3. Stone from West Australia, very glassy looking, now thoroughly

impregnated with gold ; the mammillary formation being"
particularly noticeable.

4. Somewhat laminated quality from Victoria, containing a little

antimony sulphide. In this specimen the gold not only shows
on the surface, but penetrates each of the laminations as is
proved by breaking.

5. Consists of fragments of crystallised carbonate of lime from

Tarrawingee, in which the gold is deposited in spots, in
appearance like ferrous oxide, until submitted to the magni-
fying glass.
The whole subject is worthy of much more time than I can possibly
give it. The importance lies in this : That having found how the much-
desired metal may have been deposited in its matrix, the knowledge
should help to suggest how it may be economically extracted therefrom.

Secretary's Note. — If the above process were reversed, under what
conditions could it be applied for the extraction of gold?

The author would Hke to add, How are the investing pubHc
to be protected against swindlers who introduce gold into
specimens which possess no gold naturally, and pretend that
they are samples of large deposits?

The Bokkeveld beds rest conformably upon the coarse
gritty sandstones of the Table Mountain sandstone series.
They consist principally of soft micaceous deposits of various
colours, abounding in fossil trilobites and other Devonian
forms of extinct marine mollusca. Numerous Devonian fossils
occur in argillaceous .shales which rest on the Bokkeveld beds
in the second belt of mountains.

The next important stratum,* but not sej^arately shown on
the map, is chiefly made up of dolomitic limestone, consisting
of equal quantities of the carbonates of lime and magnesia,
small quantities of silica, and also bands of it in the form
of " hornstone, being interstratified with the more calcareous
rock." The rock weathers into curious irregular shapes, which
somewhat resemble the wrinkled hide of an elephant, hence
the origin of one of its names. Elephant Rock, or in Dutch

* On the authority of D. Draper.

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 55

" Oliphant Klip." In the Transvaal, where it occurs pretty
e.xtensively, its position in the ideological sequence is said to
be slightly unconformable to and immediately overlying the .
upper conglomerate bed known as the " Black Reef."

It is also the rock in which the world-famed Cango
Caves have been excavated by nature, and in which numerous
cavern.s.^ underground watercourses, and sink-holes occur.

The conspicuous band marked 6 on the geological map
belongs to the carboniferous era, and consists of a white
coarse sandstone and quartzite.

In superposition to this is the Dwyka or trap conglo-
merate, a unique formation which has puzzled geologists. It
contains " fragments derived from all the formations earlier
than itself known in South Africa, such as granite, gneiss,
quartz, jasper, porphyry, amygdaloid, limestone, schist, slate,
shale, sandstone, and trap, and of sizes varying from that of a
pin's-head to blocks several feet square, the whole being set in
an indurated, and in some instances metamorphosed, muddy
substance," which Professor Seeley says has probably been
formed from the dust of volcanic ash which has settled in
water, and set round the rock fragments, binding them to-
gether. It is now located at an average altitude of over 3,000
feet above sea-level.

The stratum is marked 7 on the map, and is the lowest of
the extensive Karoo beds, and skirts a basin 800 miles long
and 250 broad, occupying the central part of Cape Colony,
and extending northwards far beyond its borders. It has
been thought by prominent geologists that glacial action had
to do with the laying down of this formation.

The Lower Karoo beds are of great thickness, very old,
and distinctly unconformable to the Upper Karoo beds. It
has consequently been necessary to distinguish them by
different names.

The Dwyka conglomerate is " followed by a succession of
shales and sandstones of immense thickness," called " lacus-
trine " beds, which are noted for the " homogeneity of the
deposits and the fossil reptilian remains found in them."
The Lower Karoo beds are now familiarly known as the
Ecca beds, and include the Dwyka conglomerates already
referred to.

56 FARMING INDUSTRIKS (JF CAl'E COLONY.

The Karoo beds, marked 8 on the geological map, over-
lying the Ecca formation, occupy a much wider surface area
and the two together form a very large proportion of the
southern extremity of South Africa.

The hills in the Karoo area pos.sess a characteristic aspect,
being composed of alternate layers of sandstone and .shale,
which weather unequally, and consequently show on their
sides irregular horizontal bedding. All but the smaller peaks
are flat-topped, and frequently they are capped with basalt,
which has prevented the underlying horizontal strata from
being weather-worn, and carried away by the natural process
of erosion, which is so exceptionally active in South Africa
that vast tracts of country lying between those low flat-capped
hills have been denuded of successive layers of soil formed
from the decaying rocks. The general surface has in conse-
quence been greatly lowered. It has been remarked that a
flat-capped hill and a small peaked hill are frequently found
close to each other ; but it would seem that this is merely
a coincidence or matter of chance. It is also pretty widely
believed that the Karoo area was at one time the site of a
great saucer-shaped fresh-water basin, and owing to the
uniformly horizontal position of the Upper Karoo beds, and
to the absence of marine fossils in the Karoo beds generally,
that South Africa has during long epochs of later geological
time not been submerged in the sea like so many existing
dry land areas, besides areas that now form sea bottoms,
which were formerly dry land.

It is in the Karoo or Kimberley .shales that diamonds
have been found in such numbers, enclosed within volcanic
pipes filled with blue clay, which is supposed to have been at
one time boiling mud in the mouths of active geysers. G. S.
Corstorphine, Professor of Geology of the School of Mines,
Cape Town, without expressing any opinion of the popular
theory, says, " It is a .serpentine tuff, often very hard, and
consisting of sharp angular fragments of rock."

The Stormberg rocks, about i,ooo feet thick, which lie
immediately and conformably on the upper strata of the
Karoo beds, occupy a position to the north-east of the exten-
sive Karoo area. This is the only formation in which coal
has been found in Cape Colon}\ It consists of " coarse grey

OROGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 57

quartzose grits passing into a conglomerate, and alternating
with thin bands of shales and claystones, with which are inter-
calated the coal seams." Coal in South Africa has not been
grown where it is now found ; but the vegetable matter used
in its formation has been carried by rivers into great lakes, and
deposited in layers even 60 feet in thickness. In the process
of deposition it had become mixed with fine sand and mud,
which now form part of the solid mass, making the coal in-
ferior in quality, and largely increasing the proportion of ash
left after burning as compared with that of British coal. On
the top of the coal-bearing strata are sandstones, among which
is the " cave sandstone," covered with hard volcanic matter,
which forms the roofs of great caves made by the weathering
of the sandstone.

Volcanic action has been extensive in South Africa at
various remote periods of time, but the disturbances and dis-
placement of rocks have been comparatively local, and the
position of the great body of the rocks remains unaltered.
Locally, however, "vast masses of dolerite, in the form of
dykes and lateral sheets, pierced through or welled over the
stratified rocks in all directions." It is to the appearance of
this dolerite capping that the irregularity of the surface is
mainly due, its hardness interfering with the uniformity in
results of the natural process of weathering, which, had the
rocks been all like each other, would have worn away the sur-
face equally, and given it a more horizontal or slightly rounded
form. On the Stormberg range, where the mountains run up
to over 7,000 feet above sea-level, the flows of dolerite seem to
have been on a very extensive scale.

The Colony is intersected by three pretty distinct but
irregular chains of mountains, lying east and west, and mark-
ing in a rude way areas occupying different elevations, like the
steps of a stair.

The first or coast range, beginning from the east, includes
the Longkloof, the Lange-bergen, the Drakensteen, and the
Bokkeveld Mountains.

The second chain includes the Kat-berg, Winter-berg,
and Zwarte-bergen ranges.

The third and highest chain is a continuation of the great
Drakensberg range, which forms the western boundary of

58 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Natal with the Orany;c Free State and Basutoland. This
embraces the Stormbcrf^cn, the Snieuwberg, the Nieuwveld,
and the Roggeveld Mountains.

The veld lying between the first and the second chain of
mountains is generally " sweet," and the country excellent for
live stock. Where the rainfall is abundant, and even exces-
sive at certain periods, the soil is injuriously washed, and the
vegetation becomes " sour," viz., coarse and wiry, as it comes
to maturity. This condition prevails near the coast and on
the high land of the interior, which rises as a central plateau
of irregular form.

The third chain of mountains forms the main watershed
of the Colony, separating the rivers into two great divisions —
those that flow with an easterly or southerly direction into
the Indian Ocean, and those that find their way to the Atlantic
by a northerly or westerly course.

Many so-called rivers 'in the Karoo and inland parts of
the country become dry water-channels during the rainless
winter season, their courses being marked by water-worn
pebbles, and by the growth of a greater number of mimosa-trees
in those districts in which trees grow than are found on the
higher and drier land adjoining. So much is this the case
that South Africa has been rather sweepingly, and as a whole
inaccurately, described as "a country of rivers without water";
the same authority adding, " flowers without smell, and birds
without song." After heavy thunder-showers rivers in the arid
regions sometimes come down suddenly and with great force,
forming a wall of water twenty feet deep, which is a consider-
able source of danger to any living thing taken unawares in its
course. The Karoo rivers flow in a condition which may aptly
be described as muddy and brown like pea -soup. The
soil is loose and easily moved by water, and the surface,
growing only straggling bushes, which do not protect it from
erosion as a grassy sward would do, becomes water-worn and
bare.

One of the most prominent surface features of the country
as a whole is' the want of anything like a satisfactory or uni-
form covering of soil. The heights are washed bare of earth.
Only a limited portion of that removed has been deposited in
the hollows or on the plains. Even where accumulations of

LAND SURFyVCE FEATURES. 59

soil have taken place when the country lay in a state of
nature, a comparatively recent denuding action has been called
into activity, in the shape of watercourses, originally begun
by sheep and other farm animals making little pathways in
the veld. These rapidly wear into deep sluits, and even large
rivers, down which immense quantities of soil are carried by
the escaping rain-water.

A proper management of grazing veld now involves, in
the case of dry land, the stopping of watercourses as they
begin to form ; and in a humid district the making of them
by opening a furrow, which speedily deepens sufficiently,
under the action of the water, to carry off any excess of
moisture.

There is great diversity in the quality of the soil of Cape
Colony, depending on the nature of the rocks from which
they have been derived, and on the circumstances under which
they have been deposited. The best districts, , as may be
gathered from what has already been said, are mostly in the
form of pockets or small areas. In this matter, the remark
that " the country is one of samples " is in the main correct.
The most serious deficiency in the composition of the soil is
the lack of available " bone-earth " or phosphate of lime.
The defect is shown by the appearance of disease in farm
stock, due to the want of proper bone nutrition, and in the
ravenous manner in which animals devour the bones of dead
animals that lie about on the surface. This is all the more
wonderful, seeing that lime is so abundant in many of the
geological strata represented, although it is absent to quite an
exceptional extent in the Lower Silurian or Malmesbury beds,
which contain less than a half per cent., and there are quartzites,
sandstones, and shales almost destitute of lime.

iVTuch of the lime seen on or near the surface— throughout
the vast stretch of the Karoo beds, for example — is in a
peculiar amorphous condition, not unlike chalk when it occurs
in quantity. It appears as if it had been precipitated or
settled from solution, after being brought near to the top
in an ascending current of soil-water, which made its escape
by evaporation. Ample evidence of this is seen in the lime
deposited in the cracks of shattered basaltic rocks visible on
the surface in many parts of the country.

6o FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPI*: COLONY.

One of the i^rominent defects of Cape Colony is the want
of water on the surface, or within the reach of plants and
animals. As is the case in many arid countries, with heavy
periodical rains, the supply exists, but it is naturally conserved
by havin<^ a covering of the earth's crust over it to protect it
from the sun. In other words, an ample supply of water for
live stock, and for a limited area of garden cultivation by
irrigation, exists below the surface, and, fortunately for the
Colony, the supply is only a few feet down, rendering deep
boring unnecessary. As the supply is entirely dependent upon
the rain which soaks into the ground, as it were, for protection,
the supply, though it ought to be sufficient, is not unlimited,
and ought to be conserved, so that the supply of the future
may be ensured. Although water will at first rise by pressure
in some j^laces above the mouth of the borehole, the catch-
ment areas are so small that anything like a supply of
artesian water is meagre, and far from permanent.

The work undertaken by Government of sinking bore-
holes with diamond drills to moderate depths of 43 feet on
the average has been attended with most gratifying results.
In a very large majority of cases what appears to be practi-
cally an inexhaustible supply of water has been found, which
is made readily available by pumping. The Report of the
Inspector of Water Drills, presented in 1895, shows that an
aggregate of 13,480 feet were sunk during the preceding year,
at a cost of ^^^613 for diamonds, or iid. per foot. The sink-
ing of deep bores, which has in Queensland proved so suc-
cessful, if at the same time costly, is quite unnecessary in Cape
Colony, and owing to the character of the strata, it is extremely
questionable if water would be found.

Sinking to 1,570 feet in Queensland has cost on the average
about iJ"4,ooo for each bore ; but there water is not reached a
few feet from the surface, and the areas of unbroken rock
strata through which the water percolates from a higher level
are immense.

The water in Cape Colony is held back in the soil by
dolerite or trap dykes, which frequently intersect the strata,
and it is inside such an area, at a little distance from one of
these dykes, that the experienced borer commences operations.
If the dyke be cut, which was and is a very common colonial

LAND SURFACE FEATURES. 6l

practice, to get the water to flow, the height of the water-
table retained in the soil will be lowered, and if the natural
rain supply is less than the amount permitted to escape, which
would readily be the case with a limited catchment area, the
supply will shrink, and be more difficult to reach. It is for a
similar reason that the flow from an artesian well, if of local
character, often becomes weaker as time goes on.

Dr Hutcheon, the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, has strongly
advocated the use of well-water for stock rather than surface
dam water, on account of the latter becoming filthy with the
droppings of the animals allowed to walk into and stand in it,
and also owing to such places becoming favourable breeding-
grounds for internal animal parasites. The great difficulty is
the application of the power for pumping, a large number-of
farmers declaring that " unless water will flow, a well is of no
use."

Although wind power has been on the whole a failure in
South Africa, it must not be taken for granted that ultimate
success cannot be achieved by it. There existed difficulties
peculiar to the country, in the form of high winds and the
unreliable nature of black labour, which under the circum-
stances were sufficient to account for the result, but neither of
these are unsurmountable or permanent difficulties.

Hig"h winds exist in California, where air-motors have been
successfully used for years, and certain forms of the most
recent steel mills are so strong, and require so very little
attention, that there are few places where a white man cannot
be found free to devote all the time required to keep a motor
at work. To raise' pure water for stock, for domestic use,
and for irrigation purposes on a small scale, from the vast
number of wells which now tap the great subterranean
water supply of Cape Colony, or will be bored in the imme-
diate future, a cheap and simple power will be required,
and this may be found in certain forms of wind-motors.
Annular steel mills, with the vanes rigidly fastened to an
iron framework, are infinitely superior to those combina-
tions of wood and iron, which collapsed somewhat after the
fashion of a large umbrella, and were frequently going out of
order. They had the extent of the area exposed to the wind
reeulatcd b\- the movement of the individual vanes rather

62 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Tr<E Chicago Aermotok (i6 feet) Pumping Water on a Fixed Steei, Tiavek (sp feet>_
See also Appendix D.

LAND SURFACE FEATURES.

than by the entire wheel turning automatically under the in-
fluence of the rudcler-vane to face the wind, or to meet it at an
angle according to the strength of the air current impinging
upon it. The Chicago " Aermotor," illustrated in the accom-
panying figure, is an excellent typical example of the class of
improved mill referred to.

The Rollason Wind-Motor* involves an entirely different
principle, but one which appears to be admirably suited to
South African conditions. A Rollason motor, 12 feet in
diameter, has been for some time in use at Gravesend, draining
the rifle butts, under the care of the War Department (Royal
Engineers), and doing excellent work by driving a 4-inch
double-barrel force pump, which lifts the water from a re-
servoir, and forces it through 300 feet of 2-inch pipe in the
process of discharging it into the sea.

Sizes and Capacities of the Mill. — Wind Velocity it Miles

AN Hour.

Height of Lift

Approximate Amoinit

Diameter of Motor.

Size of Pump.

Suction and

Gallons per Hour.

Delivery.

8" Stroke, 25 Rev.

8 feet X 5 feet high . .

2" s.

80 feet

125 gallons.

10 „ „

3lS.

100 ,,

■ 280 „

'2 „ „

4 s.

150 „

340

15 .,

21" D.

•50 „

400 „

17 „

3;; ^^•

•50 „

570 „

20 „ „

4"D.

150 »

1,050

23 ,>

4h"D.

150 „

1,350 „

25 „

5;;^-

150 „

1,700 „

27 „

6 D.

•50 „

2,450

30 „

5"T.

150 „

2,750 „

34 „

6"T.

'50 „

3,760

40 „

9"T.

150 „

7,800 „

S. — Sinole Action.

D.— Double.

T.— Treble.

" If the total amount of lift be reduced, then a larger pump can be
used, and more water obtained in proportion. For instance, a lo feet
motor, delivering water 50 feet high, would give 560 gallons per hour ; if to
be forced higher, then a smaller pump is employed. All sizes can be fitted
with automatic arrangements for stopping the pumps (when tanks arc
full), and re-starting them."

* Address of Company, 13 Berners Street, London, W.

I'-ARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Sectional Elevation of a i2-feet diameter Rollason Wind-Motok.

The revolving sails of this motor are placed horizontally, and erected
on a tower within a skeleton turret (a). From the top to the bottom of
the centre of the turret is a vertical steel shaft or axis (b) having five
concave sails (c) attached, which revolve on radius rollers (d) immersed
in oil. On these sails are fixed a number of inclined ridges or planes (k),
which deflect the force exerted by the wind to their peripheries. Between
the sails and the shaft is a considerable open space (f) which allows the

Plate 21. — A Roi.lason Wind-Motor. Face fage ts,.

LAND SURFACE FEATURES. 6$

It has been suggested that a diamond drill for deep levels
of i,ooo to 1,500 feet should be associated with the Geological
Survey just beginning, and a bore sunk every hundred miles
along a line drawn through the centre of the Colony ; the
object being to settle the questions relating to minerals and
water, as well as to the geological strata underneath, at one
and the same time. That a drill to tackle such difficulties as
the geological surface -indications cannot explain may ulti-
mately be useful, no one will deny, but the operation is expen-
sive, and should not be resorted to until a complete geological
survey of the surface rocks has been made and tabulated, and
until it is seen what can be absolutely determined by naked-
eye observation.

A curious feature of the Colony is the occurrence at
widely distant centres of warm springs, sometimes of pure
unmcdicinal water, and at other times water heavily charged
with salts of iron and other soluble salts. On the hillside a
little way above Caledon village, a spring registering 120° F.
issues from a local formation largely comj)osed of iron, which
has been precipitated probably through ages from the water.
About ten miles from Worcester, across the Breede River, is
a large spring and pool of pure water, so hot that dogs which

wind to actuate three sails out of the five, at the same time. Outside the
sails is a screen (g), supported by six radial or cross arms (h), bolted to a
centre bearing (l) which is free to rotate independently of the sails. From
the top of this screen is a second vertical shaft (k) continued through the
apex of the turret, and to this is fixed the vane (l), so that when the
direction of the wind changes it moves the screen (g) by the arms (o) into
the correct position for the concave sides only of the sails to catch the
wind. On the top of the sail shaft is a cup (m) containing oil, within
which the shaft (k) rotates. The weight of the vane shaft is carried on
the roller bearing (n). The whole weight of the sails and framing-
supporting the screen is carried on the centre bearing at the bottom of
the turret and top of tower, Avhich thus gives to the working part of the
motor the desired balance and staljility.

There are only four working parts in the motor, three of which move
only as the wind changes. The whole of the weight is balanced on the
one main working bearing, which rotates on rollers immersed in oil, which
may be supplied in sufficient amount to last for several months (thus
reducing friction to a minimum), and fitted with covers for protection
against dust and rain. The simplicity of construction makes it unlikely
to get out of order, and it can be left without attention for lengthened
periods. It can work cither in a gale or a light breeze.

]■:

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY

have unwittingly entered it have become immediately over-
powered by the shock to the nervous system, and drowned.
Both of these are natural wells that have been in existence for
a very long time ; but the hot spring, with a temperature of
TOO" F., already mentioned as occurring near Burghersdorp,
issued from a 6-inch Government bore-hole, 70 feet deep.
The well at Newlands, near Kimberley, had a pretty uniform
temperature of 72° F. ; and that at Braam Spruit, near Aliw^al
North, ranges between 58" F. and 62° F.

A considerable number of brak or saline springs occur in
different parts of the Colony. The water they discharge is
unsuitable for irrigation, although stock often drink it in pre-
ference to pure water. A series of these springs occurs in a
line from the Fish River to Koonap. The most curious fact
relating to them is that they run most strongly during times
of drought, and are weakest after heavy thunder rains, — a
phenomenon which has not yet been satisfactorily explained.

The so-called white ants, Termites, exist in large numbers
throughout nearly the whole of Southern Africa, and exercise
a considerable influence upon the land surface features of the
continent. Of many species, three or four are well known and
easily distinguished by the differences in the form of their

Form of Ant-Hill so commonly seen in Cape Colony.

hills. The species which is widely distributed through Cape
Colony,- Natal, the Free State, and the Transvaal, is Ternies
viator, which constructs rounded shapely hills or heaps, like
gigantic molehills, about 2 to 3 feet high, which stud the
plains like so many cocks in a ha)' meadow. The hills are

LAND SURFACE FEATURES.

hard exteriorly, and difficult to break down. Inside they are
honeycombed with many channels and cells for the accommo-
dation of the numerous colonies of inmates.

Farther north than the area referred to, T. atrox and T.
inordax build cylindrical pillars not quite 3 feet high, furnished
with a projecting roof or head shaped like that of a young
mushroom. In these parts also T. bellicosiis, named by

^. From Brockliaus Konversations-Lexikon, 1895.

1. Tertiics dims — Male, from above, {a.) Do., side view; (A) Do., head ; (c.) Worker;
((/.) Do., front view ; {c.) Soldier ; {/.) Do., front view.

2. Tcrmes bellicosus — Worker. (.^.) Nymph. 3. Female of Teriiics rc^hta.

Fabricius fatalis, forms hills of gigantic size — many being lo
and 12 feet, and some even 20 feet in height, or as large as a
good-sized Kaffir hut. They are more conical and peaked
than the ant-heaps of Cape Colony, and furnished with conical
turrets on their sides.

Ant-hills are made of earth, cemented together by termite
excrement and by secretions from glands existing in the insect

FARMIN(; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

for the purpose. The accompanying figures illustrate a
number of the more common forms the insect assumes. The
wings are used only to enable the surplus members of the
community to swarm off like bees, and are very easily and
simply shed after a single flight. The true ant is cased in
close-fitting and well-jointed armour, whereas the external
skeleton in the termites is very imperfectly developed. Young
and adult termites alike are naturally soft and "thin-skinned."
They are of a peculiar white colour, and look as if they
were gorged with milk. They are greedily sought after and
devoured by the hymenopterous ants, by birds when they

The Cape Ant-Eateh, Orvcteropus capensis, Geof.

From Cassclts Natural History.

are swarming, and by a large ungainly looking quadruped
with a long snout, called the ant-eater or "aard-vark." As
human|food they are said by those who have had experience
of it to be " delicious and delicate eating."

The plan of their domestic economy is akin to that of the
honey bee. A termite community possesses its king and
queen, and becomes thoroughly demoralised should the. royal
pair die without there being " certain ' complementary ' indi-
viduals in such a state of advancement as admits of rapid
development into royalties." Superfluous individuals swarm

LAND SURFACE FEATURES. 69

off on the wing with the object of establishing new colonies in
other places. These places do not include the higher mountain
ranges, where rainfall is more abundant than on the plains.

The work t)f ants in the direction of soil-making is
similar to that of earthworms, which are in their element
where rainfall is abundant enough to moisten the soil suf-
ficiently to enable them to do their work. Reference has
already been made to them at pages 43 and 46. The wash-
ings from old ant-heaps make the grass round their bases
sweet, so that stock eat it more closely than the surround-
ing veld. When an ant-heap is broken clown in a young
plantation the trees grow stronger and more quickly on the
soil which has been top-dressed by the debris, but on land
under cultivation the benefit derived is usually only noticeable
for one year. When the earthy matter composing the hill is
broken down into fine powder and mixed with ox blood, it
makes an excellent material with which to plaster native
floors. The heaps, owing to their dryness and the large pro-
portion of organic matter composing them, together with
c^uantities of dry grass frustules collected in some of the
galleries, burn readily. The old transport riders (or ox-waggon
drivers) used to set one on fire and bake bread in the centre
of it. Up-country ant-heaps are still employed for cooking
purposes. (See pages 49 and 66, also Appendix B.)

Drift sands occur on the Cape Flats, and at certain places
along the south coast of Cape Colony, but most conspicuously
and extensively on the peninsular area to the west of Port
Elizabeth. The position is shown in the accompan}'ing
plan.* Drift sands occur when very fine sand lacking co-
hesion is cast up on the shore, and dried and blown inland by
strong winds. If in considerable quantity, it steadily advances
inland, being supported by fresh storms of sand blowing on
behind, and in its course covers up fertile soil and ordinary
vegetation, and in time a sandy wilderness is produced, the
surface of which changes so frequently and to such an extent
under the influence of strong winds, that vegetation cannot

* Copied from a plan presented by J. S. Lister, Conservator of
Forests, Midland Districts, along with a Report on the Drift Sands,
submitted to the Harbour Board of Port Elizabeth in September 1890.

yo FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

rcatlily establish itself. Drift sand is a danger to property of
all kinds located near it — railways, houses, and in the im-
portant instance under consideration, even the city and
harbour of Port Elizabeth.

The area in question extends to upwards of 22 square
miles (nearly 2i x 10 miles), or 14,500 acres. The surface has
assumed a wavelike appearance, owing to the sand forming
in elongated irregular mounds or dunes at right angles more
or less to the direction of the prevailing wind, the bottoms of
the intervening spaces or valleys being stony beds on which
no sand rests. The ridges run nearly north and south, the
wind and the moving sand coming from a point south of
west. The object in view is not only to fix the sand on the
ridges, which extend to about two-thirds of the total area, but
to turn it to profitable account by growing trees.

Extensive work in this direction has been carried out on
the west coast of France between Bayonne and the mouth
of the Gironde, where towards the end of last century an area
of 300 square miles of country was rendered worthless by
the presence of shifting sand. There the sands have been
fixed, and successful forests of the cluster or maritime pine,
Pinus pinaster, Sol, established. The necessary preliminary or
temporary fixing was done by broom, SarotJianimis scopariiis,
Wimm., Spartiiun scopariuni, L., which grows rapidly and forms
a suitable nurse for the young pines. Sea marram (Gourbet),
Animophila arimdhiacea, Host., a reed-like grass, was also
planted to bind the Dune Littorale or barrier erected to
prevent the ingress of fresh supplies of sand from the
shore.*

Assistance was sought from the published accounts of
these and similar works carried out in Australia and New
Zealand, where sands have been successfully fixed by planting
marram grass, or AniviopJiila, but pines, excepting the Aleppo
pine, P. Hakpensis, have failed, and a more effective and
better method of accomplishing the temporary fixing has
been adopted.

In 1876, 4,000 tons of street sweepings and refuse were

* Sand Lyme grass, Elymns arenarius, has been extensively used for
a similar purpose in Holland, and also on the Norfolk coast.

72 Fy\RMING INDUSTRIES OF CAl'K COLONY.

spread over 80 acres of drift sand on the Cape Flats, and it
was clearly demonstrated that no better method than the
utilisation of town manure could be adopted for the pre-
liminary stafje of the operation.

The Port Elizabeth sands are now under the supervision
of T. B. B. Hare, District Forest Officer in the Eastern
Conservancy. The work was taken over by the Forest
Department from the Pl^arbour Board about two years ago.
Forty tons of city refuse are delivered daily by rail, for which
the Forest Department has to pay 3s. gd. per truck of 4 tons
for haulage. This is distributed over the land by means of
a light portable railway, each train of three or four trucks
being drawn by a team of four mules and worked by con-
victs, for whom the convict branch of the Colonial Office
receives from the Forest Department the sum of is. per day.
Eleven mules and fifty convicts are employed to do the work
of hauling and spreading, and the area covered daily is i-|
acres.

The work might proceed more rapidly but for the extra-
ordinary action, or probably more accurately inaction, of the
municipal authorities of Port Elizabeth, who permit an
additional 20 tons (estimated) of garbage to be deposited
at two centres (Brickmakers' and Coopers' Kloofs) within the
city, there to form sources of danger to the health of the
community. Not only do such putrid heaps of decaying filth
pollute the atmosphere by giving off pestilential effluvia, but
the soakage of the moisture escaping below, on a slope like
that at Port PLlizabeth, poisons both water and soil at a lower
level for considerable distances.

The work has been begun at the eastern end, and the area
reclaimed is steadily extending westward against the wind.
To have begun in the west at Governor's Kop, where the sand
came in from the sea (until it was stopped by a wattle barrier,
gradually raised till it is now 30 feet high), would have
been impossible, owing to the sand covering the railway, and
the removal of the injury to the harbour would have been
delayed for a number of years. Lister calculated that it would
take sixteen years to comi)lete the work, and that the capital
outlay would amount to ^^^56,400 sterling, which would ulti-
mately be recovered mainly by the sale of forest products.

LAND SURFACE FEATURES. 73

Experience has shown that the time required will be longer,
and the amount of outlay probably considerably less.

The system of working" is extremely sim[jle. A mixture
of suitable seeds of trees is sown broadcast, after being put
into boiling water and allowed to stand for forty-eight hours
during winter or three or four hours during summer, to
encourage germination, and the refuse is spread over it to a
depth of about half an inch (see the accompanying plate).
The sowing of grass seeds and of common rye has been
discontinued, as they tended to choke the young trees, and it
was found that enough oats in the horse manure in the refuse
grew to accomplish the object aimed at. The rush-triticum,
TriticiLvi juncetim, Linn., grows well near the gulch at high-
water mark, but neither this, the French marram grass, nor
pype grass, Erharta gigantca, are now sown.

The trees which have given the best results so far are the
broad-leaved wattle, Acacia pycnantha, Benth.; the Port Jackson
\v^X.\\q., A. saligna, Benth.; the pseudo or mock q.cb.c\3., Robiin'a
pseudoacacia ; and the tamarisk, Tainarix gallica, L., the latter
growing very well from cuttings.

Brushwood is laid on the surface at exposed places, the
stems towards the prevailing wind. It is also stuck up on end
like a fence, with openings left so that the sand passes through
and lodges on the other side.

Some of the older inhabitants in Port Elizabeth remember
when there was no drift sand at the place where the reclama-
tion work is going on, and a hundred years ago the whole
area was a dense bush. The sand area, which began in the
west, spread eastward owing to the bakers and lime-burners,
soon after the middle of this century, cutting the bush for
firewood, and leaving the surface unprotected.

CHAPTER IV. -

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES.

Main Particulars for which the Cape is Conspicuous — Four Distinct
Floral Regions: (i) The South-Western, (2) The Semi-Tropical,
(3) The Karoo, (4) The Kalahari — Diversity of Vegetation — Rela-
tionship of the Cape and the Australian Floras — Botanical Winter
at the Cape — Devices by which Plants Resist Drought — Conspicuous
Orders of Plants — Aromatic Character of Karoo Bushes — Rhenoster
Bush — Sweet and Sour Veld — Silage — Tendency of Soil to Wash
Away — Irrigating the Veld with Summer Flood Waters, and its
Results — MacOvvan on Stock-Food Plants — Petttsui — Diplopappits —
Sclago — Salt Bushes — Spek-boom — Prickly Pear ^ Aloes — Agave
or American Aloe — The Harpuis Plant — More Worthless and
Poisonous Plants — Preservation and Restoration of the Veld.

There are {qw regions of the globe which can be pointed
to as providing such a wide and varied field of interest to the
student of science as South Africa. The hidden treasures,
geological and mineral, are vast and various, and the surface
features present a wealth of variety which is quite unique.
The flora of Cape Colony, with the exception of the tropical
division, is to the ordinary observer conspicuous in at least
four main particulars — its deficiency in trees ; its want of
luxuriance in growth ; the dull and sombre shade of the
foliage ; and the brilliancy and diversity of successive crops
of flowers of numerous species. The wonderful variety re-
presented in the flora is due to an aggregation of a number
of novel and interesting circumstances. (i.) It is believed
that Cape Colony has fallen heir to representatives of the
floras of two or possibly three great epochs in the world's
botanical history. When most other parts of the earth's crust
have been submerged in the great process of sedimentary rock
formation, since the upheavals which followed the Devonian
geological age, when the sandstones of Table Mountain were
formed into solid rock, for some reason which has not vet been

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 75

revealed, South Africa has been saved, and the flora with it.
(2.) There is great diversity in the character of the soil, and
this is made still more conspicuous by marked differences in
elevation above the sea. (3.) The climate also varies to such
an extent that it is impossible to consider the flora of Cape
Colony as a whole. It has been found necessary to divide
the country into at least four areas, which differ so much from
one another that they require to be considered separately.*

(i.) The South- Western Region, forming a belt averag-
ing about fifty miles wide, extending round the elbow of the
west and south coasts, from Olifants River to within a (ew
miles of Port Elizabeth, is a comparatively low-lying country,
which is more or less irregularly and unequally supplied by
winter rains, — a privilege denied to the greater part of the
Colony.

(2.) The Tropical or Semi-Tropical Region is a spur or
continuation of land growing vegetation similar to that in
the area of the tropics of the geographer, which extends in
a belt of nearly twice the breadth of the western region from
the Natal border to Port Elizabeth. Its inland boundary
is a chain of high mountains, rising from 5,000 to 10,000
feet in height, from the base of which the country slopes
gradually to the sea. The surplus of the rainfall of about
twenty-six inches is drained off by numerous rivers, which
develop at times (during summer, when the rain mostly
falls) into torrents which have cut for themselves deep
channels, and given the surface a broken appearance. The
vegetation there possesses more of the shade of green familiar
to Europe than the other parts of the Colony. The surface
of the ground is divided between grassy downs and bush,
which varies much in size and density in different parts.

(3.) The Karoo Region forms the central area of Cape
Colony, being shut in from the sea by the two belts already
mentioned, with the exception of the west coast from the
Olifants River to the Orange River. The elevation is much

* For admirable accounts of the botanical position of the country, see
a chapter on "The Flora of South Africa," by H. Bohis, in the Official
Handbook of Cape Colony, and a pamphlet on " The Cape Flora as it
strikes a Stranger," by P. MacOvvan, to both of which the author
acknowledges indebtedness.

76 FARMIN(; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

higher than the coast country. The northern portion, which is
sometimes separately classed as the Region of Composites, lies
to the north of the second great chain of mountains, and at an
elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. It drains
towards the north, in virtue of a gradual slope towards the
Orange River. The predominating and constantly prevailing
aspect of the country is that of a heathy tract, or dry elevated
moorland, covered with small shrublets of a dull-green hue,
the few intervening plants of different growth which occur
being too small or too few to alter or modify the general
appearance. The Karoo country is dependent exclusively
upon summer rains, which are so light that only plants
possessing special adaptability to semi-desert conditions can
survive the annual period of drought.

(4.) The Kalahari Region lies mostly to the north of the
Colony, and extends in that direction till it reaches the tropics.
Its central southern border runs considerably to the south of
the Orange River, until the meridian of longitude on which
Kimberley stands is reached. There it recedes to the north
of the river. The surface of the soil is mostly sandy, and
surface water is extremely scarce. The rainfall is confined to
summer showers, and is not so inconsiderable as the want of
water on the surface would indicate. The nature of the soil
permits of the rain sinking in rather than running off, as it
does in the Karoo, where the surface becomes baked and
hard. The Kalahari is essentially a grass country, interspersed
with isolated shrubs or trees. Thick bushes, and even dense
forests, lie to the north. The south consists of open plains.
Grass does not grow into a close mat as in Great Britain, but
in tufts, leaving bare spaces between, "twa-gras," a species of
Aristida, being the most common.

The wonderful diversity of conditions which are to be
found in these various divisions throughout the year leads to
the maintenance of a unique diversity of vegetable forms.
Of the 200 natural orders into which, following Bentham and
Hooker, the plants of the w^orld have been divided, 142 are
represented in South Africa ; while Australia, which is five
times the area of extra-tropical South Africa, has only ten
additional orders, or 152 in. all. The number of endemic
genera in South Africa is 446, while in Australia there are 520.

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. yj

^ The distant relationship of the flora of the south-western
region of Cape Colony to that of South-Western Austraha is
very striking, the natural orders being very much the same.
There are, however, very few identical genera in the floras of
the two countries, and no identical species. Sir Joseph Hooker
accounted for this rather surprising state of matters, seeing
the climatic and other conditions of the two continents have
so much in common, by conjecturing that at some very remote
time Australia and South Africa belonged to a great Southern
or Antarctic Continent, the central part of which has become
submerged — a time so vast that most of the genera, and all
of the species, have become materially modified, although
they may yet be classed under natural orders common to the
two countries. The adaptability of the indigenous flora to
South African conditions may be illustrated by the slow
progress which has been made by about 200 species of plants
belonging to foreign vegetation, which have been introduced.
Most lurk by roadsides, or near human habitations. Few
are found in the open country, or making headway against
the indigenous flora. The prickly pear, Opiintm, is a striking
exception to this general rule.

It is natural for plants as well as animals to have periods
of activity and periods of quiescence or rest. In cold localities
the period of rest is winter, when of the requisites for plant
growth a sufficient degree of warmth is not obtainable. The
South African botanical winter is not due to cold, but to
deficiency of moisture. In the south-western district the
period of rest is during the droughts of November till May —
a time of great heat and brilliant sunshine, which, if associated
with humidity, would produce a most luxuriant tropical
vegetation. In the drier districts the period of rest is longer,
and conforms more to what we Europeans regard as the
natural order of things, owing to the absence of winter rains.
The rainfall is so deficient and uncertain, as a whole, that
vegetation has developed various means by which long
periods of dry and scorching weather may be endured without
serious consequences, and provided resources which can be
drawn upon at the shortest notice, to enable the plant to fulfil
its procreative functions during a brief period of prosperity.
One means of self-preservation is by restricting the expansion

78 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

of tlie foliage. This applies to the great majority of Australian
and Cape plants. The leaves of some genera are merely green
needles, with a hard cuticle almost incapable of exhalation ;
others, including the heaths, have each leaf rolled backwards
upon itself, so that it becomes cylindrical, and protects the
stomata or breathing pores.

Another great family, the Mesevibriacca, including much
of the succulent flora of the Karoo, accomplish a similar object
by developing" fleshy leaves, an admirable provision of Nature
in the interests of herbivorous animals, which not only find in
these attractive and nourishing food, but in some of them a
sufficient amount of juice to enable them to exist without
water in regions in w'hich it is impossible to procure it.
Others, again, lay up stores of plant food and moisture in the
form of bulblets, callosities or enlargements, great and small,
on their fibrous roots. The numerous species of Oxalidcs are
good representatives of this class, the store of nourishment
laid up in this way from the accumulations of the previous
season making the plant independent of everything but the
early winter rains, which are necessary merely to soften the
surface soil. It is in virtue of those devices of Nature, by which
the scarcity of one year or season is supplied from the bounty
of the preceding one, that the desert aspect which the Colony
periodically assumes is almost like magic changed into that of
a flower garden within a comparatively short time.

The numerous species of bulbous plants contribute largely
to the condition of things just referred to, AinaryllidecE and
Irideci; particularly, Babimia, Monvcc, Ixue, Gladioli, and among
LiliaceiB the LachenalicB and Oniitliogala being liberally re-
presented. Some bulbs grow to an enormous size, that of
Brunsvigia JosephiJKr, Jacq., weighing 15 lbs. to 18 lbs.

For fifty years, embracing the end of the last and the
beginning of this century, there was a rage in Europe for
Cape bulbs and Cape plants of many species — pelargoniums,
heaths, proteas, &c. Subsequently came the horticultural
fashion of palm and orchid culture. The hot moist atmo-
sphere of the tropical conservatory was incompatible with the
life-conditions of the temperate Cape flora, and b}' degrees
the old - fashioned " Cape house," with its proteas, heaths,
diosmas, oxalises, and irids, disappeared. The rising school

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 79

of gardeners demanded something tropically gorgeous, and a
thermometer up to 80°. By this freak of fashion hundreds of
lovely Cape plants became lost to European gardens. It is
only within the last eighteen or twenty years, mainly by the
collecting efforts of the staff of the Cape Town Botanic
Garden, that the Cape bulbs and plants have come again
into notice and culture, and have gained part of their former
popularity through their reappearance at Kew, and the estab-
lishments of Max Leichtlin of Baden, Krelage of Haarlem,
and De Graaf at Leyden.

Of the gay plants not yet mentioned, the numerous species
of terrestrial orchids take a foremost place in the gorges of
the western mountains. Conspicuous among these is the
Disa grandifiora, the finest representative of the genus in the
southern hemisphere. Among the various species, the most
delicate shades of blue, brilliant orange, golden yellow, and
white are liberally represented. The so-called "arum lily,"
Richardia africana, with its pure white bugle-shaped s[)athc,
is the most conspicuous adornment of low-lying moist land.
And on the slopes of the poor sandy mountain-sides, near
Sir Lowry's Pass, the showy white everlasting flower,
HelicJirysum vcstituvi, with narrow velvety leaxcs, decorates
the landscape, in its season, as if a shower of snow had fallen.
As much as 200,000 lbs. weight of dry flower-heads has been
sent from Caledon district in one season. In 1895 the price was
9d., and the year before is. 6d. per lb., but it has dropped as
low as 4id. The flower-heads are collected by children, and
all sorts of frail and needy people, from September till the end
of December, and about 2,000 flowers go to the pound weight
of the product ready for market. They are used largely
for church decorations and immortelle wreaths. In Russia
they are much patronised by the Greek Church. The great
European markets are London and Hamburg, from \\hich
they are distributed to all parts of the Continent.

Following soon after tlie appearance of the bulbous plants
comes an endless variety of heaths, but mostly confined to
the south-western district of the Colony. " Of 784 Ericacccc
described by Bentham in the Prodromus, 455 belong to the
Cape," but "only about half-a-dozen representatives are found
east of the meridian of Port Elizabeth." In a few localities,

8o FARMINO INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

" on isolated mountain tops," nearly up, to the tropics, lingering
species of heath may be found in the central upland plateau.
Proteaceae exist in three types — a large and a small type of
those which exhibit the characteristics which are generally
associated with the name of Protea ; and a third, in which
the famous silver tree, Leiicadendroii argc/itcinn, of the Cape
peninsula appears.

A peculiarity of the South African flora is the large
number of the slower-growing trees and bushes which are
protected by numerous hard sharp thorns. If not protected
by some means, they would be seriously injured by the animals
living too freely upon them during times of scarcity. Other
means of protection are employed in rare instances. A wild
variety of the water-melon, Citrnllus vulgaris, Schrad., seen
lying about on the veld is quite safe from extinction, owing to
being intensely bitter. There is, however, another variety,
indistinguishable in appearance, but with perfectly tasteless
pulp, found abundantly in the northern Karoo, and through-
out the Kalihari. Without its service, that waterless tract
would be for part of the year quite impassable for a waggon-
span. The oxen eat the watery pulp, and sufficiently quench
their thirst.

Most of the valuable Karoo bushes give off a sweet
aromatic perfume when bruised between the fingers, and the
flavour appears to be agreeable to the palates of herbivorous
animals. The mild degree of bitterness which characterises
the extractive matter of some plants is rather appreciated
than objected to by them. The plants which animals neglect
are deficient in these characteristics.

The most conspicuous worthless plant of the " Boschjes-
veld " (bush country), which has been called the curse of the
Western Province, is the rhenoster {r/iinoccros) bush, Elytro-
pappiis rliinoccrotis, Less. The soils on which it flourishes are
not the richest, although its growth is considered to be an
indication that the soil is suitable for cropping with grain in
such districts as the Ruggens of Caledon and Bredasdorp.
It does not take kindly to the rich vine soils, such as the
Constantia red soils or the soils of the foot-hills about
Worcester, Montague, and Robertson, where salt bushes begin
to appear. There the melk-bosch (milkbush). Euphorbia^

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 8 1

takes its place, and 'occupies the surface that would probably
otherwise be vacant. Alont^ with it, growing freely in the
veld, is associated the boter-bosch, Cotyledon fascicularis. Ait.,
with a thickish and bright-green leaf, and a stalk like a large
geranium. Animals, and also Hottentots, draw a portion of
their food supply from it.

The rhenoster bush has spread more widely and more
quickly than e.xotic plants generally do, on account of its
having been carried through the Colony by the brandy dis-
tilling Boers of old time, who used it as dunnage in packing
the casks on their waggons. The Government was at one
time urged to bring in legislation to eradicate it. This would
have proved an impossible task had it been tried, as the plant
seeds freely, and, as is the case of many other weedy j^lants,
much of the seed remains in the ground in a dormant state
for years. Its presence is not an unmixed evil. Where it
supplants valuable fodder-plants it is most objectionable, but
where it occupies a surface which would otherwise be bare it
is productive of good. It prevents the washing and blowing
away of loose surface soil ; it gives shade and shelter to
grasses and other useful minor plants, while all the time it is
adding to the accumulation of valuable plant residue in the
soil. Important points in its favour when regarded as a weed
in cultivated land are that it is extremely easily uprooted
when the ground is first ploughed, and it gives no further
trouble during the period that the land is in crop.

The veld is familiarly classified into sweet (zoet) or good
veld, sour Tzuur) or poor veld, and half and half (gebroken)
veld, occupying an intermediate position in the matter of
quality. To a stranger it is a little difficult at first to realise
what guides an observer in classifying a given area. These
terms refer to the nature and quality of the natural plant
growth, with which probably the climate has something to do,
excessive heat and want of moisture hastening the develop-
ment into indigestible woody fibres of tissues which under
favourable circumstances would have remained longer suc-
culent. On deep rich alluvial soils, or on land of good quality,
generally " good veld " predominates, and food plants are suc-
culent and palatable. Plant growth is inferior on thin or poor
soil — defective in some essential plant-ash constituent, particu-

82 FARMING TNI )U.STKII';S OF CAPE COLONY.

larly bonc-carth (phosphate of limcj, which is very generally
deficient in the soils of the Cape Colony. The heaths, for
example, which, unlike the common heather, Calluna vulgaris,
of the Scottish Highlands, are of no value as food, are charac-
teristic of sour veld. The quantity is not deficient, but, on the
contrary, rank in many parts. Grass grows woody, long, and
straggling, and is unattractive to stock. There is a want of the
close, dense mat which is characteristic of good British pasture.
Apart from its naked-eye aspect, sour veld betrays itself by the
influence it exerts upon live stock. Animals brought from
sweet veld suffer from what is termed veld sickness, which
results from insufficient nutrition and the hard and irritating
nature of the food consumed. Animals reared on sour veld
thrive after a fashion, but are liable to suffer from what is
known as lam-ziekte (lame-sickness), which results from the
want of enough lime-phosphate in their food to make their
bones strong and healthy. They lie down, and cannot be
induced to rise. They may be kept alive for weeks if food be
brought to them. It is unfortunate that a widespread impres-
sion prevails that lam-ziekte is produced by some poisonous
plant, at the identity of which many wild guesses are made.
Where the food is very coarse and inferior, the incisor teeth
wear quickly, and not onl)- do they become short, but the spaces
between them widen and they become pointed. At certain
seasons, too, they loosen, and the animals cannot feed
properly. The worst of the sour grass veld, situated within a
range of about forty miles from the coast, is regularly burnt
off to clear the surface of the remains of the previous year's
growth before the spring grass appears, and sheep farmers
say it would be impossible to keep sheep if the pasture were
not treated in this w^ay. It may be perfectly true that burn-
ing improves the quality of the early grass, but it is certain
at the same time to encourage the growth of woody, in-
ferior foliage towards the end of the season and to aggravate
the condition which it was expected to remedy. Over a con-
siderable area, at least, a more profitable and at the same
time more satisfactory way of disposing of the excess of
vegetable growth of one year before the next begins to
spring, would be to make it into silage. It ought to be
cut while green, before it becomes woody, and put into good

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 83

large circular stacks, twenty feet in diameter, the building
being carried on for a number of days to permit of the stack
settling down after a temperature of about 130° F. has been
reached, so that sweet and not sour silage may be the result-
ing product. With a stack of this size the material itself does
the work of weighting for all but the top layer, and a few
stones thrown on without planking are sufficient to prevent
serious loss. When small quantities are to be preserved, it is
necessary to sink a pit or silo in the ground. If possible it
should be on a steep bank, so that the green material may be
carted to the top of the upper wall and tipped over without
being lifted, as is necessary when a stack is made. The
natural descent of the ground permits of the silage being
removed by an opening in the opposite wall, and of being
carried away also without requiring to be raised the height of
the wall. When silos are only twelve feet in diameter, and of
similar depth (the minimum size a silo should be made under
any circumstances), even although the sides be made per-
pendicular and smooth, and the material be rammed well
at the edges and trodden as completely as possible, it is
necessary to weight the top to the extent of 100 lbs. per
square foot of surface to prevent moulding and decay.

Sour veld, such as is seen in the Maclear district, is im-
proved by the trampling" of stock and by close grazing,
results which follow fencing into moderate-sized camps. The
trampling is similar to but not so effective as the influence which
would be exercised by cutting at the proper season for the
making of silage. Silage, given in moderate quantities (40
lbs. to 50 lbs. a day to a horse or an ox), is a safe and palatable
food for all classes of farm animals, and being of a succulent
nature, it is of special value during periods of drought, par-
ticularly to she-goats, ewes, and cows giving milk. It has a
decided pull over roots and the common green forage crops,
in that it will remain good for a number of years if not wanted,
and frost cannot injure it. It must not be supposed that by
being made into silage inferior grass is improved in quality,
for that is not so. Though animals decline to eat the coar.se
grass when old and woody on such land as we are now con-
sidering, they would be only too pleased to find it in an earlier
and softer green stage during the months fo winter scarcity.

84 FARM1N(J INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

One of the li^reat defects of the vegetation of Cape Colony
is that it does not fully occupy the surface of the soil with a
close and dense cover, — a condition so familiar to every one in
Great Britain. Even in the districts where grass grows it is
found in tufts with intervening spaces of bare soil. This un-
covered and unprotected condition permits the washing away
of the surface soil, and is largely responsible for the unusual
nakedness, so to say, of the rocks of South Africa. The
periodical burning of grass and bush rather aggravates the
consecjuences of the wasteful process of denudation. Sheep,
goats, and cattle following each other in line as they do, make
roads through the veld which, under the potent influence of
heavy thunder rain, soon wear into drains and finally into sluits,
and even large river beds (page 59). This ultimately leads to
the loss of the finest portions of the soil carried off by the rivers,
which assume the colour of pea soup. The land so affected
tends to become too dry, not only through water escaping
readily in place of sinking into the land, but the subsoil
moisture is also reduced through the lowering of the water
table. Much can be done to prevent the rain forming a head
of water by a little labour expended on stopping channels im-
mediately they begin to form by means of banks of sods. The
water thus brought to rest soaks into the ground, and adds to
the store of moisture, which is drawn from during the rainless
season. The work of checking the too rapid flow of water is
contributed to by the roots of the shrublet Lasiocorys capensis,
Benth., belonging to the order Labiate^, and thus related to
mint, thyme, lavender, and sage. This plant possesses a
strong tap root and numerous side roots, and it grows into a
bush from a foot to two feet and a half high. It springs up
luxuriantly in the washed shingly debris of waterways, and its
roots hold what soil remains and collect fresh silt, which ulti-
mately raises- the surface and impedes the course of the water.
The foliage is slightly bitter, so that it is left untouched by
animals until the end of the season, when the more attractive
food is exhausted. It is then freely consumed, but the plant
benefits by the absence of injury during the period of its growth.

There is no way by which the veld can be so inexpensively
and effectively improved in grazing qualities as by allowing
the flood waters, charged with fine sedimentary matter, from

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 85

higher elevations to flow over it. Excellent examples of the
results of this practice were seen on Culmstock, Charles
Southey's place, and at Varkens Kop, belonging to William
Southey, in the Middelburg" district. These are merely
illustrations of man}' properties favourably situated for
irrigation along the foot-hills of the range of mountains
which there runs east and west. At Varkens Kop the
summer flood water of the Great Brak River was diverted
from its course by a masonry dam, with a drop of about ten
feet deep on the lower side.

It is most important that the high flood water which falls
over the weir should descend upon a rocky bottom, if such is
to be found in a convenient situation, as the great volume and
force of the water are certain, sooner or later, to give trouble
by forming a pool and undermining the wall, if a concrete or
other artificial floor has to be resorted to.

The dam and channel in question cost about iJ^200, and
the water spreads for a distance of five miles over the flat
country below. In short, the conditions were restored which
existed before the Great Brak River was formed, and that not
so long ago. This recent formation of a river is no soHtar}'
instance, but a state of things extremely common throughout
Cape Colony. The other Brak River, which flows between
De Aar and Britstown,* has been entirely formed within the
last forty years. At the poir^t referred to the water flows
between banks about 15 feet deep and from 100 feet to
1 50 feet apart.

The results of the flooding are that the Karoo bushes die
off, and in about three years a dense cover of fine nutritious
grass springs up, mostly consisting of blaauw seed grass.
Land which in its original state fed one sheep on three acres
will, after flooding, keep seven or eight sheep on the same
area. In carrying out this important improvement it will be
necessary to guard against contamination of the land by
liver-fluke, which gives rise to "rot" in sheep. If water drains
from hollow marshy places, and is permitted to stagnate in
depressions or hollows in the veld, then liver-fluke is certain

* This is stated on the authority of Hans Brits, after whom the latter
place was named.

86 FARMINf; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

to appear in the sheep stock. The means of prevention by
drainage are discussed under " rot " in sheep. The work of
watering the land in this way has only recently been insti-
tuted by English farmers who have come to the districts
where it is possible to carry it out. Many farms capable of
similar improvement are likely to remain in a state of nature
while their present old-fashioned Dutch owners continue to
occupy them.

In his excellent brochure on " Plants that furnish Stock
Food at the Cape,"* Professor MacOwan, in discussing the
most useful shrubby plants for sheep, places first in his list in
order of merit^-( I ) Pentzia virgata, Less.; (2) AdenacJicena
parvifolia, DC. ; (3) Diplopappus filifolius, DC, not only on
account of their good qualities as food, but also because of
their abundance and distribution over wide areas.

The pentzia, which is familiarly known as "good karoo,"
tends to grow socially, and sometimes so luxuriantly as to
cause the partial or complete exclusion of other boscage. The
soils of rich argillaceous flats, not deficient in lime, favour its
growth.

Diplopappus, the " draai-bo.sje," takes its place on thin
stony ridges or hillsides, and grows best on a southern ex-
posure. This bush gives a " strong aromatic taste and smell "
to the flesh of animals which are fed upon it, but the bitter
and objectionable flavour can be got rid of by keeping the
sheep upon other food for a fortnight. Both plants produce
abundance of seed, which grows freely, but the pentzia also
extends by natural layering, the longer shoots bending down
till they reach the soil, and then throwing out roots at the
tips. When the veld is overstocked, and the bushes are eaten
back, they are unable to extend by either method of propaga-
tion, and will decrease rather than increase in number. Where
growing and extending naturally, they form a useful check to
the surface erosion aggravated by the trampling of sheep, and
still more of goats, by throwing their trailing branches over
and shutting up the roads made round and among the bushes
by the animals as they go in search of food.

* A reprint (to which the author gratefully acknowledges indebted-
ness) from " The South African Agriculturist's Almanac."

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 87

The aarbosje, or " water - finder," Selago leptostachya,
E. Mey., is a useful forage plant for goats, being a stand-by
in times of drought. It is found generally on gebroken veld,
and is the only one of the common Selagos that is of value as
food.

Two of the most valuable salt bushes of Australia,
Ati'iplex tmmJHulan'a, Lindl, and A. haliuioides, Lindl., have
been successfully grown in Cape Colony by E. G. Alston, who
first cultivated them on the salt
or brak lands surrounding Van
Wyk's Vlei, and then distributed
the seed at his own charges to
numerous farmers in different
parts of the Colony. The colonial
species, A. Iia limns, L., var. cap-
en sis, "vaal bosje," or grey bush,
compares favourably with the
imported species, although it is
more salt than they are, and
stock can in consequence eat less
of it. Goats browsing do it much
more injury than sheep, as, stand-
ing on their hind legs to reach
the tender topmost shoots, the}-
trample down and break the
brittle side branches, which is
much more injurious than nib-
bling the shoots.

The Australian salt bushes
are decreasing rapidly in Aus-
tralia through too close inju-
dicious pasturing with sheep,
while they are extending and
establishing themselves at the
Cape. Seed has actually been
sent to Australia from the

Cape by special request. Salt bushes are particularly valu-
able under conditions such as prevail in the Karoo. They
not only grow in soil impregnated with soda salts, on which
few useful plants can establish themseh'es, but the}- thri\e

AUBTRAUAN SaLT BoSH.

A. nummularia, Zindi. — (The Male Plant).

88 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

where the climate is too dry for grass to live, and transform
districts that would be worthless desert into good stock
country. Few sheep can be kept, probably one to twelve
acres, but they do well, and, contrary to the general belief
that there is safety in numbers, in the matter of parasites at
least, safety to stock comes from their limitation.

MacOwan mentions in order of merit the following plants
as growing along with the vaal bosje, and being eaten by
sheep : — KocJiia piibescens, Moq. ; Caroxylon Salsola, Thunb. ;
Tetragonia arbusaila, Fenzl. ; Exoinis axyrioides, FenzL, and
several species of Glimis and Galenia. The vaal bosje is the
only one which can be readily propagated artificially.

Several species of Meseinbriantheiinnn, which are distin-
guished by glittering pimples dotted over the leaves and stems,
mingle with the salt bushes and aid in furnishing the surface.
All are, however, not confined to really brak land, as the
grand purple-flowered M. floribitnduin, Haw., and M. obliquuin.
Haw., yield excellent pasturage for ewes and lambs upon
flats where the soil shows only traces of soda salts.

Spek-boom, Portnlacaria afra, Jacq., is a fleshy, rounded-
leaved, scrubby, soft-wooded tree or bush, which is recognised
as a very valuable food plant for sheep, cattle, and even horses.
Successful efforts have been made to grow it in Namaqualand
from cuttings. As these are liable to rot when put in green
and newly severed, they should be spread out for a fortnight
to allow the wounds to dry. Where animals are well fed and
pampered, they sometimes lose taste for this excellent natural
food. In the neighbourhood of Oudtshoorn, on a farm where,
in the spring of 1895, ostriches were dying in hundreds, clumps
of spek-boom were within ea.sy reach, but the birds would not
touch it, having been accustomed to feed on lucerne. Never-
theless, when birds are brought up to eat it they thrive well,
and seem fond of it. The spek-boom is a bush which recovers
rapidly from the injury done by too close browsing by stock, if
a season's respite be granted to it. When spek-boom and the
MesevibriaiitJieinmn floribiindiini are present, stock care but
little about their daily visits to the water-vlei.

The prickly pear, Opuntia Ttina, has become one of the
curses of large areas of grazing land, particularly the midland
and south-eastern districts. The Report of a Select Com-

(;enf,ral floral features.

A Species of Prickly Pear— Leaf-like Fleshy Stem-joint and Fruit.

Reproduced front U.S.A. Agricultural Report 1SS7.

90 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF GATE COLONY.

mittee of the House of Assembly, dated 1891, estimated the
annual loss in money, from farm animals dying through eating
the leaves and fruit, at iJ^200,000. There are two varieties, the
kaalhlad and the doornblad — the latter covered by large
numbers of strong, j^ointed thorns, and the other almost thorn-
less. It probably would be more accurate to say that from
seeds of the same fruit at times both thorny and thornless
specimens spring. The prickly form is by far the more
abundant. Nearly all graminivorous animals eat opuntia
greedily when relieved of its natural thorny defence, and the
naked variety is thus destroyed wholesale while young. The
kaalblad opuntia is the true cochineal cactus, and specimens
of the insect may be seen living upon it in the Cape Town
Botanic Garden.

In spite of all that may be said in favour of the prickly
pear, there is no doubt the injury done by it is so great that
it would be well for the Colony to get rid of it entirely, even
at a considerable pecuniary sacrifice. Rut it has now spread
so widely, and established itself so completely, that extermina-
tion would be a matter of great difficulty if not impossibility.
Its pear-like fruit — from which it derives its name — is sweet
and attractive. Great numbers of birds and beasts eat it freely,
and drop the seeds in their solid excrement all over the district.
It also grows readily if a small piece of the leaf-like fleshy
stem-joints is left about on the surface of the ground.

The fruit is covered with multitudes of minute hard sharp-
pointed prickles, which produce violent inflammation and
swelling in the tongue, throat, and whole intestinal tract of
animals consuming it in the natural state. Cattle get so
fond of it, even when suffering, acutely from the injury it
produces, that they have been known to remain beside a
pear-tree with the tongue hanging out, and to continue to
eat the fruit until they actually died of the effects. The
Kaffirs get over the difficulty of the prickles by rolling or
rubbing the pears backwards and for\vards in the dust under-
neath the hardened sole of their foot.

Perhaps the most serious drawback to the Colony is the
demoralisation this fruit gives rise to among the native
population. They \\\\\ do little or no work for the three
months — February, March, and April — the time the fruit is at

= o

- c

^ i.

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 9 1

its best. This is a specially serious matter with the tobacco-
grower and the wine-grower, as these are busy months with
both. They also manufacture a spirit from the fruit of the
prickly-pear, which they drink in large quantities at the
season, making any return to work impossible while its
influence lasts. During periods of drought, the fleshy suc-
culent prickly-pear leaves have occasionally been utilised by
being deprived of their spines by scorching over a fire and by
cutting up the mass with a sheer resembling a turnip-cutter.
Then the food may be given with safety to all sorts of farm
stock. Cattle will eat 40 lbs. per day of the pulp, and it
proved a useful stand-bv' in the drought of 1895 ^O'' feeding
ostriches. It should be mixed, however, with some nourishing
concentrated food, like beans or grains of sorts, as it does
not contain sufficient nourishment in itself to support animals,
especially if they have got into low condition. Given alone
and in large quantity, it is liable to induce scour. The
plant was first spread in the colony by transport riders, or
" togt-gangers," who, both intentionall}' and also inadvertentl)-,
dropped the seeds at outspans, from which they have extended.
Government has taken neither of the steps urged upon them,
viz., the compulsory eradication of the plant, nor the subsi-
dising of those who undertake the work, probably because the
opinions of Members of Parliament were too much di\idcd as
to the practicability of the scheme submitted. Government
has, however, supplied a large quantity of a so-called scrub
exterminator — consisting of arsenic dissolved by boiling with
soda, which has been doing good work in the hands of a few
individuals who have tried it It is said to act when applied
to living plants during winter, when the sap is not running, but
to ascertain this condition would require more than the usual
intelligence displaj'ed by native workmen in its application.
It serves the purpose admirably when the plants are cut close
to the ground and thrown into heaps. A spray of the exter-
minator so browns the surface and shrivels the plant that it
can be burnt in heaps, and all traces of it destroyed.

The aloes plant. Aloe ferox, L., belonging to the natural
order LiiiacecF, possesses an arborescent trunk, sometimes twelve
to fifteen feet high. It is often found growing on poor rocky
places, from which the soil has been, to a large extent, washed

92 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

away. The appearance presented by a number of aloes plants
growing at a distance is so much like Kaffirs standing, that
during the Kaffir wars false alarm was not infrequently
experienced by the Colonial troops on suddenly coming upon
a stretch of aloe-bearing veld, until the sight became familiar.
The plant has a strong resemblance to the leafy parts of a
large pine-apple, and the leaves, which, as time goes on, tend to
grow in a bunch at the top, are protected by claw-shaped spines,
like those of the brier. It is sometimes planted to form a kraal
fence, and, being a perennial plant, it flowers annually, and does
not die off after maturing its seed, like the so-called American
aloe. Its beautiful bright-red flowering spikes, three or four
in number on each head, lend beauty to the landscape, which
at that particular season is otherwise unadorned. The aloes
harvest takes place during August and September. A hollow
is scooped out in the earth, about the size of a shallow hand-
basin, and round this the leaves which have been cut off are
built, with the wounded ends inwards, in such a fashion that
the juice as it runs out falls into the hollow. The sun's heat
during a couple of weeks hastens the flow of sap, and dries it
up into a cake, which is ultimately removed, the adhering
earth brushed off, and in fragments it is packed in boxes, and
sold for about 4|d. to 5d. per lb. In some districts a goat-
skin is put in to form a lining to the pit, and the juice is
removed in a viscous condition and boiled, but so unskilfull}'
is the work executed, that the power to crystallise like hoar
frost (after being dissolved in alcohol, and exposed to admit
of evaporation) is lost, and the market price thereby lowered
to less than one-fifth of the price of Barbadoes aloes in the
London market. Aloes is used for staining leather harness
and for making into horse physic balls, and also, it is said, in
the manufacture of Mother Seigel's Syrup. The amount
exported, as given in the last available returns, was under
400,000 lbs., considerably below the half of the amount ex
ported in 1885.

The American aloe, above referred to. Agave ajnericajia,
is not a true aloe, but more nearly related to the fibre plant
Fourcroya, grown in Mauritius, and to New Zealand flax,
P]ioriiii?iiii tenax. It is a strong, vigorous plant, which grows
well in all parts of the Colony, including the Karoo. As in

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 93

India, it is found to be a valuable plant to j^row in rows to
form fences. The sharp pointed and rigid leaves stand out
like so many spears, and, when the plants grow up so that
they close in the rows, make it quite impossible for stock to
get through. Excellent shelter for stock is afforded in high
and exposed veld by agaves planted in two rows to form
a cross, so that from whatever direction the wind blows', the
animals can always find a sheltered corner in one or other
of the four angles. The great drawback to the agave as a
fencing plant is that, after a few years it throws up a tall
flower-bearing stem, and after ripening its seed it dies, leaving
an opening in the fence. Ultimately the blanks are closed up
by numerous small plants growing from suckers, but the fence
is defective for a time. The tendency to seeding can be
checked, it was said, by setting the plants more closely together
in the rows than the usual three feet, and at the same time
laying them at an angle of 45°

In times of drought and scarcity of food the leaves of the
agave have been cut up into small pieces by a chaff-cutting
machine, or by hand knives if only on a small scale, and given
to cattle, ostriches, or, in fact, to any farm stock. In addition
to the fibre, which is used both in America and India for rope-
making, &c., there is a large quantity of succulent matter in
the leaves, particularly near the base, and this forms excellent
food for stock, which eat it readily and thrive upon it. It does
not contain such a large percentage of water as prickly pear,
and it is not so liable, when given in quantity, to induce scour
in animals feeding on it. The black population use the leaves
for fuel after they have been exposed for four or five months
to dry thoroughly. The seed is excellent food for ostriches,
and cattle find it out and eat it greedily when it falls beside a
fence. The seed-bearing stems, after they become withered,
can be used for light temporary fencing" posts, and will last
for six or seven years.

Altogether, the agave is a most useful plant, a good stand-
by for the farmer in seasons of scarcity, and being so easily
propagated, it is a marvel that it is not grown to a greater
extent in the Colony.

:^^ The harpuis (resin-pimple) plant is a species of Euryops,
a showy composite with gay yellow blooms and a foliage not

94 FAKMIN(] INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLOJSIY.

unlike that of a soft, rapidly grown, bushy, young pine-tree.
In certain areas near Oueenstown it threatened to take
possession of the entire surface, to the exclusion of valuable
forage plants. It should be remembered that its only im-
portant use is the supply of brushwood.

When it seemed as if large tracts of country were about to
be given over to this worthless weed, a scale insect made its
appearance. It has multiplied so rapidly, and done its work
so thoroughly, that in many of the worst centres harpuis is
almost totally destroyed, — a work which has well-nigh rivalled
the feat of the Vedalia and Rodolia ladybirds in devouring the
DortJiesia or Icerya, as it is now called— the Australian "bug"
— on orange-trees. It is possible that this is not the first time
the harpuis has thrown its unwelcome mantle over certain
areas favourable for its growth, nor yet the first time that
the scale insect has done its work. History in plant life, as
in other matters, often repeats itself. The fact that a few
old plants were to be seen among a comparatively young
growth rather indicates that they formed centres of distribu-
tion or re-infestation, and were probably the remnants of a
former growth. After Nature has done her share in the
destruction, all stray plants that have escaped the scale insect
should be carefully destroyed.

Though the last-mentioned plant is objectionable enough
to the stock farmer, it is so in a negative way. Its short-
comings lie in monopolising the land Which might with
advantage have grown useful food plants. It differs from
another class of plants, which not only occupy the surface, but
are actively injurious in one or other of several ways. To
the latter belongs the bitter Karoo bosje, Chrysoconia teniii-
folia, Berg., which fortunately is only eaten in times of
scarcity, as it produces stomach and biliary disorders. It is
extending largely, like another w^orthless bush, Relhania gen-
istcefolia, L'Her, when the veld is overstocked. There is a
thorny fig, MesembriaiitJieniuiii spinosiii/i, L., of the Karoo,
the flowering branchlets of which harden into sharp hard
spines, which effectually prevent stock from browsing upon it.
Another very thorny plant. Asparagus stipiilaceiis. Lam., is a
source of annoyance and loss to Angora goat breeders. The
withered thorny branchlets break off in winter with a mere

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 95

touch, and adhering- to the hair of the goats, reduce it seriously
in vahie.

Burweed, XantJiimn spiiiosmn, is another plant well
known to cause injury to the wool of sheep, by adhering
to it and felting" it together, and subsequently giving con-
siderable trouble during the process of manufacture.

Many leguminous plants are known to be poisonous *
to animals at certain seasons, producing paralysis of the limbs,
due to cerebro-spinal pressure, and at times giddiness and
sleepiness or death. The injury is believed to be brought
about by certain alkaloids, which arc, however, not present in
injurious amounts in all the species of the order, as quite a
number of well-known legumes may be used as food for man
and beast with perfect safety. The Cape is not without its
poisonous legume any more than India, Australia, or America.
The t'nenta, Lesserlia annularis, Burch., is an insignificant
purplish -flowered species, at times seen in c^uantity in the
gebroken veld, where, if consumed, it poisons goats and sheep.
A somewhat similar condition of helplessness from intoxi-
cation, or semi-paralysis, results when cattle feed upon dronk
grass, Me/ tea dendroides, Lehm.

All species of farm live stock are not liable to suffer in the
same degree from vegetable poisoning. The leaves and bark
of the wild tobacco tree, Nicotiana giaiica, may be eaten by
goats without serious consequences, while the bark and seeds
are most poisonous to young ostriches — one seed is said to be
certain death to a chick up till a month old.

Perhaps the most widely distributed and deadly origin of
stock poisoning to be found in South Africa, is the tall,
handsome " tulp - bloem," or Cape tulp (the Dutch for
tulip), Morcea po/yanthos, Thunb. This contains a " virulent
irritant," which, if taken in sufficient quantity, induces violent
inflammation of the stomach and bowels, and in serious cases,
of the liver also, giving rise to biliary hepatitis, and usually
death within twenty-four hours. One species of tulp, under

* See a valuable contribution to the bibliography of this subject by
R. S. M'Dougall, M. A., B.Sc, entitled, "Z^?//yr//i- Safivits, the Vetchling,
with a Comparative Review of the Poisonous Properties of some Allied
Leguminous Plants." — Transactions Botanical Society of Edinburgh,
December 1894.

96 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COEONY.

the name of " slancjkop " (snake head), or poison onion,
OrnitJioglossuvi glaucmn, Sal., which comes up in September
and cHsappears in December, is particularly prevalent and
destructive in the vicinity of Mafckin<^. It is also to be
seen near Kimberley, on the red sandy soils on which the
kamccl thorn. Acacia giraffce, finds a natural habitat.

Cattle bred on the ground do not eat tulp unless they are
very hungry. Then they are not safe. Cattle that have not
been accustomed to it, and oxen turned out from the yoke
after dark, are most liable to suffer. There is a sudden
formation of gases in the stomach, and the animal becomes
hoven. Relief is got through the administration of stimu-
lants and astringents, or repeated doses of milk consisting of
a bottle at a time. Some farmers boil " besom-riet," Rcstio
scopariits, Th., and administer the decoction. It has no medi-
cinal value. A more reasonable treatment is to give a quart
of strong decoction of the astringent bark of the " doorn-
boom," Acacia Jiorrida, W., and this sometimes relieves the
intestinal irritation. If an ox eats only a little and recovers
he will most probably suffer from an acute attack of diarrhoea.
Sheep cannot be kept during the tulp season on land on
which tulp grows freel}^

The introduction of live stock to the " Roschjesveld"
(bush country) has destroyed the old balance of nature, and
by the persistent eating back of the good bushes (frequently
by a larger number of animals than a given area could pro-
perly support) their expansion has been checked, and they
tend to decrease in numbers as well as in bulk. At the
same time the worthless plants seed freely, and being un-
molested by animals, increase both in size and in numbers.
Much injury has already been done in this direction, and if it
be permitted to go on, many of the most valuable Karoo bushes
are liable, like the Australian salt bushes and kangaroo grass,
AntJiistiria ciliata, Linn., to extinction on the veld, and to
be left merely as botanical curiosities in protected corners.
Fencing" into moderate-sized camps, to give control over the
animals, is the first essential in any system of restoration.
Different descriptions of stock should be grazed in successive
seasons. If sheep and goats are in occupation this year,
horned cattle should follow them next season, and at intervals,

GENERAL FLORAL FEATURES. 97

according- to the condition of the growth of the good species
of plants, a year of complete rest should occur, to enable the
bushes that have been browsed closely to recover their foliage
and to mature their seed. During this period, or, in fact, at
any time, an incessant war ought to be waged against injurious
and worthless plants of all kinds with the available surplus
labour which on a large farm is frequently considerable. At
the same time a few seeds of valuable plants, which spring
up readily like Pentzia, may be scattered where the sur-
face of the soil has been moved. It has not been the
practice to farm veld in this way, but rather to leave it to
nature ; but nature is all against the farmer, and in favour of
weedy plants under circumstances such as have been described.
As the natural influence at work is accumulative, the time
seems near at hand when the treatment of the veld will require
to be as much the care of the farmer as the crops of arable
cultivation. There has been a cry that the land is overstocked,
and the numbers of stock have certainly been shrinking in
recent years. No doubt it is true, even in places where, under
more enlightened management, a larger number and in better
condition could have been kept.

Grout of Mares on De Beers Horse-Breeding Farm.

CHAPTER V.

GRASS AND GREEN FORAGE PLANTS.

Position occupied by Grass in the Veld — Rooi-Grass — Steek-Grass—
Bolus's Enumeration of Common Species — MacOwan on Poisonous
Grasses — Couch Grasses — Copper-Wire Grass — Para Grass — Posi-
tion of British Grasses — Red Clover — Erodium — Green Barley —
Green Rye — Ergot — Lucerne — Dodder — Tree Lucerne — Stink-
Clover — Yellow Boer Clover — Bur Clover.

Although South Africa is not poor in numbers of species
of grasses, having, according to Bolus, fifty-seven genera and
seventy-eight species in the grassy uplands of the composite
section of the Karoo division, yet grass is not, on by far the
greater area of Cape Colony, a conspicuous feature of the
covering of the landscape. It is conspicuous in the humid
eastern coast districts, and again up-country at a considerable
elevation above the sea, as in the Kalahari region and the
so-called " new veld," where summer rains are most abundant,
but in the Karoo districts proper it appears in sparsely
scattered tufts among the bushes, consisting to a large extent
of annual grasses which spring and fructify in a comparatively
short time, and are ready to die after having fulfilled the
reproductive function.

The most valuable indigenous grass is generally acknow-
ledged to be the glaucous bluish AntJiisth'ia ciliata, Retz — a
grass of large size, with abundant leaf foliage of superior
quality, but a wiry stem and a hard flower head as it reaches
maturity. It takes on a brownish-red colour in winter, when
all grasses growing on dry veld wither and become brown,
arid has in consequence earned the name of " rooi-grass " or
red grass. It is a valuable pasture grass, makes into excellent
hay, and is equally well suited for preservation as silage. A
dwarf rooi-grass, which yields sweeter pasture, appears in
certain parts. Grass is often of good quality where mimosa

GRASS AND GREEN FORAGE PLANTS.

is abundant, and it is frequently specially sweet, i.e.^ less hard
and fibrous, where the bushes are large.

" Steek-grass " is the colonial name applied to a number
of species of the natural order Gi'ainine(r, having long sharp
awns attached to their seeds, b}' which they adhere to the
wool of sheep. The hard, bristle-like appendages (often
associated with so-called " carrot-seed," Tragiis raconosus, the
saw-toothed glumes of which have great holding power) mat
the wool into a condition resembling felt, and reduce its
market value materially. The most baneful influence, how-
ever, to the interests of the stock-farmer is due to the
irritation produced by the sharp points of the seeds, which,
aided and directed by the awns, find their way to the skin,
most abundantly about the neck and shoulders, and produce
irritation and discomfort, and frequently death. The awns
in most cases are rough, and gradually work in as the sheep
moves, but some acquire a twisting motion with the alterna-
tions of dr}' and moist atmosphere, and have thus an
additional boring action given to them.

In Australia much damage of a similar kind is done to
sheep and to their wool by the seeds of a wild geranium, G.
disscctuDi, L. (an excellent food plant while green, and abun-
dant in some pastures), and the " three-awned spear-grass,"
Aristida I'avwsa, R. Br.

The two grasses which so far have been observed to do
most injury in Cape Colony are Aristida congesta, R. and S.,
which mats the wool, and Andropogon contortus, Willd., the
sharp seeds of which, with their twisted awns, easily pierce
the skin. As the seeds when ripe do not readily fall off, they
remain on the stalks in a favourable position for becoming
attached to the wool of passing sheep, being carried and
dropped in the veld.

Plants which possess such special advantages over other
plants as to means of distribution are usually annual in their
habit of growth, and produce well-matured, vigorous seed, as
everything depends upon it for the existence of the species.
Remedial treatment should consequently be directed against
the plant in the early stages of its growth. The swarms of
locusts have taught the stock-owners a useful lesson in this
respect. By devouring the steek-grass before it produces its

ICXD P^ARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

seed they free the pasture of the pest for a time, although it
asserts itself once more within a few years.

Something can be done to check the increase of steek-
grass, and to minimise its injury, by the method of depasturing.
Those portions of the veld most liable to steek-grass should
be closely eaten down early in the season by sheep, and the
flocks removed before the seeds ripen. Burning the full-
grown grass before the seed falls is another successful method
of reducing its amount.

A species oi Aristida, " twa-gras," is the most abundant
grass, so far as is known, in the Kalahari region and in
the upper region of the Karoo, 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the
sea, distinguished as abounding in composites. Bolus says
that in the parts he has visited " those most abundant in
individuals appear to be Andropogon marginattis, Anthistiria
ciliata, Aristida vestita, DnntJioiiia disticJia, D. villosa, Era-
grostis brisoides, E. striata, Festuca scabra, and Melica den-
droidcs, Lehm. — the ' dronk-gras ' of the colonists."

MacOwan* contributes an interesting note on the poison-
ous nature of some grasses at certain stages of their growth.
It would appear that the giddiness and intoxication, described
by one farmer as a " wild delirium," from which animals suffer
after eating dronk-gras, is similar to the effects produced after
the seeds of darnel rye-grass, Loliuni teiimlentuni, L., have been
consumed. These do not stand alone. Festuca qiiadrivalvis,
a Peruvian grass, is deadly poisonous to cattle ; Stipa viridula,
var. j'obusta, is the " sleepy grass " of New Mexico, which
induces profound slumber for twenty-four hours in cattle
incautious enough to eat it. Another species of Stipa in
Mongolia intoxicates horses ; and even the blow grass of the
Scottish hills, Molinia avrulea, when in flo\\er, is reported to
be dangerous to horses, and Broimis catJiarticus derives its
name from its purgative qualities.

The grass which forms the closest covering in the veld,
although it is by no means so largely represented as the rooi-
grass, is the small couch grass or quick, of light cultivated
soils — the dub grass of India, Cynodoji dactyloii, Pers., called
Bermuda grass in Australia. It is supposed to have been

* At p. 1 17, vol. v., of the Agricitltural Jourjtal^ Cape Town.

DiiB Grass— Cynodon dactylon, Pers.

I02 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

introduced into South Africa, althoutjh its cosmopolitan
character makes the tradition doubtful. It is of a decidedly
stoloniferous habit, and does not spread .so much by seed
as by creeping stems, which root at every joint and make
it a troublesome weed in cultivated land. If the soil be
thoroughly turned up to the summer's sun or to the winter's
frost, couch grass can be pretty easily killed, but the work-
ing of the land under any other conditions simply tends
to increase the amount by breaking the underground stems,
and thereby increasing the numbers of centres from which
future development takes place. In the Oudtshoorn dis-
trict, where quick is troublesome in the lucerne camps, it is
readily disposed of by first ploughing in May or June and
sowing a grain crop, which is reaped in December. After
watering the field, which is then hard and dry, to make it
possible to plough and to cultivate, there is time to summer-
fallow and thoroughly clean the land before the next sowing
season. Both the stems referred to and the aboveground
development supply excellent food for stock. In those regions
where there is sufficient moisture for grass to grow, but sub-
ject to periodical droughts, couch grass occupies an important
place in permanent pasture, having great power of main-
taining itself It is in such places that its cultivation ought
to be encouraged. It is improved rather than injured by
trampling and close grazing.

On account of the seeds being so unreliable, the most
successful method of propagating it in a small way, as in the
formation of a lawn, is to bury in shallow furrows about four
inches apart pieces of the plant chopped up into short lengths,
but moisture must be available for the first few days after
planting, either supplied by rain or by artificial means, else
the chips die as the plant dies during the fallowing process.

A troublesome couch grass in some soils is the buffalo
grass, Stenotaphmm glabruvi, Trin., a much stronger plant
than dub. The stems are also prostrate, but a greater pro-
portion remains on the surface. Both of these couches are
excellent lawn gras.ses, and are employed in the Colony as
such, each forming a dense mat under foot.

Fiorin or white bent grass, Agrostz's alba, L., var. stoloni-
fera, has been naturalised in the humid district near George,

Crass and green forage plants. 103

and found to be a troublesome weed in cultivated land, but an
excellent pasture grass for the encouragement of milk secre-
tion in cows. It is' unfortunately, although in all respects a
grass of good cjuality for grazing and fodder purposes, one of
the grasses most liable to be attacked by ergot, and its
inclusion among British permanent pasture mixtures has in
recent years been discontinued to a large extent in conse-
quence.

MacOwan states he has observed ergot on eight species
of South African grasses, but most prominently on Gynino-
thrix Jiordeifonnis, Nees, a strong grass, with a long cylin-
drical spike of florets, growing frequently beside streams and
vleis. Although there may not be enough ergot in the
pastures to induce the worst forms of ergot poisoning, still
when ergot is about there is every chance of it giving rise
to abortion in cattle, sheep, and horses. The only effective
prevention is to cut over the flowering culms of the coarse
grasses which would run to seed.

" Koper-draad," or copper-wire grass, Andropogon exca-
vatiis, becomes so hard and bristh- as it matures that it has
been favourably mentioned as a suitable material from which
to manufacture paper, yet in the early stages of its growth it
is of great value as a pasture grass. It was observed on the
grassy veld near Queenstown on 15th August, coming up the
first of all the various species represented, and the succulent
young leaves were being greedily pulled four to six inches long
from their sheaths by the sheep after the withered growth of
the past season had been cleared off by burning.

Bi'ojims Schraderi, Kth., is the so-called Australian prairie
grass or Bromiis wiioloides, a robust annual, with great power in
developing seed and establishing itself in land under cultiva-
tion. It came originally via California and Australia from
the seaport of Para, in tropical South America, and it has
been conjectured that the title Prairie grass, and, directly or
indirectly, also the Boer names Para, Paarde, Perde, Pere, &c.,
have been corrupted from the word Para. It requires too
much moisture to suit the drier parts of the Colony, but it
grows well in the New England district at high elevations,
where the rainfall is comparatively heavy. It is sweet and
tender, and greedily consumed by stock, and in composition

I04 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

it is a grass of the first quality, containing 12.45 Pcr cent, of
albuminoids and an ash rich in phosphates. It produces a
large and conspicuous seed, which weighs about 16 lbs. to
the bushel. The seed stems stand up three feet high, and the
root leaves are numerous and broad.

The seeds of a worthless annual weed, Broimis mollis, or
the "goose grass" of the rye-grass field in Great Britain, have
been sold in the Cape as the valuable prairie grass. It also
seeds freely, and has great power of maintaining itself, but it
is deficient in root leaves and is unattractive to stock.

It is only on the high plateaus approaching 5,000 feet above
the sea that the best British grasses could have any chance
of growing unless under irrigation. Both of the rye-grasses,
Loliiun perenne and Loliuni italiciun, were seen doing well at
Southey's farm in the Middelburg district, but the experience
at Oudtshoorn with these and with Timothy, Phleum
pratense, was that the produce became hard and unattractive
to animals unless water were available at all times. In the
same district red clover, Trifolium prateiise, did not compare
at all favourably with lucerne, not only on account of its
liability to suffer from drought, but owing to the seed being so
much smaller that it had greater difficulty in becoming estab-
lished as a crop. Experiences in different parts were not by
any means uniform. On William Frame's farm, near Queens-
town, red clover and also perennial rye -grass were found
growing apparently as perennial plants on a rich moist piece
of meadow land, which could be put under irrigation at any
time. Nevertheless, red clover is not to be compared to
lucerne in the matter of suitability to South African con-
ditions.

A wild colonist from Europe, allied to Geraniiiin, Erodiuin
inoschatitni, Willd., of large size and succulent habit of growth,
is regarded in the cultivated districts of Koeberg and Malmes-
bury as the sweetest and most valuable plant in the temporary
pasture of rich well-manured soils, where it springs spontane-
ously. All herbivorous animals are very fond of it while it is
young. If cut when in flower, it makes excellent hay, and it is
also well suited for storing in silo. The seeds are troublesome
if they are permitted to mature. On handling, an elongated
awn is observed to twist spirally like a corkscrew, and then

GRASS AND GREEN FORAGE I'LANTS. IO5

it measures along with the seed nearly one inch in length.
This motion is undoubtedly intended to plant the seed as it
falls ; and to retain it in its position a number of hairs project
like bristles from the seed, with an inclination towards the awn
and away from the boring point, which touches the ground
first as the seed drops. The seeds have proved a source of
loss to the Cape farmer by becoming fixed in the wool, and
they also get into the eyes of sheep, where they give rise to
serious irritation.

Forage Crops.

Green barley is extensively grown in the Colony in
winter, as a green forage crop for the use of all species of
herbivorous live stock. Wherever irrigation is possible and
feasible, the climate is never too cold to prevent the growth of
barley, which is considered the best winter forage crop in
South Africa. It is often sown about the first week of
February, and it occupies the position as a winter food which
roots do in Great Britain ; but with one important disadvan-
tage, that the yield per acre is far inferior to that given by
roots. Apart from the smaller yield per acre, there are pro-
portionately fewer animals of all classes artificially provided
for during winter in the Cape than in Great Britain, a con-
dition of things which will probably change as systems of
management develop and improve.

The species most extensively cultivated is Scotch " bere "
or " bigg," Hordeiini viilgare ; but the so-called " barley-wheat,"
a naked variety of common barley, H. distichiLiii, is increasing
in favour with those who have had experience of it. It not
only gives a larger yield, but it can be eaten later in the season
than the common Cape barley without injuring the mouths of
sheep feeding upon it, owing to its not becoming hard and
woody so soon as the other. It is given with excellent results
to ewes with early lambs, and to milch cattle. Even horses,
which are more ticklish to manage than other stock in the
matter of food, thrive well when fed largely if not entirely on
green barley. If subjected to much road work in a Cape cart,
horses thus fed are liable to become loose in the bowels, but
those at work on the farm and running on the veld do
admirably.

Io6 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Rye, Sccale ccreale, as a forage crop might be grown much
more extensively for green winter food than it is. It is a
hardier plant than barley under adverse conditions of growth,
and locusts do not so easily injure its roots permanently. It
possesses another advantage in the case of stock not wholly
dependent upon green food. If animals require to run on the
dried and withered veld in spring, and only get the green
grain as a supplement to their natural food, they are less liable
to be unsettled by rye than by barley, and they take more
kindly to the veld on being turned out from a rye-field than
from a barley one. A giant variety, called Saldana-Bay rye,
is in favour on deep rich soils. It is most prolific, yielding
fifty-fold, and growing five and even seven feet high. Probably
rye might be more grown but for the colonial prejudice against
giving rye-grain to horses unless when mixed with oats. Rye
and a number of colonial grasses are subject to the attack of a
fungus, Claviceps purpurea, Tul., the resting form or sclerotium
stage of which is called ergot. Ikit it does not appear to
produce in the Colony the serious consequences of ergot
poisoning in cattle and sheep which have been experienced
in Kansas, in New Zealand, and in Ireland.

Lucerne, Medicago sativa, or the alfalfa of the United
States of America, is without exception the most valuable of
all green forage plants in dry and sunny climates liable to
suffer from drought. It was cultivated by the ancients, and it
is grown at the present time in all parts of the world. In the
climate of Great Britain clovers grow so remarkably well that
they successfully compete with lucerne, and there it does not
assume the place of importance which is almost invariably
given to it in warmer climates. It grows on a great many
varieties of soil, provided there be present a good supply of
lime, and not an excess of dense impervious clay. Fully 50
per cent, of the ash of lucerne is lime. Potash and phosphoric
acid are the next best represented constituents, there being
about 14 per cent, of each. It has great power of resisting the
effects of drought, as has been demonstrated at Rothamsted,
by Sir J. B. Lawes and Sir Henry Gilbert, in virtue of its
strong vigorous tap roots, often as thick as a man's wrist
when the plant is of mature growth, going down in search of
moisture. If a natural water supply be found percolating

Lucerne ok Alfalfa, Meuicago sativa. U.S.A. Bulletin Nik /, i8

108 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

throui^h a porous stratum, at a depth of six or eight feet from
the surface, no artificial watering is necessary. The roots sink
to fifteen feet, and even twenty feet, under favourable circum-
stances. However excellent lucerne is as a drought-resister,
the area in South Africa is insignificant where irrigation is
not necessary for the existence of the plant, or to secure a
satisfactory yield. There is no crop which more freely responds
to careful cultivation and judicious watering ; and although it
is harmful to irrigate so that the surface soil runs together and
becomes hard, yet the strength of lucerne roots makes it better
able than most crops to withstand the pressure of the soil as
it contracts and cracks on drying. It is not so with the
young plant soon after germination, and in Cape Colony the
seed ought to be sown at a time when the necessary moisture
is likely to be provided by rains, and the application of irriga-
tion water to the surface delayed as long as possible. The
amount of seed sown per acre in the Colony varies between
7 lbs. and 20 lbs. per acre, an unusually wide margin. Not
only the surface soil, but also the subsoil, should be in a loose
condition, to encourage the descent of the tap roots. A
good development of root growth implies a large amount of
manurial root residue for the use of the succeeding crop, as
well as power for growth in the existing one. Immense crops
of green food can be got from lucerne when it is cut five
or six, or even as many as eight or nine, times during one
season.

Three cuttings may be obtained the first season, yielding
four tons of hay ; but under favourable conditions, ten and
even twelve tons of hay may be gathered per acre, when the
roots are at their most vigorous stage of growth. As the
plants become old, some die, and there is a natural tendency
for the crop to become thin upon the ground, although on
rich soil, under favourable circumstances, lucerne growing in
rows will spread naturally, and cover the intervening spaces
for a time. Lucerne is best cut the first year to allow the
plant to grow undisturbed by animals grazing, and to develop
its roots. It is a general rule that this development is in
proportion to the bulk of growth aboveground. When grazed,
it is best to eat it off within a comparatively short time,
when it has reached a good size, and then lay it in to rest and

GRASS AND GREEN FORAGE PLANTS. IO9

sprout afresh, while the animals are moved on to other areas.
In this way a number of animals may be kept in three
paddocks, all at different stages of growth, and moved periodi-
cally in rotation from one to the other. More satisfactory
results are thus obtained than by pasturing stock all the
while on the same area. Lucerne is equally well adapted for
making into sweet silage or into hay, both products being
highly appreciated by all sorts of herbivorous animals. Care
has to be taken not to lose the leaves, which, freely exposed
to the sun, become hard and brittle, and liable to break off
and get lost. If the crop be handled in the early morning,
while the leaves are flexible with the moisture from dew
deposits, no loss need result, although the length of the work-
ing day for lucerne is thereby made very short. A satisfac-
tory method of saving the leaves has been introduced with
decided success in some parts of Australia. The crop is put
without much delay into small cocks in the field, and left
there without being moved till it is ready to carry. Baling
machines on wheels are brought alongside, and the cocks
carefully lifted into the baling presses, and compacted by
horse- or hand-levers into bales of convenient dimensions for
handling, weighing i| cwts. to 2 cwts. each. Various species
of dodder, Cnscnta, attach themselves by twining round the
plant, and suck the juices from it ; but if milled or husked
seed be used, and attention be paid to the cleaning of it, no
loss from this cau.se need be sustained, as dodder seed is
small, and can easil}' be removed in the process of cleaning.

A parasitic fungus, Rhkoctonia medicaghiis, which attacks
the root stock, and kills the plant, has done much injury to
lucerne crops on the Continent of Europe, A dressing of five
or six tons per acre of slaked lime, in the condition of a
finely divided powder, is the most effective remedy, to-
gether with changing the crop on the affected ground for a
few years.

The cultivation of lucerne may be said to be merely in
its infancy in Cape Colony. It is true that most satisfactory
results on a large scale have been secured in the district of
Oudtshoorn, largely associated with the feeding of ostriches
in small lucerne camps, described in Chapter XI, But the
farmers throughout a large area of the Colony, suitable for

no FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

lucerne cultivation, are not yet aware of its merits as a pasture
and forage plant.

The one important drawback to lucerne as a green fodder
plant is that its roots remain dormant during winter, while
green barley makes steady progress. Its growth is, however,
all the more rapid and luxuriant in spring, and its yield being
so much more abundant than that of any grain crop, the
defect mentioned can be more than made up for, in competi-
tion with other fodder crops, by storing it in silo during the
summer months. As irrigation extends, the importance, or
rather the indispensable character, of lucerne as a fodder
producer and as a soil restorer will gradually be realised.

Although it was grown in Grahamstown in a small way
by a good many people as early as i860, it was only intro-
duced into Oudtshoorn, where it was first grown on a large
scale, about 1870, and at first the price of the seed was 2s.
per lb., but now 3 id. to 46. per lb. will purchase it. Richard
Gavin, one of the most extensive and most successful advocates
of lucerne culture, believes in a liberal allowance of seed — as
much as 20 lbs. per acre, on account of the tendency of quick
grass, Cynodon dactylon, to oust it. For a number of years
after its introduction large profits were made by growing seed,
but the best land in the district, with the accumulated fertility
resulting from the decaying roots, and the manure of the large
numbers of stock kept, has become too rich to produce seed.
The plants develop herbaceous tendencies rather than seed-
producing properties.

The seed is sown in spring between 15th May and 15th
June, and water is not led on to the land until the beginning
of August, when the plant is big and strong. A wheat crop,
thinly seeded and planted on a well-worked soil, proves an
excellent nurse for the young lucerne plant. It is necessary
to break up lucerne leas when the plants become thin on the
ground, as they naturally tend to do, and all the more rapidh'
so when the soil is not in every way suitable. Restoration
in this fashion is necessary every seven years in many
countries where lucerne grows satisfactorily. The suitability
of the Oudtshoorn district to this crop may be learned from
the fact that lucerne is still growing which was sown in 1879.

In California a common method of restoring the waning

GRASS AND GREEN FORAGE PLANTS. Ill

strength of a field of old lucerne beginning to get thin on the
ground is by ploughing or cutting up the surface sod, to
divide the roots, and then rolling and irrigating it. With so
much quick or couch grass as exists in the Colony, this method
would not in most places prove satisfactory, as the creeping
stems of the dub would be cut up and planted at the same
time.

The hay harvest begins 25th September, and goes on till
February or March. The crops are cut as the flower begins
to open wide. The lucerne cut one day, if heavy, is merely
turned over the following morning, beginning at 4 a.m., and
ending before the dew lifts, and it is ready to stack next
morning. In place of turning, if the crop be thin, the swathes
are gathered into little cocks to prevent the excessive action
of the sun, which is injurious.

If the crop be cut at the proper time, lucerne hay can be
put in with a greater percentage of moisture in it than most
fodder crops, without injury from heating or fermentation.
A gentle sweat is- thought by some to improve the quality
by softening the stalk, but if fermentation fully develops,
and the temperature rises much, the quality is reduced.
When the crop is cut too green, it is liable to go wrong in
this way, and after cooling down, to become dry and hard.

Lucerne grows excellently in the limestone soils near
Worcester and Robertson, as many as nine cuttings being
sometimes taken in one season. To the south of the first
range of mountains there are few places where lucerne will
grow, unless where limestone appears in the formation, as
in the vicinity of Mossel Bay. It refuses to grow in the
Ruggens, near Caledon, after the second year, except in the
ostrich camps in which the birds have been supplied with
broken bones. In the Bedford district there is ample scope
for the cultivation of lucerne on lands that can be irrigated,
as with the rapid extension of the dairy industry, lucerne will
become invaluable both as a winter and a summer food for
cows.

In the district of Stellenbosch, .sowing is done in
September in preference to May, as the land is found to
be too wet during winter for the young plant. In Aliwal
North, and in the Middelburg district, where the soil is often

112 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

more dense and intractable to manage, becoming hard and
brick - like after being irrigated, lucerne is best sown in
Februar}% so that the summer rains keep it going without
surface watering till the roots get down and become estab-
lished. The great difficulty is experienced in getting the
plant to start, after that the dangers are not great. Another
reason why sowing is not done in spring is that annual
weeds come up in some places in such abundance at that
season, that it is found best to move the surface to encourage
the weeds to germinate, to clean the land when the weeds are
young, and to sow in the latter part of summer A\'hen the weedy
growth is not active. Sown for this reason in February, there
is yet time to grow a crop to cut before winter.

On the Irene Estate, a little to the south of Pretoria, in the
Transvaal, lucerne was found doing remarkably well on rich
alluvial soil. Irrigation is not there necessary in summer, as
rain is sufficiently abundant, but it is watered in August after
frost has disappeared. Cutting is done eight times during
the season.

Lucerne being a leguminous plant, has the power, through
the medium of wartlike processes or callosities on the fibres
of the roots, of fixing the free nitrogen of the air, and taking
it into its own circulation in virtue of some symbiotic action
existing between the organism which does the work of com-
bination within the warts and the circulation of the plant
itself (see Plate 26). Such a quantity of nitrogen is thus stored
up in the roots of lucerne, that the land under this crop steadily
becomes richer, although the entire growth which shows above-
ground may have been removed in successive seasons.

Tagasaste or tree lucerne, Cytisiis pToliferus, Van,
from the high mountain slopes of Palma in the Canaries, has
been tried as a forage plant in Cape Colony, but the climate
is too dry. It is poisonous to horses, inducing similar symp-
toms to those occurring from poisoning by the allied Cytisus
l(xbuninin. With a crop which grows so well as common
lucerne this plant is not required in Cape Colony.

The so-called stink clover, Melilotus officinalis, a connec-
tion of Bokhara clover, M. alba, gives a sweet scent to newly
mown hay, but is not eaten by cattle except when it is very
young, or if the animals are starving. It is an annual and an

GRASS AND GREEN EOKAGE PLANTS.

I I

objectionable weed in arable land, unless in a vineyard where
it acts the part of a fixer of free nitrogen, and can be destroyed
at any time by the horse-hoe when its services are no longer
rec]uircd. It is usually to be distinguished from Boer clover
b}' a puri:)lish stripe up the centre of the leaflet.

Yellow Boer clover, Medicago nigra, is sometimes called
the old Dutch clover or Cape clover. The flowers are single,
while the stink clover possesses a spray of flowers. The pod
of Boer clover forms a spiral bur which adheres to the wool
of sheep and lessens its value. Animals are fond of it, and
ostriches are liable to eat it out of a pasture. This plant
grows naturally, and the seed is not sown.

Bur clover, Medicago denticulata, does not stand so erect
as Boer clover. It produces e.xcellent food for stock, but it
is not cultivated owing to the injur)' produced b}- the bur
adhering to the wool of sheep.

It should not be forgotten that all the various clovers, and
nearl)' all the other plants of the natural order Leguminosa; —
whatever their merits may be as food — are more than plants
of other natural orders productive of soil fertility, owing to
the power which they possess of utilising the free nitrogen
of the air, and leaving it stored in their roots for the uses of
succeeding generations of crops.

Official Return of Crops Cut Creen. — 1893-4—94-5.

Amount in

Transkei

Total in
Whole Colony.

Names of Crops.

Muids*—
Colony Proper.

and
Walfish Bay.

1894-5

Wheat

. Bundles

116,654

20,805

137,459

1893-4

„ (Figures

Imperfect) ,,

1894-5

Barley

. Ikindles

2,413,257

53,444

2,466,701

1893-4

))

1,812,000

52,531

1,864,531

1894-5

Oat hay

„

393,020

118,530

511,550

1893-4

))

784,259

97,872

822,131

1894-5

Rye .

■t

212,642

1,525

214,167

1893-4

„

201,944

10,600

212,544

1894-5

Mealies

248,667

35,496

284,163

1893-4

173,851

44,350

218,201

1894-5

Kaffir corn

„

8,310

8,320

1893-4

4,155

5,900

10,055

* 1 l\Iuid = 3 Bushels

CHAPTER VI.

WEEDS OF ARABLE LAND OTHER THAN GRASSES.

Thistles — Sorrels — Coco or Nut Grass — Dubbletje — Cockscomb — Stra-
monium — Irrigation — Bur-weed — Charlock — Fathen — Wild Oat —
Wild Vetch — Dagga or Indian Hemp — Goudsbloem.

The Texas poppy, Argcinone mexicaiia, L., is popularly
reckoned amon^^ thistles at the Cape. It has a pretty
yellowish flower, but is a very objectionable weed which
no stock will eat. The Canada thistle of America, C. arvense,
is also present in the Colon)', and is productive of a consider-
able amount of inconvenience at times. Its history is some-
what unique. In certain seasons no thistles appear. In other
years, when untimely rains fall, the plant sometimes takes the
upper hand in arable land — for example, in the Caledon dis-
trict — and for three years nothing^ else can grow. At the end
of that time it dwindles or disappears. This is a parallel to
the state of things which exists upon strong bush land in
New Zealand, if recently felled and burnt off, and the sowing
of grass seeds not done at once.

On land which is permitted to fall back into the natural
state of the veld, the growth of a dense crop of thistles is pro-
ductive of good rather than of injury.

Of the numerous sorrels for which Cape Colony is re-
nowned, a number are objectionable weeds in garden cultiva-
tion, growing and seeding freely, and, owing to the presence of
their corm-bearing roots, being impossible to eradicate. Two
species may be mentioned that are particularly troublesome —
one with a very pretty pale yellow flower, Oxalis cer?iiia, and
another with a red flower, O. purpurea, L. The sorrels are
quite different in every respect from the common dock sorrel,
Rumcx acetocella, with the one exception that it also is a
troublesome weed. Its seed is frequently distributed in horse
manure, having passed through the alimentary canal of some

WEEDS OF ARABLE LAND. II5

animal without suffering injury, and probably prepared, during
its passage, for speedy germination.

Coco or nut grass, Cyperus rotundus, Kth., sometimes
erroneously called Indian quick grass, is one of the most uni-
versal and most objectionable weeds of cultivation. It seems
to thrive best on the heavier classes of land, and where crops
are irrigated. Efforts to eradicate it, directed frequently, too,
'during winter against the corm, which so far resembles a young
onion, have proved unsuccessful, chiefly owing to the fact that
the plant propagates its species much more readily by seed
than by the budding of the tuber.

The successive steps in the process of extermination are
to prevent the plant seeding, to encourage the germination of
the seeds already in the ground by frequent hoeing or moving
of the surfjice, and to get rid of the bulbs themselves by
turning them up to the sun during the summer season. By
these means land can be effectively cleared of the pest in one
or at most in two years. As the seeds pass uninjured through
the digestive system of the horse, manure made by animals
eating nut-grass hay should not be applied to land until it has
been frec^uently turned and well rotted.

The dubbletje, Eiiiex ceiitropodiiini, Meisn., is excessively
troublesome as a weed when once established in arable land.
In appearance the foliage strongly resembles that of dock-
sorrel. Ostriches are particularly fond of its young and tender
shoots. It produces an extremely prickly, fleshy bur, which,
on becoming dry and hard, is most troublesome to the bare
feet of Kaffirs and of dogs.

Fathen, or mealy goose-foot, Chenopodmni album, L., is
also a troublesome annual when it gets established in quantity
on arable land. It must be destroyed before shedding its seed,
else a fresh crop will come up annually for years afterwards.

Cockscomb, Aniaranthus hypocJiondriaciis, L., like the
poisonous stramonium, is to be seen springing on the manure of
old cattle kraals, as well as in cultivated fields. It derives its
plebeian name from the dense red inflorescencewhich ultimately
produces little black seeds. Frost kills the plant, but the seeds
remain for years in the ground. When a seed germinates late
in the season, and there is a danger of frost coming, the plant,
as if to dodge the danger, seeds when it is yet quite small.

Nut-Grass or Coco, Cvferus rotundus.

2. A String of Tu' ers. 3. A Flower Magnified.

Copied frjiii U.S.A. AgrictiHur.il Report 18S7 — reduced onc-fourlh.

WEEDS OF ARABLE LAND. I 17

The stramonium just mentioned, "stink blaar," Datura
tatitla, L., grows a large fruit capsule. If eaten freely, it
brings on paralysis in young ostriches. This is somewhat like
the effects produced upon poultry and even upon ostriches
which have eaten freely of pumpkin pips. They become crazy
and paralysed in the use of their limbs for a time. Once they
acquire the bad habit of eatmg pips it is difficult to break
them from it. The juice of the leaf is used as a remedy for
sore eyes in sheep.

Irrigation is a fruitful source of the distribution of
weeds when weeds are permitted to grow on the banks of
supply watercourses. The seeds of the bur-weed, Xantliiuin
spinosuni, is frequently so distributed, and once permitted to
shed seed on land, a crop of young plants will spring up
under favourable circumstances any time during at least the
following five years.

Charlock, wild mustard, or " romincs," Sinapis arvensis,
L., is a widely prevalent weed of the corn-fields of Cape
Colony. It is also noted for the length of time its seeds
remain in the soil without germinating.

The wild oat, Avena fatna, tends to increase in quantity
on lands which are too frequently cropped and are becoming
poorer, as for example in the Koeberg district. In some
parts of the Western Province the wild oat comes up so
abundantly that it is cut for hay, and as in California it
produces fodder of good quality if its cutting is not too long
delayed. If permitted to become ripe, it is liable to irritate
the mouths of horses consuming it.

A wild purple-flowered vetch, Vicia sativa, L., var., which
twines round and binds the common grain crops — oats, wheat,
and barley — into a dense mat, is considered one of the worst
weeds of cultivation in the Queenstown district. Although
its appearance in quantity is ruinous to the crops mentioned,
it has a few redeeming qualities. It does not come up with
the mealie crop. Stock are fond of it while it is young and
succulent, but as it approaches maturity its stems become hard
and woody, and it does not make into good hay. Although
destructive to the crops among which it grows, it is an active
agent in the valuable work of the fixation of free nitrogen by
means of numerous elongated paplike warts, purplish in colour,

Il8 FARMINC. INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

and clustered often in twos and threes, and most abundant on
the larije fibrous lateral roots, not many appearing on the
tap root. The seeds lie in the ground for years, and a fresh
crop of vetches comes up each season even when the plant is
not allowed to seed. It can only be got rid of by two or
three years of bare fallowing, although heavy kraal manuring
checks its growth considerably.

Dagga, or Indian hemp, Cannabis sativa, L., the " has-
hish " of the Egyptian fellah, is a weed allied to flax which
grows in gardens. It is collected, dried, and smoked by the
lower classes of Hottentots, who are rendered stupid and
incapable of connected work while under the influence of it.
There are various methods of smoking it, but probably the
most elaborate is that in which it is placed in a hole in the
ground, and the smoke is drawn up while water is held in the
mouth. This is run out along a straw held by the lips, and
the bubbles of air and smoke break off like little beads as the
descent of the straw is made.

The goudsbloem, or Cape weed of Australia, Crypto-
stemma calendulaceuin, R. Br., with a yellow flower somewhat
like a dandelion, but with a dark centre, is one of the most
conspicuous plants in arable land lying down to pasture. As
in Australia, it is most relished by animals after the leaves,
which also somewhat resemble those of the dandelion, become
dried up in the sun.

CHAPTER VII.

FORESTRY.

Three Kinds of Forest Growth in Cape Colony — Forests of Knysna and
Amatola Mountains — Forest .Scenery — Most Important Indigenous
Timl)er Trees — Yellow-wood — .Stink wood — .Sneezewood — Iron wood
— Assegai Wood — Sciul) Forests — Mimosa Thorn — Forest Aspects
near Cape Town — The Oak — Cluster and Stone Pines — White Poplar
— List of Naturalised Trees — Species of Eucalyptus — Beefwood —
Australian Wattles — The Forest Department — Schedule of Reserved
Indigenous Timber Trees.

The wooded area of Cape Colony includes three distinctly
different kinds of forest growth, (i.) The remains of the
primeval evergreen forests of South Africa, which at one time
covered much of the surface of the country now bare and
barren. This consists of high, heavy timber trees, and is
now confined to sections of the mountain ranges near the
sea-coast, and always facing southward. (2.) The coast scrub
of indigenous small timber trees and bush. (3.) The areas,
like the Cape Peninsula, and many small centres throughout
the Colony, where imported species of trees have been planted.
In addition to these three very different combinations of tree
growth, the so-called "mimosa thorn," Acacia Jiorridtu and a
few other less numerous species, mostly acacia, clot the land-
scape in certain areas where sufficient subsoil moisture exists
for their growth, and even form clumps of bush.

According to the Cape Official Handbook published in
1893, the indigenous heavy timber forest area of the Colony
which had then been surveyed extended to 550 square miles
of country. Since the passing of the Forest Act in 1888,
this has become public property, controlled by the Forest
Department of the Colonial Government. The area is gradu-
ally extending as the work of demarcation goes on from year
to year. The two main centres in which it is represented,
and which differ very considerably in some respects, are (i)

I20 FARMINC. INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Knysna, in a central coast district of the Colony ; and (2)
the Amatola Mountains, north of King Williamstown, in the
Eastern Province. It appears in smaller areas to the north-
east in the Transkei. It is also present in Natal and in the
regions farther north-east.

At Knysna the forest grows at sea-level, and up to fully
2,000 feet abo\'e it. The main portion, at an elevation of
about 600 feet, forms a belt ten miles broad to the south of
the Outeniqua Mountains, stretching eastward from George
for over one hundred miles.

The soil in the tree-covered area is " extremely fertile,"
owing to the accumulation of humus and to the forest-cover-
ing preventing the washing awa}' of the soluble mineral and
finely divided earthy matter from the surface. A great con-
trast exists between this and the soil of the barren country
lying outside the forest area.

The region is humid. The rainfall, which varies from 20
inches to 40 inches, is somewhat evenly distributed throughout
the year, and it helps to regulate the temperature, which in
consequence ranges between the mean temperatures of the
South of England and the South of France — viz., from a little
over 50' F. to a little over 60" F.

The Amatola forests are farther inland, and are on the
whole about 2,000 feet above those of Knysna, running from
2,000 feet to 4,000 feet above sea-level. On the Drakensberg,
still farther north-east, the elevation reached by heavy timber
goes up to 4,000 and even 6,000 feet. As the distance from
Knysna increases in this direction, the winters become more
and more dry until winter rains disappear.

The Amatola forests contain more heavy timber, and are
also more open than the Knysna forests, areas not covered
with trees growing good grass for grazing purposes.

Though the two forests are in man}' respects similar,
" a distinct change of trees occurs with the change of climate
to dr\' winters. The stinkwood, essenwood, quar and wit
els of Knysna disap[)ear, and are replaced in the Amatola
forests by sneezewood, Kaffir-plum, white ironwood, Kafifir-
boom, and wild lemoen."

The natural forest scenery of South Africa is very grand
and beautiful. A ])rofusion of interstitial decoration, consist-

Plaie 27. — a Roau thruugh the Forest. Face /'age 120.

Plaie 2S. — Dig \ ,

Face page 121.

FORESTRY.

121

ing of tree ferns and gigantic creepers, which latter droop to
the ground from the tops of the highest trees, together with
" masses of gorgeous flowers, such as the Calodeiidron in the
eastern forests and the more richly beautiful and scented vlier
at Knysna."

The following are the most important of the indigenous
timber trees of South Africa : * —

Common Name. Botanical Name.

Stink wood . . . Ocotea biillata {¥.. Mey.)

Sneeze wood . . . Pfei-oxyloii utile (Y.. Si Z.)

True Yellow- wood . . J^docarpiis T/iimhergii (Wook.)

Outeniqua Yellow-wood Podocarpus elongata (L'Herit. )

Black Ironwood . . Olea laurtfolia {'La.mk.) .

White Iron wood . . Toddalia lanceolata {\ja.vi\V.)

Wild Olive . . . Oka vernuosa \X^\\^.) .

Assegai . . Curtisiafaghiea (Ait.) .

White Pear . . . A/>odyies dimidia/a {Y-. 'Mey.)

Kersewood . . . Ptcrorclastrzis variabilis (Son(\.)

Wit Els . . . . Platylophus trifoliatus (X>o\\.)

Sartraan . . . . Elaodendo/t a-oceiiiii (DC)

^^lier .... Nuxiafloribtiuda (Benth.)

Red Els. . . . Cwionia Capensis (L.) .

Essenwood . . Ekebergia Capensis {?i^Axxm.) .

Hard Pear . . . Olinia cymosa [T\\\inh.) .

Buckenhoiit (Cape Beech) Myrsine melanophlceos (R. Br.)

Kamassi . . . Goniovia Kaiiiassi {E. Mey.) .

Mountain Pear . . Cathastriiiii Capensc [Twrcz.) .

Cape Chestnut . . Calodcudron Capcnse (Thunb.)

Kaffir-l^oom . . . Etythrina caffra \^\m\\\.i.)

Kaffir-Plum . . . Harpcphyllum caffru/ti [V,e\v\-\.)

Weight of a Cubic
Foot (dry) in lbs.

57
71
58
52
52
38
54
47
47
40
68
45
58
56
39
16

Yellow- wood forms " about eight-tenths of all the large
timber in the forests " of Cape Colony, and " in the best
forests about one-half of all the trees are yellow-wood.''
There are two varieties — the Outeniqua, common or bastard
yellow - wood, of large size, and the true yellow - wood,
which is a much smaller tree, with wood of a shorter fibre
and closer grain, although very much like the other in
general appearance. Some of the Outeniqua trees grow to
very large dimensions, " one known as the ' Eastern Monarch '
measuring 23 feet in girth and 80 feet in height." The wood,

* Taken from the chapter on " Woods and Forests," by D. E.
Hutchins, in the " Official Handbook of the Cape, &c.," to which the
author is further laryelv indebted.

122 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

which is of a light-yellow colour, makes excellent joisting
and flooring. It is also used for railway sleepers after being
creosoted. The mature wood is becoming fashionable for
furniture making, as it stains and poli.shes well, and can be
made to imitate walnut, mahogany, and ebony, and some
specimens taken from old trees are naturally dark and orna-
mental. Unless the timber is felled at the right season —
May, June, and July — and allowed to lie under shelter for a
year to season, it is liable to decay rapidly from dry-rot.

Stinkwood or laurelwood derives the first and more
common of these names from the offensive smell given off by
the timber when newly cut. The smell, however, soon goes
off. The laurel-like leaf is "spicy and aromatic, and tastes
like cinnamon when chewed." The wood is almost equiva-
lent in strength and durability to teak, and being also
beautiful in appearance — white, mottled, and black— it is
held equally in high esteem by cabinet-makers and waggon-
makers. It is good enough to export, but the supply is
limited in amount. It forms only about 9 per cent, of the
timber in the Knysna forests. The habit of growth of the
tree is very peculiar and interesting. The seed is seldom
fertile, and the growth of wood is mostly the product of
coppice shoots. " The main trunk of the tree dies from the
top downwards, and from the base is produced a sheaf of
young shoots round the dead trunk." If the old trunk
remains standing while decay goes on, as it tends naturally to
do, " the young shoots put out roots which run down the
parent trunk and eventually reach the ground, where they
take root."

Sneezewood is classed with jarrah and greenheart as
one of the most imperishable and valuable timbers grown in
South Africa or in any country. The length of time required
to induce decay in the heartwood is not yet determined.
It is invaluable for fencing posts, as it has not been known to
rot, although in use since the early days of the Colony. It is
not attacked by the white ant of the tropics nor by marine
borers. It owes its safety and its durable qualities to the
presence of a pungent essential oil, which also gave origin to
the name of " sneezewood," as it sets up irritation in the
nostrils, followed by " \-iolcnt fits of sneezing," when fine saw-

FORESTRY. 1 23

dust is accidentally taken into them during the operation of
cutting it up.

As machine bearings, it is superior to ligjinm vike, and it
wears longer than either brass or iron. If it has a defect, it
is in its being so hard and difficult to work. It makes
excellent furniture with a " mottled curly grain resembling
satinwood." The tree is not one of the largest of the heavy
timber trees. It does not grow in Knysna, but belongs to the
Eastern Province, where it was used in large quantities as
firewood until its real value was demonstrated. Now it is
not only a scarce but a dear commodity.

The heartwood of ironwood is almost as imperishable
as that of sneezewood. It is much used for making the frame-
works of ox-waggons, and in spite of the difficulty entailed in
working, it is considered excellent for cabinet-making pur-
poses. The tree grows a long straight bole 2 to 3 feet in
diameter, and 20 to 60 feet high, terminated by a spreading
crown of numerous branches. It is abundant in Knysna and
in the Amatola forests.

Assegai wood is the most valuable of the waggon woods
for making spokes and felloes. It is " extremely tough and
strong, heavy and elastic, close-grained and durable, if
exposed to only moderate damp." The colour is bright red,
but it soon fades if exposed to the air. The tree is becoming
scarce at Knysna, but in the Amatolas, trees of 40 to 70
feet high, and 2 to 3, and even 4 feet in diameter, may be
found.

The scrub forests, such as the Addo Bush, near Port
Elizabeth, arc of little value except as fuel copses. Although
occupying the largest forest area along the eastern coast-line
of the Colony, and lining the valleys of the rivers, they are not
worth the expense of surveying and management on the Con-
tinental plan, such as that adopted by the Forest Depart-
ment in connection with the management of the heavily
timbered country. They are not liable to the wholesale
destruction by fire which is the terror of the forest depart-
ments of most countries in which there are very dry seasons.

The mimosa thorn or " doornboom," Acacia Jiorrida,
Willd., is the most common scrubby-tree or bush marking
the course of the Karoo rivers, and on the open veld main-

124 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CARE COLONY.

taitiing its existence in virtue of its numerous strong white
thorns. Its wood is hard and durable, and useful for minor
farm purposes. The leaves as well as the pods afford food for
goats and sheep in times of drought and scarcity. It has been
explained in another place that it periodically suffers from a
scale insect. It serves as a host for species of Loranthus
and mistletoe, very abundant in some districts. It is from
several species of Acacia,* chiefly y^. saligna, growing in Central
Africa, that the commercial g"um - arable is derived. The
brown colour of some gums is due to the presence of a fungus
which can be artificially cultivated in the laboratory, and Dr
Edington's researches point in the direction of certain
organisms which injuriously affect the animals of the farm
being found in a similar condition in Cape gum.

Another species, A. caffra, Willd., mingles with mimosa,
and resembles it in habit of growth and general appearance,
but it is not so numerously represented, nor docs it extend so
far as Jiorrida from river banks.

The camel thorn, A. giraffes^ Burch., grows to a tree
of considerable size, with a clean upright bole and spreading
head. It is seen in the north of the Colony, and forms a
conspicuous feature in some of the heavy bush country lying
still nearer the equator. In the neighbourhood of Kimberley,
where at one time it was abundant on the bright red sandy
soils that appear in that district, it has been almost destroyed
by cutters of firewood. With a little care and protection the
" kameel-doorn," which is a handsome as well as a valuable
addition to the natural adornments of a level and monotonous
landscape, would yet re-establish itself in soil suitable to its
growth.

The stranger who lands at Cape Town sees little of the
two forest areas described, as the indigenous trees which at
one time covered the slopes of Table Mountain and the
adjoining mountains have been destroyed, with the exception
of a remnant of large timber-trees left in the deepest gorges
where forest fires cannot penetrate, and from which it would
be difficult and expensive to remove timber. The Forest

* Acacia verek, Guill., gives the best white Egyptian gum of commerce.
A. stcnocarpa, Hochst., gives the brownish gum of Nubia and the east
coast. A. guvnnifera., W., gives BarlDary gum, &c.

FORESTRY.

125

Department has done much to provide a new and modern
European covering of tree-growth, although its operations
are, in spite of all precautions, liable to be retarded by fires,
which there is too good reason to believe are at times the
work of native incendiaries.

The three trees which have been introduced with greatest
success in the immediate vicinity of Cape Town are the oak,
Qiierciis pedniiailata, the cluster pine, Pinus pinaster, and the
stone pine, P. pinea. Oaks shed their leaves during winter.

Broken Bush of so-called Mimosa, Acacia horrida, Willd.*

but only for a few weeks. The growing season is in conse-
quence longer than in Europe, and the growth is almost twice
as rapid. The wood of the conifers under the circumstances
is naturally inferior, and the bark is deeply indented, and
presents an exceptionally rough appearance to the eye.

The oak has been naturalised at Cape Town for upwards
of two hundred years. It grows with astonishing vigour and

*The most numerously and most widely represented tree in Cape
Colony. The thorny spines which serve to protect it from destruction by
the browsing of animals during times of drought and scarcity, and the
seed pods which supply nutritious food for live stock, are both clearly
illustrated.

126

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

rapidity in the western area, in which winter rains fall. It grows
freely in South Africa generally, even where winter rains do not
occur, except, of course, on the dry Karoo. The foliage pro-
duced is dense, and the fruit exceptionally large and well
matured. The appearance and also the market value of a
vast number of the oaks near Cape Town have been injured
by the objectionable practice of planting the young trees at
too late a period, and " cutting their heads off as if they were
truncheons."

The cluster pine is a more recent importation than the
oak. It, like the stone pine, produces seed freely and in
abundance, and is spreading rapidly on Table Mountain and
on the worthless Cape Flats. The wood is coarse, and requires
to be protected by creosote to preserve it from rapid decay
when used for outside purposes. The stone pine is liable to
the attacks of a fungoid disease, which is a serious drawback
to its usefulness. The wood, though slightly more durable,
does not grow so quickly as that of the cluster pine.

The white poplar, Popnlus alba, also grows well in the
Cape Peninsula, particularly on black soil flats, where it acts
as a check to forest fires. Although the four naturalised trees
mentioned are the most abundant and the most in evidence,
many other well-known European and Australasian species
have been successfully introduced. The following list is made
up of the names, selected from a list of over one hundred and
fifty, of the species most in demand which have been sold
or supplied from the Tokai and the Kluitjes Kraal nursery
plantations to the public : —

Botanical Name.

Aberia caffra

Acacid deal bat a .

,, dccurrcjis

„ pyciia7itha

„ saligna .

Casuarina qiiadrh'alvis

,, suberosa .

Ciipressus niacrocarpa
„ pyraiiddalis

„ senipervirens

,, torulosa

Eucalyptus ainyi^daluia
,, cormita .

Common Name.

Kei Apple.

Black Wattle.
Pycnantha Wattle.

Suberosa Beefwood.
Cypress, macrocarpa.

„ pyramidalis.

„ Common.

,, Twisted.
Giant Gum.
Cornuta Gum.

Photo, hy Wilson, Aberdeen, X.H.

Plate 30. — Avenue of Firs at Rondecosch.

J- ace page 12

FORESTRY,

127

Piotanical Nciinc.

Eucalyptus citriodora
„ calopJiylla

■ „ corynocalyx

„ dh'crsicolor

„ eiigcnioides

„ i^Iobulus .

„ go )iio calyx

„ Gininii

„ longifolia

„ Icucoxylon

„ microcorys

„ marginata

„ melliodora

„ obliqua

„ rcsitiifcra

„ folnesla

„ rostrata .

„ siderophloia

„ tcrcticoruis

„ vimi7talis

Hakca suaveolens

Leptosperinum Iccvigaiuin

Lyciuni horridum

Pinus Canaricnsis
,, Halcpcnsis
,, insignis .
„ Pinaster .

Populiis inoiiilifera
„ fastigiata

Qucrciis peduncidata .

Robinia pseudoacacia .

Salix vimmalis .

Tamarix orientalts

Conimoii Name.

Scented Gum.
Calophylla Gum.
Sugar Gum.
Diversicolor Gum.

Blue Gum.

Longifolia Gum.
Leucoxylon Gum.
Microcorys „
Jarrah (true) „
Melliodora

Robusta „

Rostrata „

Tereticornis „
V'iminalis „
Common Hakea.
Australian Myrtle.
Cape Box-Thorn.
Canary Island Pine.
Jerusalem Pine.
Insignis „
Cluster „

Cottonwood.
Lombardy Poplar.
Common Oak.
Robinia.
Common Osier.
Tamarisk.

Many species of Eucalyptus have been successfully
grown in Cape Colon}', in Natal, and in the Transvaal. The
wonderful results in tree growing obtained near Johannesburg
have already been referred to in Chapter II. Of all the
species of Eucalyptus which appear in the foregoing list, the
blue-gum, E. globulus, introduced in 1828, is the one of
largest and most rapid growth. After the first crop has been
cut it springs quickly as coppice shoots, and under favour-
able circumstances yields at the rate of ten tons of dry wood
per acre annually, the second growth frequently being better
than the first. The wood is mostly used for pit props and

I2cS FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CARE COLONY.

firewood. Much of it has been sent frcjm the Government
plantations at Worcester to the Kimberley diamond mines.
The wood, when dry, is difficult to work, and it is extremely
liable to split while seasoning, especially if it be not cut at
the proper season, but when this danger is avoided it forms
useful tough wood for waggon work and other purposes.
Now that the first planting rush is past, and people are
becoming less anxious for rapid growth of trees when secured
at the sacrifice of the quality of the timber, the following
species of Eucalyptus are most rapidly supplanting the blue-
gum in public favour — E. rostrata, E. coniuia, E. inargiii-
ata (jarrah), E. amygdixlina (giant gum), and E. robnsta.
Near Johannesburg gum-trees were mostly planted in rows
at a distance of 3 feet and 4 feet apart each way, but
this was found to be much too close to secure quick returns,
and probably 6 feet, or even 9 feet, according to Sutton of
Natal, would be a much more satisfaclor)- width between the
rows^

Young gums are liable to be killed by the frost which
occurs in the higher regions of South Africa, but after they
have been established for a few years they become hardy and
able to resist it.

Although gum-trees are generally successful, there are
places where they do not thrive. At Pietermaritzburg- they
die off after coming to a good height, and on the hard irony
soil near Port Elizabeth gums do badly. The trees which
seem best able to overcome the soil disadvantages of that
portion of the Colony are species of cypress and the Norfolk
Island pine.

A species of beefwood, Casuarhia equisetifolia , Forst.,
with erect, short, needle-like leaves jointed like an equisetum,
produces a red wood (resembling beef), which, when carefully
seasoned, is useful for many farm purposes. The wood of
the long pendent leaved species, C. quadrivalvis^ Lab., which
also grows well in the Colony as an ornamental tree, is
worthless.

The Australian wattles have acclimatised readil}', and are
represented by a good many species. The common wattle
of Westralia, Acacia saligiia, i.'fof those useful for the produc-
tion of tan bark, the one which thrives best. It grows better

FORESTRY. 1 29

than either the A. decurreiis, var. mollis, or A. pycnantha,
which in their native places yield the largest percentage of
tan. The price of bark remains about £a^ per ton, and at
that figure it does not leave a satisfactory return for its collec-
tion, the cost of which averages about 2s. 6d. per 100 lbs.
The "hardy Port Jackson \N2iXX[Q, A. falcata^zwd. A. cyclopis,
grow freely anywhere in South Africa."

For the purposes of forest management the Colony is
divided into four conservancies, each placed under a con-
servator, who annually reports to Government through the
Department of Agriculture.

The following is a list of the divisions referred to, with the
last published annual statement of the receipts from forest
produce, and expenditure of each conservancy attached : —

Conservancies.

The Western
The Midland
The Eastern
The Transkei

Total . . . .£18,683 ^29,832

Total adverse balance for one year ;/^i 1,149

The excess of expenditure over receipts must not be looked
upon as loss, but as an investment by Government of capital
of a substantial and useful kind, which will in due time yield
satisfactory returns.

The system of forestry adopted in Cape Colony is
fashioned after the most scientific Indian and Continental
methods, which involve protection against fire and other
sources of preventable injury ; the survey of areas under
control, and the subdivision of these into sections, so that a
regular working plan or succession of crops, extending over a
lengthened period of years, may be adopted. The felling of
timber is not now wasteful, indiscriminate, and general as it
used to be, but is confined to certain areas, which in turn are
reconstituted by resowing or replanting. Resowing is in
favour, owing to being so much less expensive than replanting

Revenue.

Expenditure

£5,892

£13,339

4,664

7,785

5,779

3,966*

2,348t

4,742

* Exclusive of expenditure on drift sand reclamation,
t Includes £339 from fines imposed.
I

130 FARMINCi INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

— the figures in one return made in connection with work clone
at Kluitjes Kraal in 1894 being for sowing 126 acres of cluster
pine £]. ys. 6d. per acre, and for planting a similar area ;^8.
17s. 8d. per acre. The broadcasting' of seed gives, owing to
the rough nature of the ground, better results than drilling',
although if, by the use of better drills or other means, this
difficulty could be overcome, a great saving of seed would be
made by the use of the drill ; and, moreover, the luxuriant
weedy growth which at present absorbs so much of the
energy of the Forest Department to keep it in check would
be more easily combated.

The Forest Department is only in its infancy, and once
it has got into better working order, a greater return than at
present for money expended may be confidently anticipated.

Home-grown seed is being collected at a reasonable cost,
of better quality than seed that at one time had to be imported
at very high prices. Seed of Acacia pyctiantha, which cost to
import 5s. per lb., is now sold by Government at 3d. per lb.

Private enterprise in the growth of trees is encouraged
by the public being able to purchase from the Forest Nur-
series, such as those at Tokai and Kluitjes Kraal, in the
Western Province, a suitable selection of species for any
locality at the moderate average cost of Sd. each ; and it is
satisfactory to know that the demand in this direction has
rapidly increased during recent years.

The natural aspirations of the Department are to provide
in the first instance such timber as is suitable for home con-
sumption, in place of consumers having to depend upon the
imports, which are larger than they ought to be if the home
product had a fair chance in the market, and ultimately to
develop an export trade in certain forest products, for the
growth of which colonial conditions are specially adapted.
With a view to these ends, it is to be hoped that Government will
make no unnecessary delay in providing timber stores, such
as is advocated by the conservator of the Western Conser-
vancy, in which colonial grown timber may be kept and
seasoned, so that when supplied to the public it may be
delivered in a condition which will give general satisfaction.
To settle all points of uncertainty about the time and method
of handling and seasoning the timber, an extensive series of

FORESTRY.

131

experiments would require to be carried out. Owing to the
nature of the cHmate the greatest care will be necessary in the
seasoning of the wood, to retain its keeping power, and to
])revent the formation of cracks, which render wood valueless
for many purposes. The Department is already well supported
by an admirable Forest Act — that of 1888 — and it only now
wants a little time and the means of putting its products on
the market in the best possible condition to enable it to
become, as is the case with the Indian Forest Department, a
source of revenue rather than a burden to the Exchequer.

/ 'iioto. by Dr Hugo.

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"So-c _2

CHAPTER VIII.

VITICULTURE.

Introduction of Vines and Winemaking — Census Returns, 1891 — Wine-
growing Centres — Yields of Wine — Government Efforts to Introduce
Improvements — Baron von Babo's Teaching and its Consequences
— Groot Constantia Wine Farm — Selected Levures — Regulation of
Temperatures — The Orchard — Farmers' Visits — The Wines Made —
Cultivation of the Vine — Planting — Pruning — Horse-Hoeing —
Topping — Manuring —Sulphuring — Calander— Phylloxera — Grafting
upon Resistant American Stocks — Government Plantations — Ways of
Grafting — Varieties of Grapes Grown — Sweet Wines — Dry Wines —
Fruit Acid — Sugar — Prices of Fustage — Wine versus Brandy —
Manufacture of Cognac — Cape Brandy.

Vines seem to have been introduced into Cape Colony
by the early settlers, who, going from European wine districts,
naturally took with them vine-sticks with other household
gods, and in less than thirty years the number of vines
planted exceeded half a million. Though wine and brandy
had both been made years before the arrival of the Huguenots
in 1688, they are entitled to the credit of inti'oducing greater
skill in the art of wine making, and of increasing the varieties
of vines of superior quality. Coming largely from the south
of France, where the heavier classes of wine are made, the
grapes they produced were naturally rich in sugar.* In this
way the Cape became famous for its sweet wines, and at one
period of its history sweet Constantia was regarded as one of
the greatest delicacies of the London season. It is only re-
cently that some of the less sweet northern French varieties
from which light wines are made have been introduced.!

* The 'climatic conditions, which resemble those of the south of Spain,
and also the system of short pruning, en gobelct, have no doubt a certain
amount of influence in developing sugar.

t "Steen" and "Groen Uruif," or Green Grape, besides several
Chasselas varieties, the commonest of which is known as " French

VITICULTURE. 135

Light wine has come into favour, and as the happy combina-
tion of soil and climate for growing suitable grapes for its
manufacture is only realised in certain favoured spots of the
world, this branch of the industry is at a premium. Early in
the eighteenth century shipments of wine began to be made
to Europe and to the East, where the Dutch had a large
trading connection, and the industry rapidly grew into one of
the most important in the colony. At the census of 1891
the vines in Cape Colony numbered 78,574,124, yielding
4,964,616 gallons of white wine, 1,047,906 gallons of red wine,
and 1,423,043 gallons of distilled brandy, in addition to more
than a million and a half lbs. of raisins. The corresponding
figures for the year 1894-95, considerably affected by the
ravages of the phylloxera, are — Vine stocks, 86,858,008; white
and red wine together, 5,389,727 gallons (against 6,012,522
gallons in 1891); brandy, 1,376,013 gallons; and raisins,
2,603,684 lbs. The well-known wine-growing centres are in
the Western Province, the climatic conditions of the Eastern
Province being less favourable for the growth and matura-
tion of wine-producing grapes. The chief wine districts are
situated in the divisions of The Cape, Stellenbosch, Paarl,
Robertson, Worcester, Oudtshoorn, and Ladismith.* The
first three are classified as the coast districts, and the re-
mainder as the inland districts. Within these divisions there
are marked differences in results, owing to differences of soil,
climate, and exposure. The Cape peninsula, with its insular
climate, is specially favoured, and the length of the ripening
period is prolonged to the advantage of the wine as compared
with conditions existing at the Paarl. The grapes begin to
colour at the same time, but the Paarl grapes ripen nearly a
month earlier. With a southern exposure the grapes ripen
more slowly and more perfectly than when the vineyard

Grape," were among the earliest introductions. They have always, till
comparatively recently, been used for sherries, and demanded heavy
fortifyhig with spirit to ensure keeping, and to meet the prevailing taste
for something strong.

* Caledon, Malmesbury, and Prince Albert are sometimes mentioned
at the end of the above list, which is given in order of importance, but
Caledon makes only a little brandy, scarcely any wine, and the wine
product of the other two places is insignificant.

136 FARMIN(] INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

faces the north, and it has been remarked that the best of
the vineyards in the coast group are found on soils formed of
decomposing granitic rocks. The average annual yield of
wine in the coast chstrict group is li- leaguers per 1,000
vines. In Robertson, Worcester, and Oudtshoorn districts
the yield is nearly double this amount. While these figures
represent averages, individual growers have at times produced
in the Cape peninsula 4 leaguers,* and in the inland districts
as much as 5 leaguers per 1,000 vines. The least of the

Colonial Measures.

I, J Leaguek, or about 63 Imperial Gallons; 2, An Aum, or 32 Gallons; 3, i Aum,

OR 15 Gallons; 4, An Anker, or 7j Gallons; s, A Keg or 5 Anker, 4 Gallons.

(A/i in round numbers.)

average figures quoted are a long way more than double the
corresponding figures in any or all of the wine-growing dis-
tricts of Europe, which gives the colonial farmer an immense
initial advantage. It only remains now for him to improve
the methods of manufacture, so that larger quantities of wine
of good quality and uniform character may be put on the
market. There is undoubtedly much wine of excellent quality
made in Cape Colony, but in small quantities by individual

* A leaguer is a measure containing about 1265 Imperial gallons, or
2 hogsheads.

SIT -^HHS^

4 ^j.iV^'t '

""Jag

^SK,

ill*

'-i\

-w^

"■■^4 ■

fe.

VITICULTURE. 1 37

growers, each working" according- to a system of his own,
or, more correctly, of his forefathers. Dealers buy up such
wines and mix them, but however skilfully this ma}- be done,
the mixture is looked upon as a doctored article, and the
charm of getting a special brand of a well-known sound wine
is dissipated ; moreover, the middleman retains a substantial
margin of profit to work upon.

Government has not been blind to the importance of
aiding the wine growers in attempting to find means by which
a higher standard of quality and greater uniformity of char-
acter might be secured in the colonial product, but official
efforts in this direction, until quite recently, ha\e not only
been grievously unfortunate, but even calamitous to the
industry. In 1884 the Government secured as "colonial viti-
culturist" Baron A. von Babo, the son of the late distinguished
and venerable author of the standard work on viticulture in
Europe, and head of the Austrian Proof Station at Klosterneu-
burg. Down till 1892 this expert, as head of the Viticultural
School at Groot Constantia, taught a new doctrine of wine
making, and in doing so no doubt demonstrated the absolute
necessity of cleanliness in everything associated with wine pro-
duction, and so far did much good ; but it is evident from the
story of his career in South Africa that he lamentably lacked
the practical experience and scientific knowledge which were
necessary to success, and inaugurated injudicious experiments
which were not only ruinous to the individual victims involved,
but to the credit in Europe of the wine industry of the Colony.
His fundamental blunder was persisting in his attempt to
make low percentage beverage wines like French vin ordinaire
and Rhein wines out of the heavily sugared Cape grapes in an
unripe state and at the high temperature experienced in South
Africa. Although he preached the doctrine of cleanliness, he
had not grasped the importance of regulating the temperature
of the fermentation vats and of the wine cellar. The resulting
product was not able to endure the tropical heat when crossing
the equator on its way to Europe, secondary injurious fermenta-
tions taking place. This was the fate of the wine consigned
for competition to the Paris Exhibition in 1889, which did
untold injury to the fair name of Cape Colony as a wine-
producing country. The evil influences of this failure are

138 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

to some extent evident in the Colony to-day in the dogged
opposition, or indifference, on the part of farmers to introduc-
ing changes in their antiquated systems of working, and the
misfortune is that the distrust fostered by the Government
effort in this special case is liable to extend to efforts for
improvement in other directions.

As the Groot Constantia Wine Farm, though not now
a Viticultural School with resident students, is still a centre
where every one interested in grape growing may go to see
new processes in operation, a brief statement of the results of
management under the staff of German experts up till June
1893 will form a basis of comparison with things as they now
are. The farm, which had acquired a foremost reputation in
the history of Cape wine production, was purchased in 1885
at fully ;^5,ooo. The expenditure on buildings increased the
capital outlay to £7,6^0. Other items, including the con-
spicuous sum of (in round numbers) ;^8,8oo (or ^1,100 per
annum) for salaries and wages, brought the grand total of
outlays for the period of eight years up to ;^24,48o, from
which, however, there stands to be deducted ^4,600, the amount
of receipts, to leave a net balance of ^19,880 against the farm.
Their financial statement does not go far to condone the
viticultural results which have already been discussed.

Under the new arrangement, which has been in existence
for nearly three years, the whole aspect of the situation has
been changed. The practical management is now in the
hands of J. P. de Waal, a young man of colonial birth and
training. The salaries and wages have been reduced to i^350,
or less than one-third of the former annual amount. The
wine is no longer undrinkable, but is able to rank with the
best wines of the Colony, and to be spoken of in comparison
with \\ines of former palmy days. Above all, the farm is now
a financial success, and is rapidly becoming a centre of
instruction in new and improved methods of working.

The Groot Constantia Government Wine Farm is situated
about half-an-hour from Wynberg Station. The area ex-
tends to about 150 morgen, or 300 English acres. Fifty
acres are under vines, and about thirty other acres are under
general cultivation. A flock of goats and a small herd of
milch cows are kept to aid in providing manure for the vine-

VITICULTURE.

139

yards and thereby to reduce the manure bill. Although not
extravagantly managed or kept in the " swept and garnished "
style of a model farm, it is nevertheless intended to be a show
place of the best and most approved systems of manage-
ment, not only in the vineyard but in the cellars. The
practice of planting vines wider apart than the old wine-
growers did, is favoured, together with the extensive use of
a light horse-hoe as a supplement to the scuffling-spade. In
the process of wine-making scrupulous cleanliness is observed.
The grapes are not now trodden under the feet of naked

The Grai'E Mill {Fouloir egrappoir) strips off the Grapes from the Stalks or
" Rakle," and Pulps them without crushing the Pips.

black " boys," from whose skins streams of perspiration used
to drop into the grape juice, but a Fouloir egrappoir, or grape
crusher and stalker, is employed, and " the crushed grapes are
delivered into the kuip or fermenting tub free from the ob-
jectionable stalk, and with such rapidity that an entire charge
can be made in a very short time, the levures added, and the
process of fermentation begun without delay and without
piecemeal additions of other must."

Pure selected levures or wine yeasts were brought to
the notice of the Cape Government by George Payne, a

I40 KAKAIING INDUSTRIES OF CAI'E COLONY.

connoisseur in wine, who recently visited the wine districts of
the Colony, and who, it may be mentioned in passing, was
much taken by the native quahties of well-made Constantia
wine. Selected levures may be defined as concentrated forms
of the fermentative principles of various well-known European
wines ; and the idea in using them is to get the process of
fermentation more completely under control than is the case
when dependent upon the native organisms present on the
skins and stalks of the fresh grapes. It is also believed that
greater uniformity in wines of different characters will be got
by the employment of these regulating media, which may be
compared in their action to that of yeast in brewing beer.
Little more can be said than that levures are on their trial,
that so far they have not been shown to do harm, that they
have in certain cases influenced the nature of the bouquet,
generally beneficially, and, most important feature of all, that
they have been known to " accelerate the fermentation, and
consequently the maturing of the wine." It still remains
doubtful whether the general introduction of the system would
be beneficial to the Colony, or possible on a large scale.

The importance of a uniform temperature for fermenta-
tion is recognised — the most favourable for the development of
Saccharoinyces ellipsoideus or the yeast plant of uine fermenta-
tion, being about 80° F., but in practice, if the temperature is
within the range from 80° to 90° F., it is regarded as satisfac-
tory. The attemperator or cooling worm, consisting of a coil
of I i-inch tinned copper piping, through which cold water is
circulated, has been introduced into the fermenting vat. The
temperature of the fermenting room is kept down as nearly as
possible to 70" F., and never permitted to exceed 74° F., by
free ventilation, while the concrete floor, with a fall from the
centre ridge towards each side, is flushed at intervals with
water. The cellar proper (which should always be separate if
possible) is kept about 60° F. by closing the doors and
windows by day and opening them at night.

In the vineyard are demonstrated the advantages of
grafting" the best varieties of European vines (which are all
liable to suffer from the Phylloxera) upon American stocks,
which do not succumb to the evil influences of the insect,
even when their roots are attacked by them. The benefits of

VITICULTURE.

141

shelter to young vines have also been shown by planting
narrow strips of common rye, as zvind-scJiaiizen, about 25
yards apart, at right angles to the line of the prevailing
winds.

An orchard is being improved and extended, which aims
at collecting and maintaining, for reference and determina-
tion of nomenclature, types of all the varieties of fruit-trees
suitable for the colon}'.

Farmers are encouraged to visit the farm and cellars,
with the object of seeing personally the methods of working

An Attemi>ekat(ir ok Must Cooler, showing the upright position of the coil of piping
through which cold water is made to flow.

adopted, and of learning what are the advantages to be derived
from the new modes of management. While such object-
lessons may continue to do much good to those who ha\e
considerable practical experience of the industr}', and who
only require hints. or "tips" from time to time, the farm might
with advantage be used as a school, in which advanced
students of agriculture might be periodically brought for a
short course of theoretical and practical training. Certain
specialised branches of the rural economy industry can be

142 FARMING INDUSTRIRS OF CAI'E COLONY.

tautrht efficiently in this way. Dairying and viticulture are
two of these in which Cape Colony is specially interested.*

The wines made are six in number — Sauvignon blanc,
and Stein, representing white wines ; Pontac and Hermitage,
red wines ; sweet Constantia and Constantia Berg, sweet
wines. A portion of the vintage, which by the last report
amounted to about lOO leaguers, is offered to the public, in
small or sample quantities, at prices ranging from lOs. 6d.
up to 14s. per dozen bottles. The remainder has been stored,
and some of the best, ready for drinking, has been valued at
;^30 per leaguer — an immense improvement upon ^5 and
£6 per leaguer, which were common prices for good sound
wine in the Colony in 1893, or £4, which is now reckoned a
fair average price through a series of years. About ten years
ago the price of wine of similar quality went down to 20s.
and 30s. a leaguer, and led to numerous mortgages being
given on properties, which have never been cleared off

To those desirous of learning the details of the wine in-
dustry of Cape Colony, a brief account of approved methods
of cultivation of the vine should not prove uninteresting.

The greatest amount of planting is done in July. The
soil requires to be trenched to a depth of 2 to 3 feet, and
manured. Stirring the subsoil when it is rather poor is fre-
(luently a better practice than mixing it with top soil. Ploughs
and subsoil stirrers are at times called in to do the work in
place of the spade. The best results are obtained when the
soil is left to settle and to aerate for a few months before plant-
ing takes place. Unless there be a good development of deep
roots, which this preliminary preparation of the soil is meant
to encourage, the crop is liable to suffer from drought during
the frequently recurring periods of deficient rainfall. The
sticks, 18 inches in length, are separated from the parent vine
by a clean oblique cut made immediately below an eye or
bud, the upper end being dressed in like manner by a cut
made immediately above an eye.

Close planting was the approved practice till recently —
3 feet or 3I feet apart each way — and on poor soils and in hot

* This suliject is more exhaustively treated in Chapter XXV., which
deals with Agricultural Colleges and Schools.

VITICULTURE. I43

localities and places exposed to the influences of strong- winds,
this is still considered the best width. On good soils, and with
the additional vigour given to the European vines by grafting
upon American stocks, better results are got by increasing the
distance between the plants. Widths of 4 feet by 4 feet,
5 feet by 5 feet, and 4 feet by 6 feet, have each their special
advocates. In the case of the latter, for example, two turns
of the horse or mule hoe one way, and one turn the other
way, move nearly the whole surface, with little overlapping,
at an extremely small outlay, and leave only little areas near
the roots of the vines to be worked by the scufifling-spade.

The saving of expense, and the facility with which the
vineyards can be kept clean, are probably not the greatest
advantages to be claimed for this comparatively, for the
Cape, new method of working. The fine tilth, which is
formed by the regular use of the horse-hoe every ten days
during summer, is the greatest safeguard against drought, and
has enabled farmers to plant vineyards successfully on light
and dry soils, which, under the old system, when spade-work
had to be solely depended on, were regarded as unsuitable for
the purpose. Grapes will not shrivel, even with a three
months' drought, if the surface be thoroughly cultivated. The
growing of field or garden crops between the young vines,
until they come to fruit-bearing, is not looked upon with
favour by those who follow the best practice, unless the crop
be used as green manure for the land. Crop growing im-
poverishes the soil, and retards the development of the young
vine, which ought to be encouraged to grow as strongly as
possible both below and above ground. For this reason
pruning- is not done for the first year, or two years. The low
gooseberry bush shape, adopted in France, and known as eti
gobelet, to preserve the grapes from chills at night, is that seen
in the Colony, the prevailing high winds making trellises and
other high methods of training vines, dangerous.

In pruning for the first time, three to four arms are left
springing as closely as possible to one another from the top
of a single trunk or stalk, so that the vine may be led to
develop into the shape of a wine-glass, having a hollow in the
centre to admit the sun and air. In subsequent prunings, a
strong gardener's pruning - knife being generally used, the

144 FARMINr) INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

bearers of the current year's growth are cut back to two eyes
each. This keeps the branches from growing too high, and it
maintains their strength, while it also adds to the longevity of
the vine. Vines are to be seen at Paarl in full bearing, which
were planted in 1707.

Pruning is carried out at two periods. A first or early
pruning — the removal of all superfluous shoots and suckers —
is done as soon as convenient after the grape harvest, usually
in April (the second month in autumn, corresponding to the
European October), but not later than 15th May, otherwise the
wound dies in, and does not heal, as it ought to do. After early
pruning, the activity left in the plant leads to the formation
of sufficient callus-tissue to protect the wound. The second, or
fruit pruning", is done as soon as the vines show a tendency
to run — usually in August or at the end of July. To prune
earlier would encourage earlier growth, and lead to the exposure
of the young shoots to the inclement weather of spring.

The loosening of the soil during early winter, which was
once performed by digging, can now be accomplished by the
horse-hoe, throwing up the soil into ridges betw^een the rows
and drawing it away from the stems of the vines about the end
of April after the early rains ; at the same time accomplishing
the secondary purpose of exposing the trunk roots to the air
as a preventive of fungoid attack. The levelling of the ridges
after the period of rest is over is also easily accomplished by
the hoe in question — the two in greatest favour being patterns
known as the " Iron Age" and " Planet Junior." In addition
to this systematic pruning, topping, sometimes called summer
pruning, is done three or four times during the season by aid
of little sticks with sharp edges used to chip off the young
tender shoots by a sharp horizontal stroke, to check the
development of long trailing bines.

In the practice of manuring, recent developments are in-
troducing new methods and new materials. Green manuring
by sowing lupins or vetches in May and ploughing them down
in July has been shown to increase the vigour of the vine and
the yield of grapes, although no improvement in quality has
been recorded. Some gro\\'ers favour the practice of spreading
the manure on the surface and burying it by working the soil.
This must have a tendency to develop surface roots which

VITICULTURE.

145

must be a drawback in times of drought. The two methods
by which the manure is deposited at a considerable depth are
no doubt suitable to the combination of conditions relating to
-soil and climate in most parts of the colony. The more
recently introduced practice, which has come in with the
tendency to substitute horse or mule labour for spade labour,
is the burying of the manure at the bottom of furrows
18 inches deep, usuall)^ during May and June. In the case
of table or export grapes the alternate rovv^s are manured
every second year, but wine grapes are only manured e\er\'
three or four years. The old practice of digging- a pit from
12 inches to 22 inches deep for every four vines every second

"Ikon Ace" Hdhsk-TIof.

year, and burying in it from half a basket to a bushel of well-
rotted compost manure, still finds many advocates. In this
way only one-fourth of the vine roots are disturbed every
second year, so that eight years are taken to get over the
whole ground. When properly carried out there is little to be
said against the practice other than that, owing to the employ-
ment of spade labour, it is expensive and may have to yield
to a system which calls in the aid of machiner}-. The roots
become very numerous and active in the vicinity of the supply
of manure, and of course if the " boys " make mistakes and
dig the holes in the wrong places, much damage may be done
to the crop. The points of importance to stud}- are to have
the work done early, and to leave the pits partial!)' open during

146 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

winter by covering the manure with a thin layer of earth so
that they remain receptacles for rainwater which might other-
wise run off. *•:

Some wine growers confine themselves to vegetable
compost, and object to apply animal manure to wine
grapes on the plea that it injures the flavour of the wine,
but this appears only to apply to undecomposed manure.
Complaints have been made against an earthy flavour in
some Cape wines similar to the earthy flavour of Australian
wines. The application of fresh animal manure strengthens
this flavour or is credited at times with giving origin to it by
stimulating the development of an excess of albuminoids.
Tannic acid is employed during the first fermentation to
precipitate the excess of albumen. It is derived from a
natural source by adding a varying proportion of skins accord-
ing to circumstances, including the variety of wine being
made.*

It is now pretty generally believed that solid and liquid
animal excrement improves the quality of the compost, pro-
vided it is well decomposed. Prunings kept till they are dry
and brittle and easily broken down, and all sorts of vegetable
refuse from the vineyards and sweepings from about the farm,
are put into the Hve.-stock kraals, where they are trodden aad
well mixed in a compost heap, and allowed to lie for a year
and more. The mass is usually applied in the form of a
loose dark powder. The mixing or making of the manure
frequently takes place in a heap which is built of layers of
different materials in a hollow place, and at intervals is turned
over and watered to promote decay.

Potash is also applied to the surface in the shape of the
ash from vine cuttings. This is particularly necessary in the
growing of the two best export grapes, viz., Barbarossa and red

* It has been stated that " the addition of a little galHc acid to a
sample of clean sherry will immediately produce the so-called gout di(
terroir, or earthy flavour. Tannin easily changes under given circum-
stances into gallic acid. It is therefore very probable that the objection-
able taste referred to is caused by conversion of the tannin derived from
the stalks and skins of the grape into gallic acid, through assumption of
a molecule of water. This would be in accordance with Schiff's researches
on the constitution of the bodies in question."

VITICULTURE.

147

Haanepoot.* In some places cows and pigs are permitted the
free run of the vineyard after fruit gathering until pruning
begins in July. Cattle are fond of Haanepoot leaves, but not
of the bright-red leaves of Pontac.

Sulphuring is a most essential operation as a safeguard
against oidium and all forms of fungoid attack so ruinous to
the vine plant as well as its fruit. The work must be done in
dry weather, and the finely divided flowers of sulphur blown in
at the base of the vine by a labourer working a pair of bellows
with the nozzle turned up so that a regular coating is dis-

Vermorei.'s ToKPii.i.K OR SuLi'HUR Bellows. (See Appendix C.)

tributed over the entire surface of the plant. This is a great
improvement on the gunny shake-bag, which wastes 30 per
cent, of the sulphur as it is being dusted on ; but the latter
has still to be used where, by the carelessness or stupidity of
the " boys " entrusted with the work, the powder-bellows cannot
be kept in working order. The first dressing should take
place when the shoots are six inches long, and regular dress-
ings every ten days should follow until the grape is coloured.
No injury need be feared from an over-dose, whereas the con-

* The latter vine is the muscat of Alexandria, and its Dutch name,
which means cock's-foot, is taken from the palmate shape of the leaf.

148

FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPF COLONY.

sequences of a deficiency in the amcnint applied may be
serious.

The insect pest of the vineyard known by the name of the
calander, Plilyctimes callosiis, has been successfully checked
at Groot Constantia by the application of a moderate dressing
of lime to the soil, which seems to have had the double effect

PllVLI.OXERA VASTATRIX, J. E. PlANCHON.

Female specimens and their eggs, a and a, antennje ; b and h, horns or suckers ; c, egg plainly
visible in the boily of the insect; /, the egg;y", winged form of insect. All greally magnified.

Co/'icdfypin the laic //'. Thomson s " Tivaiise on G7a/>c Vine," loth ed.

PlIVII-OXERA R(5(>T Fl
MAGNIl-Uil).

Phyli.oxf.ha Mature Wingless
Female Magnified.

of destroying the insect at that stage when it takes shelter in
the ground and of increasing the vigour of the vines, so that
they are the better enabled to resist parasitic attack.

The dread enemy of the grape vine, Phylloxera vastatt'ix,
has become thoroughly established in Cape Colony. It first
appeared in 1885, and in spite of all efforts to check its pro-

VITICULTURE. 1 49

gress it has penetrated into almost every vine district of the
Colony, and it is only a matter of time till it will be found in
every vineyard. The Cape peninsula, owing to its isolated
position, and to the prevailing strong winds coming from the
sea, and not over phylloxera-infested country, is, with a few
more or less isolated centres, at present free from its ravages.
Some females are winged (see accompanying figure), and
easily carried by the wind. This accounts for the rapidity
with which infected areas expand, and also for the difficulty
of effectively checking its advance. When a vineyard is
attacked, patches from which the leaves begin to fall off early
are seen, and when investigation is made the yield of grapes
will be found to have decreased. The heavier parts of the

L-sS**'''^

Section of Vine-Leaf Magnified, and
Eggs of Phylloxera.

Vine-Leaf injured by Phylloxera.

soil, from which the largest crops used to be obtained, generally
suffer first and most seriously. In such places cracks open to
a considerable depth in dry weather, through the shrinkage
of the clay, and the insects dropped by the winds find by them
a much more easy entrance to the roots than on light soils
that do not open. It is probable that, apart from this, heavy
soils form the more agreeable habitat for the pest. The fact
of its preference for heavy soils is now so well recognised that
in Hungary vineyards are being planted as a matter of safety
on sandy soils which were formerly regarded as not good
enough for the purpose. The frequent use of the horse-hoe,
with the object of maintaining a tilthy surface, is probably the
best mechanical means of prevention. This recommendation

150

FARMINC; INDUSTKIKS OV CAPE COLONY.

is made in full knowledge o( the fact that the phylloxera insect
has never been found on the ground surface. When affected
spots a])pcar in a field the insects can be killed by injecting into
the soil small doses of bisulphide of carbon (not enough to
destroy the roots of the vine), or by using the sulpho-car-
bonate of potash in solution, but the cost of either remedy is
prohibitive if carried out on an extensive scale, and repeated
after every new infestation. A young Dutchman, Charles
Neethling, at Stellenbosch, had practised successfully an in-
genious plan of retarding" the extension of infected areas for
a considerable period, but the labour and expense involved

Gnapes (Raisin Blanc) Grown in White Sand on Mowbray Flats in imitation of the
Hungarian practice, with the object of securing immunity from phylloxera.

made it impossible for adoption on a large scale. A trench
is dug round an infected spot, well back among the uninfected
vines, and for a time kept full of water by day. The earth is
scraped back to the depth of a few inches round the base of
the stalk of each vine, and a layer of sand is deposited in the
hollow and covered with manure, surface soil, and soil from
the trench. New roots develop near the surface, protected
from the ascent of the phylloxera by the layer of sand, and
these feed the vine and keep up the yield of grapes while the
deep roots are being destroyed.

All European varieties of vines succumb readily to the
injurious action of phylloxera insects li\'ing on the bark of their

VITICULTURK. I51

roots. Many American vines, which have had longer to con-
tend with this pest of American origin, grow without seeming to
suffer from its presence. The bark with them is thicker and
more robust, the result, no doubt, of natural selection — a case
of the survival of the fittest. As the real injury is done to the
roots of the plant, it has been demonstrated in Europe, Aus-
tralia, and in Cape Colony that the most susceptible of choice
European vines can grow with perfect safety, and without
injury to the quality of the fruit or the wine, if grafted on the
resistant American stocks. Of a large number that have
been tried the Riparia and the Rupestris have j)roved
the most suitable for Colonial conditions. The Riparia is

■r

Phylloxeka Lakva
Magniiheu.
Rootlets of Vine Magnified, Exhibiting Galls produced
BY Phylloxera.

a trailing and climbing plant with large leaves, suitable for
deep and heavy soils. Rupestris, which has had the greatest
success, is smaller and better fitted for loamy and light soils.
It grows more in the form of a bush, and the leaves are small
and resemble those of the apricot. Solonis, the third most
successful resistant stock, is a small-leaved variety of Riparia.*
In addition to conferring immunity from the ravages of
phylloxera, grafting on American stocks increases the vigour
of the resulting plant. Not only do the roots and stem
grow larger, but bearing commences the second year after
grafting, and the yielding power is decidedly greater than

* The resistance of Solonis is only 15 as against 19 in the cases of
Riparia and Rupestris, 20 being immunity.

152 lAkMlXt; INDUSTRIKS OF CAIT: COUJNY.

in the case of unc^rafted \ine.s. The stem above the t^raft
j^rows thicker than that beUjw, owini^ to the greater stren<^th
of the colonial or European \ine, and also o\\ing to roots
springing from the base of the colonial graft, it having been
covered by soil used to protect the graft from drought until
united. In December the earth is drawn back, and these
roots are cut. If done earlier a second crop of adventitious
roots would probably form. The relative thinness of the
American vine stock entails no disadvantage on the graft.

The Government has established a number of nurseries
or plantations for the rearing of American phylloxera-proof
vines for distribution in the colony — two in Stellenbosch
district, two in Paarl, and one in Worcester, but the results
attained cannot be pronounced to be entirely satisfactory.
The Colony does not seem to have thoroughly grasped the
overwhelmingly serious nature of the consequences of the
spread of phylloxera ; yet most assuredly it is only a matter
of time, and that not very long either, when the whole wine-
growing industry of South Africa must become involved.
Eight millions of vines have been destroyed out of seventy-
eight and a half millions (1891 return), at a moderately esti-
mated annual loss of ^32,000, and yet little more than
1,250,000 American stocks have been planted. One of the
greatest industries of the Colony is threatened with sudden
destruction, and no adequate attempt is being made to apply
the well-known simple and only remedy. The cost of replant-
ing the vines is a serious task in itself, in\"olving an enormous
expenditure of money — estimated at as much as ^30 per acre
when well executed, and when everything is paid for at market
rates. But the Government offer to vine-growers, if they
choose to take advantage of it, phylloxera - proof plants at
IS. per 100, carriage free to the nearest railway station. To
encourage the development of private enterprise and self-help,
the number of vines that may be supplied to each individual
have been limited to 500. So long as all vineyards are not
affected by phylloxera, it is quite natural that many farmers will
be chary about taking even resistant vine stocks from nurseries
situated in infected districts. The stake at issue is much too
important to permit of the course being followed of leaving to
private individuals the dut}' of taking the initiati\'e in providing

viticulturp:. 153

means to combat the evil, although the Government ought to
be ready to retire from the work as soon as it is shown that
commercial enterprise is willing to take it up. If the wine
trade connection be lost, the Colony may be long before she
recovers from the consequences. An immediate and strenu-
ous effort should be made to produce American resistant
stocks by the million, and to this end a working gardener
who is not afraid to take off his coat should be placed in
charge of each station, and every encouragement given to him
to become totally absorbed in the work. Something more
might be done to induce farmers to purchase American grafted
vines at the low price fixed by Government, and they might
also be instructed how to form nurseries of American vines
in their own vineyards. Complaints were made that farmers
planted out for bearing the few American stocks which they
secured, in place of attempting to use them for the production
of scions ; but this is no excuse for the lack of provision to
meet an urgent demand which is sure to come sooner or later.

A quarantine station for imported vine stocks has been
established at Fort Cunynghame, in the Eastern Province,
six hundred miles away from the vine-growing centre of the
Colony, with the object of preventing the introduction of
Pcrotiospora viticola, and other fungoid diseases not yet
proved to exist in the colony, and 525,000 imported cuttings
of xA.merican vines were planted there in 1892-94. The addi-
tional precautions are practised of having all the cuttings
dipped in lime and sulphate of copper solution (Bordeaux
mixture) before leaving Europe, and of having them re-
peatedly sprayed with the same after planting.

The sites for nurseries have, unfortunately, not always
been well chosen. Parijs station, near Paarl, is on one of the
poorest soils that could be found, and located so that the wind
sweeps it from end to end ; while close at hand, near the base
of the Paarl mountains, soil of the most excellent description
for vine-growing and well sheltered could have been obtained.

The blunder made in the selection of this station is one
of the best possible illustrations of the necessity for the
establishment of a Department of Agriculture on the lines
laid down in a later chapter. The interests of the Colony
should be safeguarded by the Department being able to call

154

FARMING INUUSTRIKS OF CAI'F COLONY.

for and willing to act upon the best expert evidence, from
officers in its own cmpk^ymcnt, on this or any subject coming
within its spliere of influence.

There are four ways of grafting practised in the Colony.
1st, Grafting on rooted cuttings during winter, and planting
again in the nursery, which is the most approved method. 2nd,
Grafting similarly, but on plain cuttings which have no roots,
so that on planting, the grafting and rooting take place simul-

F/G.A

F/G,a

r/G,C

/r/G,/^

Green Grafting. — I. Hungarian Method. — In Fig. a the internode ab, between the
third and fourth leaf-buds of the American stock, is cut horizontally one inch above the node b^
and split. Fig. ii, the scion or graft cut into the shape of a wedge, less than half an inch long, at
the lower end, two buds, c and d, being left uninjured. After being placed in position, the two
wounded surfaces are held together by an indiarubber band, and the whole of the parts involved
are protected from the sun by paper tied on below the joint, as seen in Fig. c. In the II.,
Austrian Method, two slanting cuts are made, the scion and the shoot to which it is to be
joined being about the same thickness, and the joint made as seen in Figs, c and D.

taneously. 3rd, Grafting in the field on to growing vines
which have been planted out the year before. This is a
favourite practice with farmers, although the results are fre-
quently very unsatisfactory, especially on heavy soil. It is
necessary to throw up the earth in ridges to cover the bases of
the scions, and protect the grafts from drought. The heavy
soil dries and cracks, and the i^raft suffers from the want of

VITICULTURE. 1 55

protection. The grafts are sent out from the Government
nurseries before grafting time, and have to be buried in
bundles for a month until August arrives, when the variations
in the temperature are not so extreme, at least for so many-
days, as during the preceding two months. Then the land is
in better condition for working and the September spring
growth is nearer at hand. 4th, Green grafting on the parent
plants from early in October till the beginning of December,
when the tender shoots are growing vigorously. The parts
are held by thin elastic bands which decay and fall off, and
shade is given by little pieces of paper tied over the junction
with woollen thread.

Of the varieties of grapes grown Cube met- Sauvignon
)'ields the best Cape claret ; Hermitage, which is much more
widely cultivated, makes also a good claret. Smivignon blanc
}'ields a light sauterne or chablis. Stein produces a light sherry,
or a heavy wine if fortified b}^ alcohol or if the grapes are left
till they are fully ripe. Pontac makes Cape port, a dry wine
of good medicinal qualities, equal to the best European port if
kept for eight years. From Riesling hock is obtained ; and
light white wine from the Green Grape, or " Groen Druif," a
sort of CJiasselas.*

The finest sweet wines are still made in Constantia
district, from Pontac, Frontignac, Muscadel (red and white),
and Haanepoot, besides several other varieties of great merit.
Fashion is rather against sweet wines at present, although
many of them are most seductive and highly prized by ladies
who do not care for fashionable wines. They are not regarded
as wholesome to drink, unless in very limited amounts. Cer-
tain growers who have made sweet wines for years still
continue to do so, but the margin of profit is less than in the
case of other wines, unless the quality is very superior. The
expense is greater, and only one leaguer of sweet \\'ine can be
got from grapes which would produce three leaguers of dry
wine. In olden times, when sweet wine was made thicker than
it is now, the proportion was one to four. To secure a large

* For an account of the processes of fermentation in wines, see the
chapter on " Wine Production " in the author's work on " The Rural
Economy and Agriculture of Austraha and New Zealand." Sampson
Low, Marston, & Co., London.

156 lARMlNG IXnUSTKIKS OK CAPE COLONY.

percentage of sugar the grapes are not gathered till quite ripe,
and they are partially sun-dried before the process of wine-
making begins.

In the manufacture of dry wines the question of the
amount of sugar is an important one, and the grapes must
have reached a certain degree of ripeness if the formation of
acetic acid (vinegar) is to be avoided during the process of
fermentation. It is in the determination of such points
that jDractical experience and sound judgment are of so
much importance as guides to success. In a very dry season
there is an excess of fruit acid, and with more than 0.5 per
cent, of fruit acid the wine will be coarser than desirable — the
saccharometer showing 18 per cent, of sugar. By letting the
grape get riper the sugar is increased to say 19 per cent., and
the fruit acid is relatively reduced, so that a softer wine is the
result. Fruit acid never disappears from wine at any stage,
although acetic acid can be got rid of by treatment with
gypsum (sulphate of lime) ; but the product is then more
suitable for the brandy-still than to be drunk as wine. In
making white wines with over 20 per cent, of sugar in the
grape the glycerine is lost to a large extent, and the wine
becomes less soft and round. With 26 to 27 per cent, of
sugar, softness due to the sugar is obtained instead of through
the glycerine, which is the softening medium in dry wines.
Owing to climatic differences, the rate at which fermenta-
tion proceeds in the Colony is more rapid than in Europe.
This not only increases the difficulties and dangers in the
process of wine-making generally, but it renders the production
of light wine similar to the lightest of French wines practically
impossible. Such difficulties make it all the more necessary
that the process of wine-making should be well under control.
To this end the close fermentation vat must ultimately wholly
replace the old-fashioned tub \\ith an open mouth, so that
nothing but filtered air free from the germs of injurious
fermentations may find access. Prices of " fustage " ha\ing
much decreased, do not form an insurmountable barrier to the
necessary change. " Stuk-vats," or the large vats, made of
American oak, and good to last for a hundred years, with a
capacity of five to seven leaguers, in which wine is stored in the
cellar, can now be bought for ;^30 in place of iJ^50, the former

158 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

price. They can be secured in good condition, second-hand
for i,'i2 to £iS- New seven-leaguer fermentation vats can be
got for httle more than the latter sum.

One of the chief aims of the Agriculture Department of
Government should be the regeneration of the vineyard
and the encouragement of the production of wine rather than
. of brandy. Nations which use light wine freely as a beverage
are never ^\'hat may be termed drunken, and the same may
be said of wine makers. The brandy industry is from every
point of view the most unsatisfactory in the Colony. The
margin of profit to the producer has practically disappeared,
and much brandy is now actually being produced at a loss.
The far-reaching immoral influences which it originates are
much to be deplored. In place of Cape brandy those who
prefer to make a distilled spirit rather than wine, might, with
advantage to themselves and to the Colony, be induced to
take up the manufacture of " Cognac." There is an increas-
ing and practically unlimited demand for it in Europe for
making champagnes and for other purposes at three times
the price now got for Cape brandy. It is made from wine
heated by a jet of steam driven directly into it in place of
from the outside of the vessel. When Cape brandy is stilled,
fusel oil and the higher alcohols come over as well as ethylic
alcohol, and remaining in the product, take years to mature,
before it can be drunk with safety. The profit meanwhile
disappears. It will probably take some time and trouble to
convince the British buyers that Cognac is made from wine
and not from brandy. The delicate ethers which have so
much to do with producing a full aroma remain in Cognac,
but are not to be found in Cape brandy with the fusel oil
distilled out of it.

The ordinary simple brandy stills are of no value in the
making of Cognac. Expensive plant, involving an outlay of
iS^500 or £600, is necessary, so that it is not for the average
wine-grower to attempt single handed the making of Cognac.
It is yet to be settled whether the work of the distiller should
not be entirely separated from that of the grape grower, or
whether it will be possible to get farmers to combine in the
distilling part of the business. An admirable Austrian ap-
paratus for the purpose was found in the possession of one

VITICULTURE. 1 59

cultivator, P. Rabie, near Worcester, but full advantage was
not taken of its working capacit}'.

Brandy, dop or Cape smoke, is a product derived from
Cape wines, in the making of which the grape stalks are
removed. When new it is a crude and noxious spirit,
containing large quantities of fusel oil and a number of
other deleterious products of similar type. It is prepared
in the commonest form of still by farmers in all the \ine-
growing districts. When kept in cask until it is old and
mellow it becomes excellent, the fusel oil having changed,
as in the case of malt whisky, into what may be regarded
as the finest ingredient present. The industry is in a most
unfortunate position from whatever point of view it is looked
at. The farmers lose by it at current prices, and the drink-
ing of it in the raw and fiery condition in which it is mostly
consumed is ruinous to the working population, black and
white, who indulge in it. It injures the digestion and it
exercises a maddening influence on the brains of those who
imbibe it freely. It is an untaxed article in the market of the
Colony, and its price is so low that there are few who are so
poor that they cannot secure it in injurious quantities to drink.
In some districts two-thirds of the wages of a large part of
the working population are spent upon brandy of the worst
kind, and the drinkers may regard themselves fortunate if
some poisonous abomination has not been mixed with it.
Needless to say this not only entails an immense amount of
immediate misery upon those who drink but, what is still more
to be regretted, upon their families. Legislation with regard to
brandy is entirely on wrong lines, and calls more loudly for
adjustment than any other defective product of the legislative
machine. It passes into consumption free of duty. ^15 per
leaguer, which is now above the average price, is only 2s. 4d.
per gallon, or 4|d. per bottle, and it is frequently got from
producers at this and even lower prices by a number
clubbing together to take the minimum quantity a farmer is
permitted to sell. Even retail it is sold after being doctored,
and not thereby improved as a safe and wholesome beverage,
as low as 6d. to is. per bottle. Children of ten years of age
used till quite recently to buy and drink it freely. The law
has made a slight improvement in this respect, but much of

l6o FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

importance yet remains to be done. Immature brandy i.s the
curse of the Colony. No country in which grain is taxed and
brandy is permitted to go free can ever hope to prosper or
to take a first rank among civiHsed nations. Not only should
the traffic in strong drink be controlled by well-conceived
regulations under which it is sold, but a check ought to be
put to excessive consumption by raising the price, not to go
into the producer's pocket to stimulate further production, but
to the funds of the national exchecjuer. This rise of price
would fall mainly upon the consumer and not on the producer
as is erroneously believed in the Colony. There ought to be
an excise duty of at least half-a-crown per gallon on all brandy
consumed in the Colony, and every farmer should be bound
to take out a license for the sale of liquor, even when trading
in wholesale cjuantities, unless he confines his transactions to
dealing with men who pay licenses. Morality is becoming
more and more loose among the white as well as among the
black po]:)ulation. Young men marry girls who have been at
service in the large centres of population, and are possessed of
some\\'hat extravagant ideas, which might, however, in favour-
able environments tone do^\'n in time. But as a result of
drinking Cape smoke which helps to aggravate other un-
settling influences, many a one goes off to the mining centres
in the north, leaving a wife and two or three children destitute
or to the charity of some friendly society.

CHAPTER IX.

CAPE COLONY AS A CENTRE FOR PROFITABLE
FRUIT GROWING AND FRUIT EXPORT.

Introductory Remarks — Erroneous Ideas of Cape Colony Fifty Years
Ago and their Influences — Kimberley and Johannesburg Markets for
Agricultural and. Horticultural Products — Backward Position of the
Fruit-Growing Industry — Advantages due to Seasons of Cape Fruit
in the European Markets — Times of Maturity of the Common Fruits
— Orchard Stock-Supply — Prospects for Skilled Gardeners as
Emigrants — Table of Fruits Exported from the Colony and their
Values.

This chapter, written by a British resident of thirty years'
experience, contains so many interesting, historical, and other
general references, that the author has adopted it as an appro-
priate introduction to his own chapter on the same subject.

There are some countries which do not seem to have made a successful
draw out of the lucky-bag. They have a share of blessings, and apparently
excellent conditions for success in the neck-and-neck race after wealth
and prosperity, but somehow the advantages fail to work, and are more or
less negatived by disadvantages which often are very difficult to define, and
whose retarding power can no more be eliminated than can the inevitable
constant of friction in a machine. It is thus with the Cape. There is no
lovelier climate on earth. All the fruits and crops of the warmer tem-
perate zone grow there to perfection. Health seems almost a matter of
course. The laws sit easy on the shoulders of the subject. Yet with
all these favourable conditions it has never appeared a desirable country
of refuge to the European agriculturist when things went badly with
his special industry at home. There are a good many reasons for this.
Exploited originally by its former masters, the Dutch East India Com-
pany, not on its own merits, and not with a view to its individua
prosperity, but solely as a tool required in the management of tropical
Dutch colonies farther east, the country was practically closed to the
outer world for a couple of centuries. It exported little or nothing, and
therefore had to stand aside while the roaring stream of traffic rushed on
to other lands. Besides, even long after its transfer to England, its
acquired habit of self-containedness and easy laisscz-aller were very little
interfered with, and the Colonial Office, while not preventing enterprise,

1 62 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

did next to nothing to call it forth locally or introduce it from abroad.
It was a land for the more adventurous class of tourists, the sportsman,
and the missionary.

The notion which the average Englishman, a generation ago, had of
the Cape, was truly curious when considered in the light which gold and
diamonds have cast upon it of late years. The inhabitants were supposed
to be all Boers, dressed in fustian if they were fairly well off, in leather
crackers and batjes if less well to do, shod with veldschootis, and armed
with a large waggon whip in one hand and a sjambok in the other.
They all lived in the Karoo, which was everywhere outside Cape Town.
The people who were not Boers were Hottentots, and this servile race
spoke kitchen Dutch, wore nothing but a skin kaross, and rubbed them-
selves all over with sheep-tail fat and bfichu. Nobody but the Hottento.ts
did any work, nobody ever bothered to grow anything for sale, pay any
taxes, make anything, do anything, be anything, save give orders to the
schepsels, sleep through the hot noon, smoke pipes and drink coffee.
Every man had a plaafs, which grew as much grain as he wanted, as
many grapes as he cared to make into wine of a sort, as many fruit-trees
as he had sowed pips, and the rest of the place was in a state of nature,
unenclosed bare veld, not even fenced off from his neighbours, and given
over to as many native sheep and goats as would keep him in milk and
mutton, with perhaps a couple of dozen oxen. Did he desire to go on
a journey, say to the Orange River, six hundred miles away, he loaded
up a sack of meal and some coffee, a gridiron, a cooking pot and a kettle,
spanned in his oxen, and started with a " Trek-jou " and a crack of the
huge whip. He crept along, road or no road, some twenty miles at most,
day after day, stopping whenever and wherever he pleased, quite at home
everywhere, and victualled by his marksman skill — for was not the veld
alive with springbucks, koodoos, and elands, to say nothing of elephants
and zee-koes .'' There was no such thing as trespass, for the woon/adzen
were about one to a dozen square miles, and when the country was so
vast and the population so small what was the good of keeping people
off your great wilderness of desert veld? So in three or four months he
reached his destination, and when he chose went home again, just in the
same easy-going way, a bit at a time. But one never worked hard,
never had any definite object in life, never tried to take a new line in
anything, but simply lived, enjoying the bright sun and genial climate,
and letting things manage themselves.

Something of this sort used to be the prevalent and ludicrous con-
ception of the Cape fifty years ago in the average Enghshman's mind,
when recalling what he had read in books of. travel and sport. A land of
pleasing drowsyhead it was, a country where it was always afternoon.
Even now, after the changes of the last half-century, Johnny Newcomes
are sometimes to be found landing with such Munchausen traditions, and
are very much surprised to find that the upper and nether millstones of
necessity are set pretty close together here, and grind exceeding small.
All this long prevailing impression of the easy-going life lived at the
Cape, and the belief in the utter fecklessness and lack of enterprise

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT. 163

among its inhabitants, did the country incalculable injury. It never
seemed to loom in the far distance as a land of promise, or to beckon to
the crowds of emigrants passing westward to the New World. Even the
great Irish exodus sent few new-comers hither. What opening could
there be in a land already parcelled out, and where it was supposed
every man had his huge slice, and got out of it all he wanted by the
labour of native serfs ? And under this idea the outgoing English and
Irish labourers trooped away to the States, to Canada, to Australia, and
to New Zealand, where a free grant of land awaited them, and where
they knew that each would get his slice on the sole condition of tillino-
it for his own profit. There certainly was a spasmodic effort in 1820
to fill up a part of the country by immigration from certain English
manufacturing counties, just at the period when the inevitable struggle
between old-established hand-labour and the new-fangled machine pro-
duction was commencing, with its inevitable concomitants of falling wages
and personal distress. True also that with the rank and file of weavers
and pin-makers (a crowd exceptionally ill-suited for pioneering as agri-
culturists in a new land) there came out a contingent of better men, with
traditions of the English country life in place of that of the factory, and
also with some little capital. And but for the unhappy series of wars on
the frontier, brought about by a one-sided false philanthropy here and the
densest ignorance at home, the Cape East might then, that is fifty years
ago, have started to the front as a progressive colony. But things have
moved very slowly, and it has been left to the long-hidden mineral
treasures beneath the soil to do for South Africa what neither Govern-
ments nor local enterprise nor happy climatic conditions have been
able to achieve. First the discovery of diamonds on the northern
frontier, then later the totally unexpected gold production in the
Transvaal, revived the memory of the great exodus to the sister colony
in 1850-51. There is one thing to be borne in mind concerning these
unexpected blessings. They have been earned by our exceptional luck,
certainly not by our exceptional desert. We neither toiled nor spun for
them. They have dropped into our lap, instead of being won by our
industr}' and enterprise.'

The position of the Cape to-day is somewhat remarkable. There are
the two great foci of enterprise northwards. The one, the close corpora-
tion of the diamond industry ; the other, the open arena of gold production
at Johannesburg. Towards these two points tend almost all the local
enterprise of the country, and instead of the Colony having solely to look
after its own maintenance, it has become the pui-veyor to an immense
industrial population beyond its borders. The yellow harvests of the
corn districts go thither. Thither go the slaughter-cattle in ever multi-
plying troops. The fishermen on the coast now send the major portion
of their haul up-country in ice. The smaller industries of the farm have
received a like impetus, as butter, poultry, eggs, and fruit of every kind,
all go to satisfy the daily demands of the Transvaal mining population.

It follows that at the present moment there are in every direction
openings for enterprise in various kinds of petite culture, openings such

164 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

as have never existed here within the memory of man. It is not as if
one had to speculate upon the chances of perishable produce being got
across the line and placed upon English markets in saleable condition,
when, for everything that a man can grow to a moderate degree of per-
fection, there is an unfailing market just some forty or fifty hours distant
from the coast, and the rail to expedite it all the way. It is said to be
well for a man to have two strings to his bow. The up-country market
is the Cape growers' first string, the export trade in fruit is the other.
All the special appliances required for both lines of the enterprise are
already provided. The steamship companies supply cold-storage on their
vessels.' A local firm has prepared refrigerating chambers for goods
awaiting shipment. It would seem, therefore, that the only element
required is an increase in the number of intelligent and practised growers.
We want them from England, from the States, from California, in fact
from anywhere where the skill and experience required has run for years
into everyday practice. This is the immigration wanted just now at the
Cape, to catch at the opportunity of the moment, and to turn skilled fruit-
growing into gold. No question but that success awaits the man who
knows how to deal with fruit-trees, to break his ground up properly, to
drain, to prune, to gather, to pack for market up-country, or for market in
Covent Garden, and who has the well-founded contempt for the slovenly
style of letting things grow themselves, and taking as a crop what chance
sends and insect plagues leave.

Then you will say. Are there no growers at the Cape ? Truly ver}' few :
here one, there one, but by no means sufficient to give a character to this
magnificent country as a home of fruit-growing, — not sufficient even to
lead by example the prevailing carelessness into better ways. The
growth of fruit here has been almost always a by-thing, or what we might
call a toy pursuit of the landowner. A few trees, mainly seedlings grown
from pips and fruit-stones, planted in holes dug in the hard untrenched
earth, unpruned and untended, except for an occasional drenching from
the furrow, used, generally speaking, to constitute a Cape orchard. So
long as the owner had fruit for his own table during the season he was
satisfied. The idea of growing fine choice fruits of named pedigree sorts
in order to send them to market, attractively packed, so as to suit the
dessert tables of well-to-do townsfolk who had no gardens, never entered
his mind. Did you want fruit of him ? Then you must buy it as a
favour, and he would "spare it to you," and you certainly could not
expect to get it twice, much less regularly through the season. Yet he
would take the money, showing that the commercial instinct was not
dead. The wonder is that so few ever turned to with a will, and put into
fruit-culture the labour, energy, and forethought that goes to make a
successful business. Things are a little better now. There are a few
men, three times as many as there used to be, who now grow fruit to the
perfection possible in this perfect climate, and all they send to market is
eagerly bought up either for local consumption among the higher classes
or for export to England. But they may be counted on one's fingers, in
place of being numbered by hundreds, and scattered all over the country.

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT. 165

Then you will say, With what is the ordinary market supplied ? Truly
with fruit of the poorest quality — the product of seedlings instead of
grafted trees — bastard refuse, without a name and without a single quality
to recommend it. It looks as if it had grown itself, and this it mostly
has. The ruling condition of the fruit, such as it is, is made worse by utter
ignorance of proper packing and transit. Much of it is shaken down and
tumbled into old paraffin cases and jolted to market in a springless
waggon. Hence it must be picked only three-quarters ripe, so as to bear
the rough usage without being turned to unsaleable pulp. One would
think that the example of the few leading men aforesaid, and the high
prices they pull off for their exceptional samples, would be sufficient to
start a reform, but there are several causes operating in the other
direction. There are the antiquated conservative ways of the small
farmer at the Cape, arising out of the comparative isolation in which he
lives, and which only has been broken in upon this last year or two by
the establishment of Fruit-Growers' Associations in their very midst,
through which an effective interchange of ideas has been brought about,
and information given upon the subject of their special industry. Till
these excellent associations sprung up, mainly through individual activity
and personal influence, it was difficult to find a market-gardener who
took in a garden periodical, or cared to learn what was done in other
countries. Another cause materially checking the desire to improve the
output is the immense demand that exists for cheap coarse fruit and
windfall rubbish among the coloured populace of Cape Town. To them,
so that the fruit is dirt cheap, it does not matter how dirty it is, nor are
they disgusted at seeing the same baskets which brought the fruit to
town piled up among the stable manure the cart takes back in the after-
noon. In no other public of fruit consumers is quality so little thought
of, and hence the producer has been satisfied to grow crops from
seedling trees which are only fit for stocks. They sell somehow, so why
should he trouble himself to produce a better article ? However, things
are on the mend. It may be a long time before really good or even
middling fruit reaches the level of the street hawker, but the simple fact
that the great market of Johannesburg discriminates keenly between
good and bad, and pays accordingly, must inevitably react on the pro-
ducer, and even more directly persuasive are the perpetual calls of the
fruit agent concerned in export to Covent Garden. He knows good fruit
at sight if any one does, and his determination to have it grown
clean, ripened exactly to the export point, gathered delicately, and
graded to size, will do more towards teaching fruit-culture than a legion
of experts.

It is therefore just at this critical stage of matters that the English
fruit-grower who now despairs of making profits at home is invited to
come to the Cape and take his opportunity by the forelock. It is a pity
too that the foreign capital which comes Capewards goes mostly into
mining stock. It were well if some of it were invested in the healthier
industry of fruit-culture. Perhaps ere long the one or two companies
which have already got into working order will form an example to other

1 66

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

companies and friendly competitors in a trade which is practically
illimitable.

We have said that all the material appliances for a growing export
fruit trade have been initiated here. It is not therefore as if new-comers,
throwing their practical knowledge and their little capital into Cape fruit-
growing, would find difficulties in the outlet for their produce. Let it be
remembered that the Cape has one signal advantage for fruit supply to
European markets which is not conceded to the clever and enterprising
American grower. The seasons fall conversely with those of England.
Consequently the only competitors in our special line and special time of
exporting will be the Australians, who, however, are heavily handicapped
by a one-third greater distance from England. Their seasons certainly
do correspond with ours. The best way of making the comparison with
the northern hemisphere quite clear will be by the following tabular
arrangement : —

Cape.

Europe.

December

January

February

V ■

. Summer .

(■June

lAugust

March
April

May

\ ■

. Autumn .

/■September
. \ October
(November

June

)

i December
. ■ January
' February

July
August

. Winter .

September

October

November

}• •

. Spring .

( March
. ] April
I May

This general arrangement must not be taken too absolutely. The
seasons on the two sides of the Colony, west and east, are differentiated
much as are those of India, by the rainfall occurring conversely. In fact
the Cape is a monsoon country, the west having its maximum rainfall
in winter, while the east has it in the warmer months. There is this
peculiarity also in the ea'^t, that there are two wet seasons, namely, the
November or spring rains, and the autumn rains in February. Nothing
can show this peculiarity of west and east better than the two diagrams
here given, which show the rainfall curve for the year at Cape Town and
Grahamstown respectively.

From these peculiarities arise important results in fruit-growing.
The most striking is the limitation of uniformly profitable wine, grape,
and raisin production to the Western Province, which possesses the
necessary hot and dry summers for the proper ripening of the fruit of the
vine. In the east, with its dispensation of summer showers and frequent
hailstorms, with much heavy rain in February, viticulture is reduced to a
branch of gardening, and it is questionable if anything more than table-
grapes for local consumption, such as the Crystal and Sweetwater, can

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT.

167

be successfully managed. Of course this is a general statement, subject
to here and there an exception, dependent upon climatic conditions.
For example, good results have been obtained in the somewhat inter-
mediate climate of the Karoo, particularly at Graaf Reinet and its
neighbourhood. The total rainfall throughout the Karoo averages low,
say 16 to 19 inches annually, as compared with 28 to 30 inches in the
normal eastern region. But the rule holds good in a general way, and a
glance at Gamble's diagrams of rainfall, where the curve is plotted for a
large number of places, so as to be readily comparable by the eye, will
enable one to determine where viticulture on a large scale is climatically

Note. — The distances of the dots in each diagram from its zero line give the average rainfall
in inches for each month. The slant lines between the dots are intended to guide the eye from
one month to the next. (See also the Rainfall Maps, after Gamble, Nos. 12, 13, and 14, at the
end of the vol.)

favoured, and where it will present special difficulties. In the former
case the rain curve for January, February, and March— the ripening and
vintage months — keeps at or below i inch ; in the latter it runs up to the
monthly maximum for the year, say 3.5 to 4 inches. The Sundays River
valley upwards from the Addo, and also perhaps the hot sheltered
environs of Uitenhage, are the best examples of local eastern exceptions
to the general rule. But even here grapes will have to be tended with
very much greater care and intelligence than seems to be necessary farther
west. The great difficulty will assuredly be the general prevalence of
anthracnose, or black-spot^ as it is sometimes called {Sphaceloma ampe-

l68 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Itnidii, De By.). This plague, though far from being comparable in
mischief to the Peronospora of the vine, which luckily we have not yet
imported, is still an enemy to be reckoned with, and it will be necessary
that all eastern vineyards be assiduously treated by spraying with
Bordeaux mixture as a j)reventive of the scourge. There is little doubt
that success will attend the proper application of this remedy, just as has
been proved to be the case in Europe. But the additional charges for
skilled labour in its use will heavily handicap the eastern producer,
especially if he should incautiously cultivate the more delicate varieties
of vine, say, for instance, the Cape western Haanepoot, known elsewhere
as Muscat of Alexandria, a sort which is particularly liable to the attacks
of anthracnose.

New-comers to a country' who have been accustomed to the class of
grape which is seen upon English dessert tables, will be surprised to find
that nothing has ever been done at the Cape at all comparable to the
minute care which grapes receive at home under glass at the hands of
skilled gardeners, who have made this fruit a special study. As we have
them, the grapes are fairly good, and up to size on the outside of the
bunch, but, by carelessness and want of proper thinning, they are not half-
grown or half-coloured in the middle. The plan has been to grow grapes
for wine and for the table in the same vineyard, and with the same low
average of attention. That is to say, the table grapes have practically
grown themselves, instead of each bunch having been the subject of
individual inspection and treatment with the thinning scissors. Perhaps
some skilled gardener, who knows what a dessert bunch of grapes should
look like, may find it worth while to show what can be done in this
country, where the climate renders his glass-house and hot-water pipes
unnecessary. Certain it is there is no lack of wealthy folk here who will
buy grapes of English hot-house type at their full value. Mutatis
7nutandis, much the same thing may be said of other fruits — peaches and
pears particularly. Our growers have had no high standard to work up
to, and have been too easily satisfied. The comments of Covent Garden
salesmen upon picked Cape samples have certainly opened their eyes
somewhat, and given them to see that the fruit which has been taken as
first-rate, levels down to scarce a second place when put beside first-class
produce skilfully grown at home. We have taken things too easily, and
left too much to nature, forgetting that the finest type of fruit is decidedly
a product of art, for which nature provides only the raw materials.

In western markets, January gives the last of the strawberries and
apricots which have been to hand for some five or six weeks previously.
The earlier sorts of grapes, pears, and apples according to kind, also the
earlier peaches, plums, and figs, fill up the list. From the conditions of
the climate it is rather a cultural mistake to try and hurry things by
planting what are known in Europe as early-fruit sorts. Cape conditions,
at least in such parts of the country as lie upon the first plateau reaching
inland all round the coast, are much more favourable to perfection in the
later kinds. Farther up-country on the narrow second and the immense
third plateau, which reaches a level of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 feet.

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT. 169

the conditions are considerably altered. But the gain expected from the
growth of early sorts at this level is practically interfered with by the
tardier approach of spring and persistence of a dry winter's cold. The
results of the most experienced cultivators is decidedly against experi-
menting with early sorts in the hope of catching the high prices asked in
an early market.

In February, the better sorts of apples, peaches, and nectarines come
forward ; and a glance at these will show conclusively that they are
mainly late European varieties, and accentuate the caution we have given
against early sorts, at least for market supply on the large scale. Grapes
and melons are becoming plentiful, and begin to acquire their proper dis-
tinctive flavour, unless they have, as is often the case, been spoiled by
injudicious irrigation. The fruits of keeping quality are now approaching
the season for picking. As a rule they are left too long upon the tree for
lack of two things, — first, want of practical knowledge of the precise
degree of growth at which to take them, so that they shall best develop
the richness and flavour that come by keeping ; and second, want of
something like a reasonable fruit-store, where they can be laid out
properly, inspected daily, and kept at even temperature. It is pitiable to
see good keeping sorts huddled up in boxes, a bushel or more together,
in a galvanised iron shed open to the light and the weather, and varying
in temperature daily from 80" to 90° at noon to 48° or 50° at night. This
is another matter in which we want some gardening missionary to come
over and teach us a gospel of better things.

In this month and in March begins the first drying season, — that is
to say, fruit-drying in the sun, as opposed to fruit-evaporating, the more
practical, more cleanly, manageable, and time-saving plan. Already
very fair work of this kind has been done, and the Wellington dried fruits
have quite reached up to the already high standard of the raisins produced
in the Worcester district. The only reason why these products are un-
known outside the boundaries of the Colony is that the amount produced
does not bulk large enough, and that it is almost entirely consumed
locally in the Colony. The output is not a hundredth part of what it
should be, or what could readily be absorbed by the Cape consumer.
Hence in this case, as in so many others, we stand in the somewhat
absurd plight of possessing the finest country in the world for production,
and yet are content to allow ourselves to be served by manufacturers
and dealers who grow and fetch and carry for us away on the other side
of the world. How long this anomaly is to last, and how long a Cape rural
population is to think it no shame to have on their tables American dried
apples and peaches, and positively to import American fruit pulp where-
with to make " Cape jams," rests with the coming race of fruit-growers
whom we hope to attract to the country and help us to put a little life
and stimulus into our easy-going, lotus-eating lives. Do not for a
moment suppose the thing is here put sarcastically, or in an exaggerated
manner. The whole output of first-class Worcester raisins was last year
bought up, as a matter of course, by two rctailc7's in Cape Town. The
year before the same buyers collared it all. Is it not clear that our pro-

I70

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

duction has yet to expand itself into wholesale proportions ? Another
retailer, on examining an exceptionally good sample of.dried figs that ran
the imported " Elemi " article very close, offered the producer an Elemi
price. Picture his disgust on being advised that the total stock produced
that year amounted to only six boxes. And so with the prunes, for we are
content to buy Continental jars of "Prunes d'Agen" and "Prunes d'Ente"
year after year, forgetting that no better prune-growing land than this
exists on the face of the earth. Truly, in face of such facts as these, one

S£- .;

&^-'

^Kb ^

^9fl

rv^

' *• '^fi*™

^g!»* \ ' *'■,'

WW^^ 4-..'.-

•._ , j^

C\ I't ///r

Raisin Making, Worcester.

does not know whether to laugh, to cry, or to swear. But one thing is
certain, that with present conditions at the Cape, with family grocers
buying up all the raisins that a whole district produces, with farmers
content with a dried fig crop which a man could carry on his shoulder,
there must be a good many very fair fortunes lying about loose at the
Cape, and only waiting for people with moderate commercial instincts,
industry, and business capacity to come over and appropriate them to
themselves.

March, of all the months of the year, shows the barest fruit market, at

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT. 171

least in the way of fresh kinds putting in an appearance then. The
supplies are chiefly late apples and pears of the keeping sorts, and these,
when they come to sale, bear plentiful testimony to the rough way in
which they have been handled and stored. The outside skin is scratched,
discoloured, and far from appetising. Ere long the dealers will learn that
fruit ripened in the store-house must receive attention and handling
somewhat different from that which is accorded to the year's crop of
potatoes. A few peaches of late kinds come in and generally secure good
prices. For the most part these are seedlings that have originated here
many years ago, and, though fairly good, belong unfortunately to the
series of clingstones. There is an opening for considerable improvement
by selection of the improved modern late freestones. In all these fruits
the variety of sorts presented on the market is very limited, and the
knowledge of named kinds is generally absent. It is impossible to go to
any retail dealer and ask for a Bo7i Chretien or Ribstoii Pippin apple.
The seller would simply gaze at you in astonishment as if you were speak-
ing a foreign language. All this will have to be changed, and no doubt
with a continued demand for fruits by name the dealers will gradually
learn something more about the details of their trade than at present
they seem to think at all necessary. The month closes with the last of
the grapes.

April, May, and June present few novelties. The guavas of many
seedling kinds fill up a place which is hardly warranted by the intrinsic
value of the fruit as at present grown. We have them from the insig-
nificant bulk of a gooseberry to that of middle-sized apples. But very
little attention has been given to culture, and still less to improvement
of sorts. It may be said that the guava, as grown here, is often practically
a wilding, and it would be well if nineteen out of twenty of them were
destroyed, and selected grafted plants put in to take their place. Some
day we shall get rid of the mass of bony seeds which fill up the centre
of the market guava, and shall aim at making it a more presentable fruit.
Walnuts and chestnuts now make their appearance. The former have
not received fair play. They, too, have been propagated in our careless
Cape way by seedlings, and it is only within the last twenty months or
so that the fine imported sorts, in which the French growers have had
such success, have been brought into the country. The remainder of the
supply of these months is from Natal, whence our market is flooded with
small pine-apples and bananas. The former are remarkable for being
nearly all outside. Of late, a slight improvement has been observable in
the quality of these fruits ; and when the matter comes to be inquired
into, it is found that nearly all the finest fruit, classed roughly in the
popular idea as Natalian, turns out to be the product of a few recently
established plantations along our own eastern coast. There can be little
doubt that this industry will increase year by year to very considerable
dimensions. The growers have begun in the proper way, namely, JDy dis-
carding the small, hard-skinned, and half-grown wilding pine, that has so
long been foisted upon us, and going to Ceylon and the West Indies for
the very best sorts procurable. From this source, too, will be obtained

172 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

large supplies of the Cape gooseberry {PhysaHs)^ which is perhaps the
most delicious fruit for canning and preserves that the whole world has
to show. We have been accustomed to despise it, simply because it
grows wild without care or culture. The jam factories are, however,
already increasing their output of it, and making it worth while for people
to undertake its production as a. petite culture.

With the last days of June and the first of July come in the whole
tribe of citrus fruits, orange, lemon, naartje or tangerine, and pample-
mousse. From the variations of climate and altitude which have been
signalised at the beginning of this chapter, it follows that these fruits
hold their place on the market continuously till December, their peculiar
external character and power of ripening up after gathering rendering
them comparatively easy of transport from long distances. The locally
grown fruit is perhaps at its -best in October, — that is to say, it can then
be picked and marketed perfectly ripe, instead of gathering it green and
trusting it to slow ripening in the store-room. Perhaps in the case of no
fruit more than these has the public mind been so thoroughly awakened
to the necessity of improvement, and of discarding the wretched seedling
rubbish, full of pips and cased in the thickest of skins, which has for many
years encumbered our markets. The importations of good grafted trees
of the best sorts have been very numerous; and if the cultural conscience
can only be aroused to the necessity of a vigorous crusade against the
scale-insects, which up till now have had it all their own way, and also to
the necessity of giving orchard trees something like fair play and reason-
able care, there will be amongst us quite a new era of citrus fruit-growing.
The great desideratum is that the spirited proprietor shall himself grow
the oranges, instead of leaving them to grow themselves. At present
our largest supply, in Cape Town at least, comes from Natal, and it is
not particularly good. The best Cape grown oranges are from the
district of Clanwilliam.

October brings with it the Japanese loquat, another fruit which calls
for selective improvement. There is as yet far too much pip and too
little flesh upon the ordinary loquat. Yet there have arisen in several
private gardens seminal varieties showing a commencement of better
things. These should certainly be increased by grafting, as far as
possible, instead of reverting to the chance seedling mode of getting
new trees.

With November come in the earlier figs and the strawberry. There
is a future for the fig, and its selected Cape home and centre of drying
for commercial purposes will probably be somewhere in the Karoo.
It is true that we have not, native, any insects similar to the Blastop/iaga^
which assists in the perfecting of the celebrated Smyrna fig. But in these
days of quick steam communication it does not seem impossible to introduce
this useful insect, just as we have successfully acclimatised the Vedalia.
As to strawberries, the selection of sorts, grown chiefly at Stellenbosch, is
very limited, and modes of culture anything but modern. As a rule, the
beds are allowed to continue producing for far too many seasons, and the
fruit consequently deteriorates in both size and succulence. New blood

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT. 1 73

and new ideas, with the habit of modern practice in strawberry-growing, as
it is done in Kent and Surrey for the great London markets, is very much
wanted at the Cape. The demand for the fruit is practically unlimited.
The month closes with the early apricots, and this delicious fruit queens
it right through December. If our growers would only learn the first
principles of pruning this far too generously growing fruit-tree, keep its
bountiful nature well under control, and thin its bearing to something
like one-half, then truly would the Cape have such apricots as no other
place in the world could show.

Whoe\er reads this little resume, and begins to turn over in his mind
the idea of coming out to the Cape to utilise there his practical knowledge
of European fruit-growing, will naturally ask what conveniences already
exist in the way of a supply of orchard stock. Every practical man would
hesitate to bring out with him a lot of grafted trees, selected as best he
could, for a country he had not even seen, and of whose climate and soil
he had had no experience. But very recently there have been introduced
into the Colony large numbers of the very best modern fruit-sorts of all
kinds, by men who have themselves practically learned the capacity and
conditions of the Cape as a fruit-growing country, and it is not too much
to say that, by their industrious multiplication of these picked kinds, the
market for first-class orchard stuff is now amply supplied. There is no
reason now for continuing the old system of seedlings, unless out of
pure wrong-headedness and refusal to take up with improved methods.
So friendly is the climate here to the skilled manipulations of the nursery-
man, that first-class grafted yearlings, thoroughly reliable to name and
graft-stock, can be obtained at prices not greater than those ruling in Eng-
land. To import for oneself on coming out to the Cape would certainly
involve the loss of a season, to say nothing of difficulties in the way
of immediately finding ground wherein to set out the consignment.
Immigrants of the kind one would so gladly see spreading themselves
over the best districts of the Colony, each with his market-orchard grown
and tended in the way that means business and sound profits, would be
wise not to start at once, but to spy out the country first for themselves,
and for themselves see what our grapes of Eshcol are like, take stock of
us and our little old-fashioned ways and conservative habits of working,
and then only, when the land was no longer strange, and the altered
climatic conditions have become familiar, to exploit their capital on some
selected fertile piece of land, and add to the wealth of their adopted
country — this goes without saying — by adding to their own.

A brief memorandum like the present cannot by any means give all
the information that an English fruit-grower would find useful when he
is thinking of looking out for fresh fields and pastures new. It would be
well to note carefully the details to be found in the "Illustrated Handbook
of the Cape." But perhaps the best idea of the way cultural matters go on
here, and the peculiar conditions of Cape rural life, would be obtained by
consulting the issues of the Cape Agricultural Journal, now in its ninth
volume. At the basis of all calculations lies the fact that the Government,
unlike those of Australia and New Zealand, have no available acreage

174 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

out of which they can make free grants to new-comers, and this is simply
because the Colony dates back some two centuries before the time when
the sister colonies began to be exploited by the intrusive European. All
available land, at least within colonial boundaries, has long ago been
taken up, and is in private possession. Purchase or tenancy at a mode-
rate rent is therefore a prime factor in all forecasts of new cultural
ventures. Suitable land, even such as has never felt the plough, but is
simply sat upon by the proprietor, and goes with his pasture area, would
sell at about ^lo per morgen of two acres, provided it were within easy
reacii of a market by railway. The rent would perhaps be los. to 12s.
per morgen. Mere wheatlands would fetch very much less, and ■ if
distant from the railway might perhaps be valued at 12s. to 20s. per
morgen. Mashonaland certainly offers unlimited scope, but its market
is yet to be made. Also it is only near the larger centres of population
in the south-west that labourers can be found who have even a small
degree of skill in the ruder operations of cultural work. Coloured men,
the descendants of the old slave population, with a considerable amount
of miscegenation, can be relied upon to trench, dig, and hoe orchard and
vineyard, to plough and harrow, and to give the vines their annual
prunings, and some of them have even recently learnt to graft with fair
success. Of course all this is subject to a vigilant supervision, and
subject also to the fact that the labourer's wants are so very few as to
make him somewhat independent. He therefore favours his employer
by working, when he is in the mind, at half-a-crown per day. The better
men readily get another shilling, and are a good deal sought after. Mere
farm labourers receive 25s. per month, with rations for self and family.
As a rule these last are perfectly unreliable, and are unacquainted with
the use of other than the simplest hand tools.

In conclusion, it is highly advisable for any one intending to try fruit-
culture at the Cape to bank his capital on arrival, and arrange to receive
the colonial rate of interest, meanwhile seeking out a situation with
some one who is already owner of the land upon which he lives. This
would be the best course, even if no salary and nothing but board were
offered in the way of remuneration for services rendered. In a short
time experience in Cape ways and Cape seasons would thus be gained,
and the land spied out. It is much after this fashion that the best and
wealthiest farmers among us have worked their way in and up. The
European coming from an English farm and making a beginning
without local knowledge, has much to learn and unlearn, or he will
inevitably come to grief in a few years. And what is true of the larger
venture of farming, is even more certain with the somewhat more refined
economy of the orchard.

The following details as to the export of fruit from the port of Cape
Town during the season of 1894 is drawn from the Customs returns. It is
impossible to say accurately what proportion this bears to the quantity
sent up to the ever-ready market of the Transvaal, but in the opinion of
those qualified to judge it has already been tripled or quadrupled.

PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING AND EXPORT.

175

Record of the Cape of Good Hope day of small tJtiiigs, soon to be enlarged.
Return of Fruits exported during the Season 1893-94.

Sorts of Fruits.

December.

January.

February-.

March.

April.

Total.

Apples
Apricots .
Gooseberries

89
I

180

24
I

Grapes
Grenadillas

443

3.139

1,800

901

6,283-

Melons

113

117

Nectarines

Pears
Peaches .
Pine-apples
Plums

530

46
I

164

382

576
7

Quinces .
Tomatoes .

30
I

31
57

Total packages .

1,007

3,626

2,043

995

7,683

Declared valu€ .

;^i82/7/6^784/9/o

^476/6/3

;^274

£l,^2l|2|9

CHAPTER X.

■ FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING.

New Departures in the Fruit Industry — Home and Foreign Markets —
Advantages of Cape Colony — Fruits Grown and Time of Ripening —
Lessons from Foreign Experience — Points to Keep in View — Prac-
tices in Planting Orchards — Irrigation Systems Old and New — Peach
Yellows— System of Thorough Cultivation — Injury from Hail —
Apples — Pruning of Deciduous Fruit - Trees — American Blight —
Codlin Moth — Pears — Peaches — Peach Maggot, or Orange Fly —
Apricots — Quinces — Pomegranates — Plums — Figs — Oranges —
Canker at the Root — Soot Fungus — The Australian Bug — Pine-
apples — Bananas — Loquats — Cape Gooseberry — Packing and
Transport of Fruit — Imagined Boycotting of Cape Fruit — The
Real Defects — Conditions Experienced on the Voyage and before
Shipment — Successful Shippers — Means and Methods of Packing —
Fruits Sent — Unique Flavour of Cape Grapes — Californian Fruit —
Prospect of the Cape Fruit Industry — Necessary Improvement in
Accommodation and Transport of Fruit — Methods of Spraying
Fruit-Trees — Knapsack Hand-power Machines — The Strawsonizer —
Biting and Sucking Insects — Materials Used for Spraying — Formulae
for Making Insecticide Fluids — Hydric Cyanide as a Means for
Destroying Scale on Citrus Fruit Trees — The Wolfskill Fumigator- —
Fruit Growing in Wellington District — The Pioneer Fruit Driers'
Company — The Wellington Fruit Growers' Association — A Horti-
cultural Board versus A South African Fruit Growers' Union.

The fruit industry is one which has recently attracted a
considerable amount of interest in Cape Colony. The unre-
miinerative character of the Cape brandy production, and the
low price of Cape wines, together with the havoc worked by
rust in the wheat crops, and by phylloxera in the vineyards,
have made it necessary for cultivators to turn from their ancient
practices to something which holds out better prospects of
remuneration.

Not a few enterprising farmers are rooting out the dead
vine stumps, and in place of replanting with vines grafted on
phylloxera-proof American stocks, arc occupying the ground

FRUIT GROWING AND iM ARRETING. 1 77

,with choice varieties of fruit-trees. Excellent selections of'
the finest varieties of Europe, America, and Australasia are
to be had grafted, on suitable stocks, from such places as the
Nooitgedacht Nurseries of the Pioneer Orchard Company,
near Stellenbosch ; the nurseries of the Cape Orchard Company,
in the Hex-river Valley ; Pickstone's Nursery, near Welling-
ton ; Nelson's Nurseries, near East London, and others ; or
they may be imported directly from Tasmania and Australia
at rates which tend to keep the Colony prices moderate. A
general price — one year from the bud and two years from the
seed — is is. 6d. each for all sorts sold in large numbers, up to
2s. when the quantities taken are small.

Although there is a local market for fresh, dried, and pre-
served fruit, which can be encouraged and greatly extended,
yet for the double purpose of increasing the industry and main-
taining stability of prices, the great hope of the colonial
grower is directed to the foreign markets — chiefly at pre-
sent the European markets, but later on those of America as
well. To establish a footing in these centres, very different
methods of working must be adopted in the future than have
prevailed in the past in Cape Colony. The fruit must not
only be of excellent quality (common fruit not being worth
the cost of its carriage to pAU'opc), but it should belong to
varieties which are already known in the market. It should
also be sent in prime condition, and in large quantities of
uniform quality. These may be regarded essentials to suc-
cess in developing an export fruit industry.

That South Africa possesses exceptional advantages for
such a trade is being more and more realised, (i.) It is on
the other side of the Equator from either Europe or North
America, and fruits ripen at seasons of scarcity in these northern
parts. The Cape supply may therefore be regarded as coming
in to fill a blank in the markets rather than as in competition
with any but Australasian fruits. In such a competition, the
Cape, being so much nearer the markets, should have an
immense pull over Australia. The full measure of the advan-
tage will only appear, however, when trade is established on a
large scale. (2.) Another decided advantage, although at the
first blush the statement of it may seem paradoxical, is that
fungoid and insect pests are so universally prevalent, that

17^ FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAI'E COLONY.

it will be absolutely necessary for successful fruit-growers to
acquaint themselves with the best of the preventive as well as
of the remedial measures to be employed and to practise such,
systematically. There would have been less hope for the de-
velopment of the fruit trade had these pests only appeared at
intervals of a few years, as no one would, under these circum-
stances, care to gain the knowledge and experience necessary
to combat them, and wholesale destruction of certain crops
would probably occur every now and then, and confer upon
more wary competitors m irkct advantages, which might
become permanent. It is the fact that individual fungoid
and insect ravages are by no means uniform from year to
year, but are cyclical in their times of attack — one year
serious, and a few years trifling — the result mainly of varying
ciirrjatic circumstances, which are at one time favourable, and
at other times unfavourable to the increase of the numbers of
the pest, whatever it may be. But the colonial fruit-grower
may rest assured that if one pest is not on the war-path, .so to
say, for a season or two, he is almost certain to be favoured with
a visitation of one or more of the other plagues. (3.) The next
great advantage is that most of the hardy European fruits,
and many of the sub-tropical, Asiatic, and American fruits
grow remarkably well in South Africa.

The following are a few, mentioned at random, of the
commoner species grown, with the dates of the ripening of the
fruit, in the Western Province : —

1. Apples — January till August.

2. Pears — December till July.

3. Nectarines — Jan. and Feb.

4. Peaches — Jan., Feb., and Mar.

5. Plums — Dec, Jan., and Feb.

6. Grapes — Jan., Feb., Mar., and

April.

7. Almonds — Feb. and Mar.

8. Walnuts — March and April.

9. Olives from the latter half of

April till the end of May.

10. Chestnuts — -April and May.

11. Oranges — June till October

inclusive.

12. Loquats — Sept. and Oct.

13. Figs — 1st crop, December;

2nd crop, February.

14. Cherries — Nov. and into Dec

15. Strawberries — Nov. and Dec.

16. Apricots — The latter half of

Nov. till the middle of Jan.

17. Guavas — All the year round.

The colonial fruit-grower ought to derive valuable infor-
mation and aid from the published experiences of Californian
and Australasian fruit-growers, as the climate of South Africa
resembles the climates of these distant parts more than that

FRUIT (IKOWING AND MARKETING. 1 79

of Europe. He will find also, if he has been at work for some
time, and has been following old methods, that many of his
favourite practices will require to be discarded.

To secure a large quantity of fruit of uniform quality, it
is necessary not to plant too many varieties of the same
species of tree, while to keep up a steady supply of a given
fruit during the season, it is necessary to select varieties
which ripen their fruit in succession throughout the period.
Different districts exhibit special suitability for different
kinds of fruits, and although several fruits may grow well
in one district, and even in one garden, certain areas will
naturally become famous for special products, — for example,
Constantia for wines and export grapes ; Ceres and the
lacustrine formation about Worcester and Robertson, apples,
pears, and walnuts ; Wellington, apricots, pears, and plums ;
Stellenbosch and Paarl, peaches, pears, and plums ; Bathurst,
pine-apples, custard apples, and bananas ; the Gamtoos River
Valley, citrus fruits and walnuts.

The grower must not only study the characteristics of his
locality, but within possible limits prepare to take advantage
of the most remunerative of a number of different means for
the disposal of his produce. The best returns are, as a rule",
to be looked for from the shipment of fresh fruit for the table.
If the fruit be over-ripe, and of a variety suitable for the pur-
pose, it can go for canning ; while, if the canning or jam fac-
tories are overstocked, it may be dried in trays at a minimum
cost.

Deep subsoil stirring, or even trenching three feet deep
and manuring with broken bones, when the planter can afford
the additional outlay, is an excellent preliminary preparation
to planting an orchard. The colonial method is usually not
on such an extensive or thorough plan. To dig pits three to
four feet wide, and about two to two and a half feet deep,
in which to plant the young trees, is generally thought to be
sufficient. This is done regardless of the facts that pits dug
in a hard soil are likely to curb the development of root
growth, and to hold stagnant water either after excessive
rains, or after the soil has been irrigated, both conditions being
inimical to healthy and vigorous plant growth. If the whole
of the land, from want of funds or other cause, cannot be

l8o l-AKMINC INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

uiiifoiinly moved, to dig a trench a few feet wide in the hne
which the pits would have occupied (running right down the
hill, or in the direction of the natural drainage inclination of
the surface if nearly level), overcomes the most serious objec-
tions to the pit practice. Drainage is thereby improved, and
the root growth is not then cramped in every direction.

The usual distance between the rows and between the
trees in the row is fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five feet, the
intermediate width being probably the most satisfactory for
most of the common fruits, except on very rich soil, in sheltered
places, where trees grow large and more air space is necessary.
The walnut is an exception. It ought to have distances of
forty feet each way, with at first a plum, a peach, or an orange-
tree planted half-way between.

In the climate of South Africa the temptation to use
irrigation water to excess is great, and particularly so when
cultivators are ignorant of alternative methods of working
which secure the advantages derived from irrigation without
their concomitant disadvantages. It is not uncommon to find
men who water their fruit-trees every eight or ten days
throughout the summer season, and are not .quite certain that
they have irrigated sufficiently, when in reality, with thorough
cultivation, the yield of fruit would be greater and the health
of the trees better without the application of water at all.
Not only is the amount of water supplied usually excessive,
but it is generally applied on a system which is altogether
objectionable, and contrary to the best order of things. There
is no other part of the soil so dry under natural circumstances
as that in which the butt or bole of a tree stands, and through
which the trunk-roots spread to the surrounding moister
feeding ground, where the great supply of root fibres, ramifying
from, and terminating the thick branches, are at work. Yet
can it be believed, that the common, almost universal practice,
is to dig a depression or hollow closely round the tree, and
fill this with water, which soaks in at the one place where
it is not wanted, and where it is liable to do positive injury
by inducing canker in the roots ? Once the soil has been
thoroughly saturated a few times, it runs together into a
dense condition, and on drying, becomes extremely hard and
unsuitable for \egetation of any kind to exist in. It is then

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. l8l

almost absolutely necessary to keep wetting- it again and again
to soften it, if growth is to be made possible.

One unique advantage claimed for this system of watering
is in the case of fruit-trees which are liable to come into
flower too early, so that the blooms are destroyed by late
frosts. By exposing the thick roots of a tree through scraping
back the soil, and then running cold water into the hole for
a few days in spring, the growth of the tree is checked, and
its flowering delayed.

A modified form of the common system of irrigation is
sometimes practised with orange-trees. A ring of earth is
built round the bole to keep the water from actually touching
the bark after the tree is a year or two old, but this does not
prevent the main roots being steeped in too much moisture.

The unhealthy appearance of the fruit-trees, during recent
years, in various parts of the Colony — at first generally
believed to be due to the infectious American blight, known
as peach yellows — has been satisfactorily demonstrated by
MacOwan and Pillans of the Agricultural Department to bean
unhealthy state, induced mainly by excessive supplies of water
on the stiffer classes of soils. While the American peach yellows
confines its attack to stone fruit, and never relents after making
its appearance in an orchard, the colonial plague involves
the orange, the apple, the pear, and the quince as well, and
it sometimes disappears after a year, the leaves losing the
brown abnormal colour, and resuming the natural one. The
latter characteristic is satisfactory proof, whether the belief of
MacOwan and Pillans be right as regards all cases, that the
derangement is not the true peach yellows.

The Californian method of applying water in moderate
quantities at the place where it is wanted, and in such a
manner that the soil is not injuriously affected, must sooner or
later assert itself in those parts, where it is found that trees
do not bear to the best advantage without an allowance of
more water than the rain supplies. The water is led on usually
in three narrow channels or plough furrows running alongside
each other, and parallel with the row of trees to be irrigated, but
at a distance of probably six feet or more from the bases of the
trees. The soil being well cultivated and open, the water sinks
immediately in the region of active root growth. Little of the

1 82 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

surface is flooded, and the drying, hardening, and cracking,
which might take place in and close to the channels, is pre-
vented by a cultivator or harrow being drawn along after the
water has thoroughly soaked into the ground. The channels
are by this means obliterated, the hollows being filled with
the pulverulent dry earth from the surrounding surface, which
acts as a protection to the moist soil underneath.

Orchards were visited in the Western Province which were
giving splendid returns of fruit without being irrigated, and
some of these had previously been deluged unsatisfactorily for
a generation or two, under the belief that it was impossible to
grow fruit without abundance of water. In these orchards a
thorough system of cultivation is now carried out in an un-
tiring manner. One good deep ploughing is necessary annually,
at a time when root growth is quiescent (except in the case of
surface-rooted trees like those bearing stone fruits), and during
the heat of summer the surface must be horse-hoed every eight
or ten days. Some fruit-growers object to ploughing on account
of a certain amount of injury being done to the surface roots,
but the full effects of surface cultivation cannot be secured
without the use at intervals of an effective plough.

The marvellous influence of frequent surface cultivation in
preserving moisture, by checking the capillary action near the
surface, and thus lessening the amount of loss by evaporation
during hot weather, is not generally or sufficiently appreciated
in South Africa. In many parts of the Western Province,
fruit with an excellent bloom, and free from an excess of
acidity, can be grown under this system, even in seasons when
there is no rainfall the whole summer. Perhaps one of the
most striking illustrations of the system of thorough working
was witnessed at Johannesburg, in Nelson's Nursery Grounds.
No irrigation was practised, and only the seed-germinating
beds were watered. Soil dug up in a dry and pulverulent con-
dition, then left for a (ew weeks and dug over a second time,
absorbed so much moisture from the air, and attracted it from
the soil below, that it came into excellent condition to receive
seeds or young plants without rain having fallen.

No one will deny the advantage to be derived in the dry
parts of the climate of Cape Colony from watering immediately
after planting young fruit-trees, by way of consolidating the

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 1 83

soil about their roots and preventing the plants withering, but
this may be accomph'shed without leaving a water-washed
surface to become hard and road-like.

A good deal has been done in the way of demonstrating
the best methods and the benefits of pruning, a practice
which was almost unknown among the old Dutch population.
Owing to the strong winds that periodically prevail in the
Colony, the training of trees to grow high is objectionable,unless
in certain sheltered and consequently favoured spots. Also, by
way of protection against the wind, and more particularly the
sun, the centres of the deciduous trees should, as a rule, be
well cleared of surplus wood, to encourage the fruit to grow
inside. Although a good amount of wood should be cut away,
trees can easily be over-pruned ; with the result that two or
three very hot days come, as they frequently do, and there
being an insufficient shade of leaves, the bark becomes
scorched. Also, with the object of protection against the
sun, trees should not grow on long standard trunks, but the
branches should spring out near to the ground. There is always
a saving of labour in the management of trees of moderate
dimensions, unless they grow so low that horse labour cannot
be employed in cultivating the soil.

Some orchardists strongly prefer the pruning-knife to the
secateurs, on account of its making a clean cut, without bruising
the wood in the neighbourhood of the wound left on the tree,
although using the secateurs is easier work than pruning with
a knife.

Hail is one of the most relentless enemies of fruit cultiva-
tion in South Africa. Not only is a crop of fruit ruined in a
few minutes by a hailstorm, but the bark of the trees gets cut
through and scarred. in such a manner that the marks of the
wounds remain for years. Although no section of South
Africa is totally exempt from hail, that area in the Western
Province which receives its maximum rainfall in winter, and
has a comparatively very dry summer, is not so frequently or
so destructively afflicted by it. The most serious accounts of
injuries from hail during the fruit season of 1894-95 were
received at the De Beers Nursery, near Kimberley. The
heavy fall of hailstones, some measuring \\ inch in diameter,
lasted only twenty minutes, but in that time the entire crop

184 l-ARMINC; INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

was destroyed, and tons of fruit were washed miles away in
the flood.

The apple, belonging to the class of hardy fruits which
naturally rest during a period of cold or a period of drought,
does not thrive well in the semi-tropical regions of the Colony,
although the tree grows vigorously and produces an abundant
crop of fruit in the colder districts.

Grafting" is the common method of propagation, upon stocks
grown from seed ; but owing to the prevalence of American
blight, which harbours in the bark of Paradise and many of
the old favourite stocks, it is now necessary to graft choice
varieties upon disease-proof stocks, such as the Northern Sp)'.
A good many excellent apples are to be met with which have
been grown in the Colony for years, such as the large green
American apple, Gloria Mundi, the Golden Reinette, and the
Ribston Pippin, &c., while many of the best sorts have been
destroyed by the blight. Their places can readily be filled by
selections from the nurserymen's lists, which contain such well-
known varieties as the Northern Spy, Rhode Island Greening,
Bramley's Seedling, Warner's King, and many others. It is
good practice to rear stocks for grafting from seed. The
method of rearing fruit-bearing trees from seed is as disap-
pointing in the case of the apple as in that of other fruits of
which there are numerous choice and common \-arieties.

Deciduous fruit-trees which are to be trained on the low-
head system should have the main stem cut over at planting to
a height of about eighteen inches at most. The lateral shoots,
which are thereb}' strengthened in growth, are kept low, and
are made to spread by leaving the last bud always on the outer
side. Much of the luxuriant growth of young wood which
comes after close cutting back requires to be removed the
second year, but a satisfactory shape is secured, and the
subsequent annual pruning will consist of cutting back and
thinning out, new or bearing wood being left evenly distributed
over the tree, so that the fruit ma}' also be properly distributed.
The side buds in groups of three, or the lateral one of two, is
the fruit bud. The terminal bud is that from which the next
year's growth of wood is about to spring. There is a strong
objection in the Colony to pruning or removing branches from
apple-trees, as the wounded parts are so liable to become

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKKTINC.

i8s

affected by the American blight, and no doubt there is a good
deal of sense in the objection ; but pruning cannot be omitted
if the best results are to be obtained. The selection of so-
called blight-proof varieties does not overcome this difficulty,
as the resistance only extends to the subterranean form of the
ScJiisoneura. Plenty of space must be provided within the main
upright-growing branches for the development of spurs thrown
out from the old wood, as it is on these the fruit grows. If too
long, they must be cut back ; but Pickstone is of opinion that
a greater number of buds should be spared in the Colony
than the solitary two left in English practice.

American Blight (Woolly Aphis), Schizoneura lanigf.ra, Hausm.
Woolly aphis ; infested apple-spray, nat. size ; wingless viviparous female and young clothed with
cottony fibres above, and small egg-bearing female beneath the spray ; pupae with little
cottony growth ; all magnified. ^^^^^ Buckton and Orn,erod.

American Blight. — The apple-bark* plant-lou.se or woolly
aphis, Schizoneura lanigera, Hausm., is easily distinguished b}-
the cottony-like growth which projects from the insect, and
readily betrays its presence. It is generally located in crevices,
also where the tree has been wounded, and young bark has
been recently formed in the vicinity of old or dead bark, under
which the insect takes shelter, one chief attraction being the
vulnerable condition of the part to the sucker of the aphis.

* One form of the insect attacks the roots and ori:_;inates the develop-
ment of warts of different shapes.

1 86 KARMING INDUSTRIP:S OF CAPE COLONY.

The injury produced is not only due to the quantity of sap
abstracted, but also to the diseased growth which is set up.
The tender woody layers underneath the bark become soft,
pulpy, and abnormally enlarged. The bark over the swelling
ultimately splits open, and exposes the tissue to further attack.
At the end of summer these unhealthy growths dry up and
die and form deep cracks. The efforts of Nature to repair the
injury in the following season leads to the development of
more young bark and soft tissue, which readily yields to the
attack of an increasing number of insects. In this way " a
constantly increasing diseased mass arises, which shelters the
insects in its crannies, and finds food for them in its hyper-
trophied formations."

Underneath the wool the insects are mostly of a yellowish
or reddish plum-colour. The winged specimens are described
as " pitchy between the wings and green, or with the abdomen
of a chocolate brown. The wingless females may be found
packed closely together in the cottony masses, with the pale
reddish young moving about amongst them."

Effectual sprayings with one or other of the solutions
recommended later are the chief preventive and remedial
means employed, together with the scraping away of all loose
bark likely to form shelter for the pest.

The codlin moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, Linn., is the dread
enemy of the apple-grower. The diseased condition known
as " worm-eaten " is brought about by the caterpillar of this
moth gnawing a passage from a discoloured spot on the skin
to the middle of the fruit. One o.^'g is deposited usually in the
eye of the apple in the early stage of its growth. On hatch-
ing out, the young larva moves at first in the direction of the
outside of the apple, as injury to the core at this time would
be fatal alike to the apple and the insect. Only " when it is
nearly full grown does it pierce the core, and feed exclusively
on the pips." In consequence the apple falls, and the cater-
pillar leaves it and crawls to some convenient shelter, frequently
up the tree, where in a crevice in the bark it spins a white web
to cover itself, and to rest in for a few days, or it may be
several weeks, till it assumes the form of a chrysalis. Some
chrysalids develop into moths the same season, others remain
in that state till the followinij summer.

FRUIT GROWINC; AND MARKETING.

187

The habits of the insect make it possible to successfully
combat its attack by the timely use of one or more of the fol-
lowing preventive measures : — (i.) Banding the trunks of the
trees about six inches from the ground with old sacking, woollen
or other cloth, or even brown paper two or three inches broad,
smeared with tar or grease to trap the caterpillars, and prevent
them ascending. At first the smear was put on the bark of
the trees, but this practice was speedily discontinued on account

CoDLiN Moth, Cari'ocai'sa i'omonella, Linn.^

(a) Shows the burrowings of the larva ; (/') the point at the blossom end of the apple where
it enters ; (f) the larva full grown ; (/i) the anterior part of the body, magnified ; (d) the chr>--
salis ; (?") the cocoon ; (y") the moth with closed wings ; and (^) the same with expanded wings.

A. The blossom end where the larva is supposed to enter the fruit. B. Empty space where
the she'l'containing the seeds was located before the entrance of the larva. C. The burrow or
outlet through which the larva makes its escape. D. Young larva in burrow. E. Young
larva approaching maturity and nearing the core.

Report 0/ State Boa7-d of HortictiUure, California, 1889.

of injury being done to the parts. (2.) Scraping annually in
early winter, removing all loose bark of apple, pear, and quince
trees in an infected orchard, and carefully collecting and

* " The caterpillar is about half-an-inch long, and slightly hairy, with
three pairs of claw feet, four pairs of sucker feet beneath the body, and
another pair at the end of the tail ; whitish, with a brown or black head,
and dark markings on the next ring, and about eight dots on the others.
The food canal sometimes shows as a dark line along the back. The
moth is about three-quarters of an inch in the spread of the fore wings.
These have a light-grey or ashy-brown ground, with delicate streaks and
broad markings of a dark tint, giving a kind of damasked appearance ;
and at the hinder corner is a large spot of a brownish-red or gold colour,
with paler markings on it, and a border of coppery or golden colour around
it. The hinder wings are blackish." — Miss Ormerod.

1 88 FARMING INIJUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

burning the scrapings. (3.) Washing or spraying the bark of
the trees with one of the mixtures subsequently recommended.
(4.) Spraying with Paris-green two or three times in early
summer, at intervals often clays, beginning immediately " after
the bloom has fallen, and finishing before the calyx end of the
fruit has turned downwards. After the apples have changed
their position, and the stem end is upward, the poison is liable
to collect in the cavity about the stem, and render the use of
the fruit dangerous to human life." (5.) Gathering infested
fruit, and picking up all windfalls for immediate consumption or
destruction. (6.) Disinfecting fruit-cases or hampers when re-
turned from market by scalding, or by washing, or by dipping for
two minutes in a lye of caustic soda, i oz. to 3 gallons of water.*
The pear-tree practically disappears in the semi-tropical
area, except along the coast belt where the altitude is not more
than 100 or 150 feet. The apple, on the other hand, begins to
hold its own in this region at an elevation of 900 to 1,000 feet
and upwards. In the inland colder parts pears grow admir-
ably, and if a fresh-fruit trade is to be satisfactorily established
with Europe, the pear holds out good hopes of forming
one of the most important features of it ; but this can only
be under a .system of skilled management, including the
j)lanting of the choicest of grafted French and American
varieties. A few of those have already been successfully
grown in the Colony, such as Williams's Bon Chretien, or
the American Bartlett pear, a well-flavoured, juicy pear,
excellent for cither export or canning ; but there are others
in the nurseries of colonial nurserymen, which arc worthy of
attention, viz.. Souvenir du Congres, Beurre Superfine, Beurre
Bosc, Beurre Clairgeau, Pitmaston Duchesse, Easter Beurre,
&c. Propagation is accomplished by grafting on pear suckers,
or on quince stock when dwarf trees are wanted to bear early.
Pears can be grafted on apple stocks and vice iwrsa, but the
resulting trees are not healthy or long-lived. The soil on which
pears are intended to grow should be trenched at least three
feet deep, and well worked to a good depth afterwards. After
young trees are planted it is admissible to grow market

* See Miss Ormerod's "Manual of Injurious Insects" (.Simpkin,
Marshall, & Co.) ; and Frazer S. Crawford's " Report on the Codlin
Moth" (Government Printer, Adelaide, South Australia, 1886).

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 1 89

garden produce in the vacant spaces between the rows for a
few years, a practice which cannot be too strongly condemned
in the case of stone fruits, which grow their roots so near the
surface that cuhivation should not as a rule go deeper than
three inches.

The varieties of the peach usually grown in the Colony by
all but the few who have made fruit culture a special study are
seedlings, and the fruit is of inferior quality, quite unsuitable
for any branch of the export trade. Much discussion has
taken place as to whether or not the Colony could produce
peaches good enough to send as table fruit to the London
market. Those who have adhered to the side which said no,
based their opinion chiefly on the character of the seedling-
fruit, and on the destruction caused by the peach maggot.
On the other hand, peaches of excellent quality have been
landed and sold in London. Of free-stone peaches there
is no lack of variety in the Colony, from which growers are
free to make selections, the Royal George, Belle de Douay,
Grosse Mignonne, Exquisite, Early Rivers, Palmerston,
Prince of Wales, Muir, Early Crawford, h'oster, and many
others being offered for sale by nurserymen. Probably the
yellow St Helena is the best self stock to graft on. Peaches
do not thrive either in the highest and coldest parts, or on the
hot and humid semi-tropical belt along the East Coast.

The peach maggots, probably better known as the grub of
the light yellow-brown two-winged orange fly, Ceratitis citri-
perda, MacL., spread in 1895 to many parts of the Western
Province, which had before that time been-free from its attack.
It is not a native of South Africa, and there is no conclusive
proof that it attacks any indigenous Cape fruit. S. D. Bairstow,
who wrote an interesting communication* on this pest, says
he has personally known it for thirteen years in the Eastern
Province, and that " Bishop Ricards remembered the maggot
doing damage to fruit over forty years ago." Westwood
describes the larva as " a white fleshy grub, destitute of legs,
and possessing two small black contiguous hooks, which it
alternately protrudes and retracts, thereby tearing the delicate
membranes in which the juice is contained ;" and the pupa

* Agricultural Journal^ 4th May 1893, and republished, with other
information, in pamphlet form by the Government.

190 FARMING INDUSTKIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

as " a small, hard, brown, oval body, the outer surface scarcely
indicating any trace of articulation, being the dried skin of
the larva, within which the real pupa is enclosed."

The fly is now generally believed to be identical with C.
capitata, Wied., and C. hispanica, which stamps it as one of
cosmopolitan character. America is free from it, but the East
Indies, the Azores, Bermuda, Madagascar, Mauritius, Madeira,
St Helena, and the citrus-growing regions about the Mediter-
ranean all suffer seriously from its ravages.

The area of infestation is extended so far as great distances
are concerned by fruit containing the maggots being carried
and distributed as fresh fruit. Once introduced it is difficult
to keep under control, and no means has yet been found for
its complete destruction, although it disappears naturally in

FIG I

l^l&.2 FIG. 5

Peach Maggot, Ceratitis citriperda, MacL.

Fig. I. — Maggot Stage and Male Fly, Natural Size.

Fig. 2. — Male Fly, Enlarged. Fig. 3. — Female, Enlarged.

districts in which the fruit is periodically destroyed by frost.
The female, when engaged in laying her eggs, which she plants
by means of a powerful ovipositor, pierces the skin of the fruit
usually, though not invariably, as it begins to get ripe and
sweet, to a depth of over three millimetres, and in about
fourteen days mature larva; appear. In two days more the
pupa stage is reached, and shelter found on the surface of the
ground. Sixteen days later the perfect insect develops. The
larva, after forsaking the fruit, can spring like a cheese
maggot a distance of from three to fourteen inches. There is
a succession of broods during the summer season, and in
winter the insect hibernates and the immature forms are
checked in their development, and those not destroyed remain
dormant. It is not supposed that very large numbers survive
the winter, but the\' rapidly increase during the warm fruit-

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING.

191

ripening season, each succeeding brood becoming stronger
and more numerous. No properly effective remedy has yet
been found to cope with the ravages of the insect. Spraying
is of no avail, owing to the eggs being buried out of its reach in
the fruit, and the laying season lasts so long that one would
almost require to spray daily, an impossible task, to prevent
the female settling. As the fly does not confine itself to one
or to a few varieties of fruit, but freely attacks, in addition to
peaches, all the citrus fruits, pears, apricots, figs, plums, &c.,
and even, it is said, pumpkins and water-melons, the maggots
cannot fail to find abundance of food during the whole of the
season of active growth. The appetite for so many varieties
of fruit is of recent development, and not confined to South

Lemon blown by Ceratitis.

Africa. In Ligurian Italy, Dr Penzig points out that citrus
fruits have been forsaken by it for peaches, the Surinam cherry,
and the loqiiat.

The only hope of completeh^ coping with the pest is by
finding and introducing an ichneumon fly to play the part
which the ladybird did so effectively with the cotton scale.
Meanwhile something may be done to reduce the numbers
by collecting and destro}'ing all fallen and injured fruit, and
by regularly cultivating the surface of the soil to disturb the
larvae and pupa;. Pigs and poultry might also be kept much
more extensivel)' in orchards than at present, and be sources
of profit in addition to the benefits to be derived from their
consumption of maggoty fruit and injurious insects. Con-
certed action on the part of the fruit-growers of a district

192 FARMING INDUSTRIES (JF CAPE COLONY.

would be of great importance in such an attempt, but failing
this, an energetic orchardist need not despair of deriving some
benefit from his own individual effort, as the strength of flight
of the fly is not so great or so extended, even when aided by
the wind, that it is likely to travel far by this means.

The peach is pruned much after the fashion adopted in
the case of the apjjle and pear, the long laterals from which
the fruit-buds sj^ring being shortened. As pruning involves
the cutting of the bearing wood, it is necessary to observe the
position of the fruit-buds ; and when these are located near the
top of a branch it must be spared, so that an abundance of
fruit may be secured. Summer pruning of the peach, as of
most trees, is not permissible, as it encourages an additional
and excessive growth of new and inferior wood. New wood,
if well matured, springing from the main stem, and also
encouraged to grow by the process of cutting back and
thinning out of the main branches, is preserved as far as is
necessary for bearing wood, but it is of a different character
from that resulting from summer pruning.

The home of the apricot is usually credited to France,
although there is little doubt it originally came to Europe
from Persia. The trees growing in the Colony have mostly
sprung from seeds, and the most of the produce, although
very abundant, is inferior — little better than wild fruit. Of
the selected or improved varieties there are a New — as well
as Old— Large Early and a Large Late Apricot, and sorts
like Oullin's Early, Powell's Late, Blenheim or Shipley,
Royal, and the St Ambroise, and others, to choose from. For
preserving, the Breda, a small, deep orange-coloured, but very
prolific peach, well known in the Colony, should be mentioned.

The choice varieties grown in the Colony are usually budded
on hardy apricot or peach stock, but in Great Britain plum
stock is found to do well for this purpose. The pruning of
the apricot is quite different from that practised on the peach.
The great object is to keep the fruit as near the main stems as
possible by pinching off the terminal bud of the short fruit-
bearing spurs, or cutting short the long ones, which all spring
directly from the main stems. All dead fruit spurs require to
be removed to encourage the development of latent buds near
their bases. Fruit growth is strengthened by cleaning away

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. I93

all but a sufficient number of main limbs to make the tree
symmetrical, and by checking the excessive ri^e of sap by
topping these. In very rich soil, where woody growth is gross
and excessive, the topping of the main stems leads to the
development of brushes of soft new wood, and to the production
of foliage in place of fruit. Root-pruning, done by digging
down and severing a number of the main roots, is the best
remedy against excessive luxuriance of growth.

The quince is probably more widely distributed through-
out the Colony than any other fruit-tree. It grows readily
from cuttings, and owing to the rigid character of its boughs,
forms an excellent, closely-knit, useful garden fence, and pro-
duces an abundant crop at the same time. There are two
common varieties — one of a yellow-flesh colour, and the other of
a reddish hue. Both are in favour for making jelly and preserves.

The pomegranate is also used as a fence plant, but it
forms a poor, thin, non-resisting fence as compared with quince.
Although it grows very well, it does not occupy an important
position among the fruits of the Colony.

The plum is represented by a large number of excellent
varieties, from the cherry plum, which ripens earliest, or about
the New Year, to Coe's Golden Drop and Blue Imperial, which
come in at the end of the season. The gages are well repre-
sented by green, golden, transparent. Imperial, and Brahy's
varieties. The Grand Duke, Large Black Imperial, Victoria,
Washington, Jefferson, Diamond, Simon, Belgian Purple, and
Blue Imperatrice are mentioned at random from among a
number of others equally well worthy of cultivation.

Plums generally give the best results when budded on
peach stocks, or on stocks of the myrobolan, which belongs to
a different early flowering and early maturing species from the
common plum. The fruit is borne on the old wood on short
spurs of an inch, more or less, in length, growing on laterals
six inches to two feet long coming from the main stems. If
the young perpendicular branches are cut back sufficiently
during the early stages of their growth to keep the tree
within bounds, the annual pruning will in a great measure be
confined to shortening the laterals, always keeping in mind
that sufficient room must be left inside to prevent crowding.

The fig grows freely except where it is subjected to severe

194 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

frosts. Most varieties represented in the Colony produce two
crops in the year — a summer and an autumn crop — the latter,
however, being inferior in size and quality to the former. Figs
grow readily from grafts, from cuttings, or from suckers, which
often spring in such numbers that they become a nuisance.
Golding * mentions four common varieties grown in Cape
Colony — the common brown fig, a small black early fig, a very
sweet early green fig, and the large late Adam fig. Many
other excellent varieties have since become well known — for
example, the Castle Kennedy, a very large and luscious fig,
the first fruit of which sells at 3d. each in the larger centres of
population. The Brown Turkey, an early variety, the Bruns-
wick, and the large white Italian, all figs for the table also
the white Marseilles, a drying fig, are steadily making their
way into public favour. A scale insect has in recent years
attacked the fig simultaneously with many other fruit-trees,
much to their detriment.

The orange is extensively grown in the milder districts of
Cape Colony. Although it is a tropical or semi-tropical tree,
after the first few years are past it can withstand a few degrees
of frost during the winter season. In some of the colder up-
land districts young trees require to be protected by branches,
or by Spanish reeds set up on end, to form a covering like a
conical tent. The lime that grows in the Colony is not quite
so hardy as the orange, but the naartje is hardier than either.
A few orchardists have gone in for choice varieties, and the
following have given excellent results : — The Bahia orange —
called Navel owing to the extraordinary depression at one end,
and characteristically re-baptized in the United States as the
"Washington Navel" — is a well-known and extensively cul-
tivated variety. There are also the Nipple, the Joppa, the
Malta blood, and the St Michael's varieties.

The naartje or mandarin is a small sweet orange with a
thin skin, which is often loosely attached to the fruit. The
trees are smaller than those of the common orange, but are
most prolific.

* In an Essay on " Fruits and Fruit-Trees of the Colony," published
in connection with the South African Exhibition, Port Elizabeth, 1885, to
which the author is specially indebted for references to many of the
common fruits.

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 1 95

It is astonishing how far behind the times the great
majority of the Cape orange growers are in their systems of
management. Most of the trees are seecUings, and the
fruit is in consequence, though wonderfully sweet and juicy
when pulled ripe, inferior in quality to the fruit of the cul-
tivated varieties of the Mediterranean and America. It is
argued that for the local market, which is by far the most
important at present, the size and not the quality governs the
price, and no advantage would be gained by taking the trouble
(it is more a matter of trouble than expense) to secure finer
sorts. But even on this low platform the argument is fallacious
as seedlings are long in coming into bearing. At least two
years might be saved, as compared with the present condition
of things, by a proper system of cultivation, including the bud-
ding (which is the most approved plan of propagation in the
case of the orange), of the best varieties of oranges upon hardy
native stocks. At one time the supply of oranges was much
greater than at present, and the price went down to about
IS. 6d. per lOO. Now 3s. and 3s. 6d. per 100, and up to 6s. and
15s. for out of season fruit (gathered about Christmas), may
readily be got, unless where the relations of supply to demand
are somewhat dislocated. The change was brought about by
the Dorthesia or Australian bug completely destroying so
many trees before its ravages were checked, and also to the
injury done by canker at the roots, but the existing condition
of things affords ample opportunity for adopting better methods
of cultivation, and also encouragement to do so.

The natural shape of the orange-tree is conical, and it
thrives and yields best when the branches come down pretty
low, to shade the stem from the scorching influence of the
sun, and to prevent the excessive evaporation of moisture from
the earth in which the roots are distributed. A few growers,
to protect the roots still further, and to retain more of the
rainfall than would remain on a dry and hard surface, mulch
the area under the trees with branches, weeds, or any refuse
vegetable matter. On decaying, this accumulation is dug in
as manure. The practice, although good in some respects, is
open to objection. The most important of the objects aimed
at, viz., the preservation of soil moisture and the conser-
vation of rain water, would be secured by frequent surface

196 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

working with the horse-hoe, and the excellent harbour
provided by the litter for weeds, for insects, and for larger
vermin would be dispensed with. The importance of this
suggestion may be taken into consideration in connection
with the description of the habits of the orange-fly given
at page 190.

Many orange-trees have during recent years been destroyed
by the red scale, Aspidiotus aiirantii. This is one of the small
hard scales which adhere closely to the surfaces of the bark
and leaves, and at the same time extract the juices of the tree,
and in vast numbers close up the breathing pores, so that
fruit-bearing very soon becomes impossible, and the tree itself
is after a time destroyed. So closely do the scales attach
themselves to the bark that ordinary soap and quassia dress-
ings are of little avail. Repeated dressings of sulphur and lime
wash (6 lbs. of each boiled together and mixed in 20 gallons
of water), put on very carefully by a spraying machine, have
been found successful ; but the most effective and speedy
remedy is to fumigate the trees (placed when not too large
under cover of a gas-tight canvas tent), by enveloping them in
an atmosphere of prussic acid gas. (See page 216.)

Two local remedies which have proved efficacious on a
small scale are (i) washing the tree with butter-milk; and,
as will subsequently be explained, (2) stripping off the leaves
during winter, and rubbing the branches with anti-friction
grease. A black aphis, Myrjus persicce, Salz., which in-
creases in myriads on the orange foliage, is frequently a fore-
runner of an attack of orange scale. It weakens the vital
powers of the plant sufficiently to make the establishment of
the scale an easy matter.

Orange-trees badly attacked by scale are sometimes cut
back and allowed to spring from the stump ; but apart from
the danger of killing old trees by this treatment, it is neither
an effectual nor an advisable remedy. Unless all the trees in
the neighbourhood were treated in the same way, the scale
adhering to the feet of birds would find its way on to the
young shoots, even if a few specimens of the insect were not
left on the stump to form a still more direct and immediate
source of reinfestation.

The canker at the collar, or gum disease, of the orange.

BgNo.ll

Fig. No! 6^'^

LARVA ENLAROEO

Cali/ornian Horticultural Report, iSBg. Face page T97.

Plate 35. — Australian Ladviiu<d, Veuai.la cakuinali*.

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. I97

which has during recent years destroyed nearly all the trees
in whole districts, still to some extent remains a mystery.
No fungus has so far been " identified with the mischief,
although the appearances are very much like what a fungus
would produce. Excessive and unintelligently applied irrigation
has no doubt been the sole cause of death in many instances,
yet the evidence is not conclusive that canker is altogether
due to it. The remedies which have been tried are the
opening up of the roots to admit air, when they are found to
give off a fcetid odour ; lime applied in good time to the soil
has been found to act as a preventive, but above all is the use
of Bitter Seville stock instead of the lemon stock.

The soot fungus, Capnoidiuin citri, Berkl., of the orange,
myrtle, and olive, is not a parasite but an epiphyte, which does
injury by closing up the stomata of the leaves and by prevent-
ing the sun from exercising its beneficial action upon their
green surfaces. The black film is produced by the " mycelium
of the fungus which grows upon the sugary excrementitious
deposit made upon the leaves by several species of aphis."
This syrup-like material gradually spreads over the surfaces of
the leaves, and supplies a suitable habitat for the growth of
capnoidium.

Remedial treatment is first directed against the aphides,
which are the primary though the indirect cause of the dis-
order, and the trees are sprayed with one of a number of
mixtures detailed further on in this chapter. After the insects
have been destroyed, immediate relief may be given to the
trees, if these are not too numerous, by syringing with warm
water.

The Dorthesia {Icerya) purchast, or Australian bug, a large
woolly scale insect, which was introduced about twenty years
ago, threatened to make a clean sweep of the citrus trees of

Key to Plate 35 opposite — Beneficial Insects.

Fig. 10. Vedalia cnrdinaUs (Australian ladybird) ; enlarged.

Fig. II. Vcdalin cardinal is ; natural size.

Fig. 12. Pup;t of Vedalia cardinalis on an orange leaf; natural size.

Fig.' 13. \.7i\vx,.o{ Vedalia cardinalis ; enlarged.

Fig. 14. Branch infested with Icerya piirchasi ; natural size.

Fig. 15. Larvae of Vedalia cardinalis at work.

Fig. 16. Larva? of Vedalia carditialis ; natural size.

198 PWRMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the Colony. Its attack gained all the more force from the fact
that it lived on many species of trees, being specially devoted
to the introduced Australian AcacicB. About nine or ten years
after its appearance, the ladybird Vedalia from California was
introduced, as it had been into that state from Australasia ;
and the Rodolia, a native insect, increased much in numbers.
So quickly have these tortoise-shaped, little hard-winged
beetles multiplied and done their work of extermination of
the scale, that a specimen of the pest will soon be looked
upon as a curiosity. It is not unlikely that it may be
destroyed altogether, and that with it will disappear the lady-
birds which have proved so useful.

The pine-apple, Broinelia ananas, is a tropical, fruit-bearing
plant, which grows well on certain soils in the Colony, within
a moderate distance from the sea, where frosts are almost
unknown. Its prickly leaves are familiar to most people, as
they resemble the top-knot of bracts which adorn the fruit
now so much used as a dessert. The district of Bathurst
seems peculiarly well suited to its cultivation, plantations of
fifteen to twenty thousand plants about three feet high being
examined in a healthy and vigorous condition on the pro-
perties of the brothers Purdon. All cultivation was done by
hand labour, although this appeared to be a case in which
the horse-hoe might be used with advantage. The land was
well manured at planting, but crops had been grown for a
number of years without manuring, and without showing
visible decrease. The pine-apple plant is propagated by
suckers, which grow freely on plants of full growth, set in
rows with spaces of four feet by three feet between the plants,
and these will bear fruit in two years. The superabundance
of suckers requires to be pulled off in thinning out annually,
when the stems which have borne fruit are also removed.
The fruit of the common variety cultivated is very small,
usually under 2 lbs. weight, and the annual yield on the
average is about five pine-apples per plant, fruit being
produced all the }-ear round. It is separated into three
classes for marketing purposes, and sent inland to the large
centres of population. The first class often sells at 6s. per dozen
up to 9s. at times ; No. 2 from 4s. down to 2s. 6d. per dozen ;
and the third class at a still smaller price. If means were

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. I99

provided for tinning", a considerable trade in pine-apples
might be done with Europe ; but before any export trade in
fresh fruit could be established, larger and finer varieties of
pines will require to be introduced. It remains to be seen
if pines imported from Ceylon or the Mauritius are hardy
enough to withstand the influences of the winter climate of
even the south-eastern coast regions. Some difficulty has
been experienced by growers in getting information about
the best varieties, or finding means of securing plants of them.
If fruit from the above-mentioned parts be introduced, and be
recognised as belonging to the quality sought for, plants may,
by exercising a little care, be cultivated from the base of the
bunch of leaf-like bracts attached to the fruit.

The banana, with highly flavoured fruit, may be regarded
as the cultivated dwarf variety of the plantain, and to occupy
similar relations to it in the matter of size and quality as
the garden beet does to the mangel-\\urzel. Both plants
grow well in the Colony, in hollow warm places, not far from
the sea, sheltered from wind and protected from frost. After
producing a bunch of fruit, the stem, which reaches twenty
feet in height in the case of the plantain, and only about six
feet in that of the banana, dies, and is removed, its place
being taken by suckers which spring in considerable numbers,
and are planted out in forming a new or replanting an old
plantation.

The loquat, Eriobotrya japonica, is a hardy, shiny-leaved,
evergreen tree of Japanese origin. As its blossoms appear and
its fruit matures in winter, these are liable to be injured by
frost. The fruit, which is about the size of a damson plum, Ls
yellow in colour, and it possesses an agreeable combination of
a sweet and an acid flavour. The pips, from which the trees
are usually propagated, are large in relation to the space
occupied by the flesh}' part of the fruit, which grows in clusters
at the extremities of the branches.

The so-called Cape gooseberry, PJiy satis peniviajia,
though found growing wild in many parts of Cape Colony,
and often more freely and abundantly in a state of nature
than when an attempt is made to cultivate it, is not indi-
genous to the Cape, but a native of Peru. It is a herbaceous,
perennial, shrubby plant, growing two to three feet high,

200 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

with a flower resembling that of the potato, and a round
fruit not unlike a small potato-apple, but of a yellow
colour, and enclosed within an inflated capsule. It possesses
a pleasant flavour, and combines a subdued sweetness with a
slight acidity, attractive to lovers of fruit, who may eat it as
freely and with as much appreciation as the gooseberry.
When the local price is good, the seed is sown in unoccupied
corners of vineyards at the time when rains come — in the humid
area of the Western Province generally in March. The best
fruit grows on young plants. Second year's plants are liable to
suffer from the attacks of red spider. Sixpence per lb. is readily
got for the fruit in Cape Town ; but 3d. per lb. still leaves about
id. of profit, the cost of growing being estimated at id., and of
plucking and cleaning (removing the capsule) at id. It is
largely used for cooking with pastry ; and made into jam it
is unsurpassed for excellence of quality by any other preserve.
Having dealt at some length with the production of fruit,
it remains for us to consider the conditions and the necessities
for the packing and transport of the same, and the position
which it occupies or ought to occupy in the great central market
in London. The author heard many grumblings and much
complaint by unsuccessful colonial shippers of fruit against
the London fruit merchants and agents. Some asserted that
a ring had been formed to boycott Cape fruit, it being sup-
posed that for some mysterious reason the great London
dealers did not want it, and objected to handle it. A little
calm reflection and thoughtful consideration in the light of
the facts of the case soon showed that the " devil in the hedge "
was not a London but a colonial fiend. The defect lay in
the original character of the product sent and in the condition
in which it arrived. All sorts and description of fruit had
been bought in large quantities by both London and colonial
agents, packed without being properly graded or sorted —
ripe and unripe together — in cases of many sizes and shapes,
and shipped on a long and trying voyage without any special
provision being made for the careful handling and storage
which such a delicate commodity as fruit requires. It is no
wonder that the shipping of Cape fruit in this rough and ready
fashion proved unremunerative and disastrous to not a few
who went into it, but the point most to be regretted is that

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 20I

the good name of the Colony as a fruit-growing country has
suffered, and the traders of the future will require not only to
fight for a footing in the market, but to redeem the reputation
of the Colony. Shippers do not seem to realise that London
traders who deal in good fruit cannot touch an inferior article
from whatever quarter it comes without losing credit, and that
it is only natural that they should avoid the risk of doing so.
Quite enough of second quality fruit is dumped into London
by home growers without an increased contribution from
abroad, but the limit to the amount of really prime fruit
which the market can absorb and which the agents are only
too anxious to handle at prices satisfactory to the consigners
has not yet been reached or defined.

Many shippers have failed, but all have not done so,
although those who survive have had to buy their experience.
The trade has been in existence for a number of years, but
not till the season 1894-95 (December till April) was any
great measure of success attained. Even when every effort is
made to send the finest fruit, the difficulties to be contended
with are trying if not insurmountable. Fruit which requires to
be packed for a number of weeks loses the bloom of fresh fruit,
whatever method of packing be adopted, and however carefully
it may be done. Apart from that, the conditions under which
fruit is sent at present are far from satisfactory. The average
duration of the voyage from Cape Town to London is twenty
to twenty-one days, and two or three days more are required
for distribution before it can reach the consumer — a long time
for such a delicate article to remain in transit. In view of
this unavoidable delay, the fruit requires to be picked before
it is quite ripe, and under the circumstances stated it is impos-
sible to prevent it shrinking in size. The position is aggravated
by the far from satisfactory conditions at the beginning of
the journey. If a shipper wishes to send a large quantity of
fruit by the mail steamer on Wednesday, he requires to pick
on the previous Friday or Saturday, and pack on Monday and
Tuesday, at a period of the year when the temperature may
range between 90° F. and 100° F. Those who are resident
some way inland have in addition to allow time for a railway
journey, of long or short duration according to distance, which
requires to be made without protection for the fruit from the

202 FARMING INDUSTRl i;S OF CAPE COLONY.

scorching heat of the sun. At the docks it may also remain
for another day in the sun before it is put into the cold
chambers on board. Although the cold air is turned on
immediately, the fruit is two or three days in the cold chambers
before it is uniformly lowered to the proper temperature of
38^ F. It is impossible to cool down more quickly, as if the
air be reduced to 32° F., the contents of the outside boxes
become frozen. Thus seven or eight days may elapse after
picking before the temperature of the fruit is got down to the
proper degree at which decay is averted.

The Cape Orchard Company,* under the able manage-
ment of L. M. Dicey and P. R. Malleson, deserves credit as a
pioneer of the fruit industry, as it has introduced and grown
varieties suitable for the European markets, and also per-
-severed in experiments to determine the best and cheapest
methods of packing. The reward has already been partially
reaped through the Company's mark, C.O.C., being known
and sought after by retail buyers in London. H. W. Hawkins,
of Claremont, holds, also on the ground of merit as a skilled
fruit grower and packer, a similar position to that of the
Orchard Company in the home trade.

Baskets were tried at one time for the conveyance of
grapes, but the freight by sea being higher, and the shrinkage
of the fruit greater, they were discarded in favour of wooden
boxes. These contain from 20 lbs. to 25 lbs. of grapes,
24 peaches, 48 apricots, and 48 nectarines. It is found in
packing that wood-wool is a better material than cork-dust
for filling up the spaces in the boxes unoccupied by the fruit.

Of grapes the Haanepoot, a white variety, and the Bar-
barossa are considered the best for the British market. Next
in order of merit probably comes the Pontac, known in Europe
as Teinturier, a grape with small leaves which become red, and
a red juice, rather an unusual characteristic even in grapes with
red skins. If grapes are gathered too green, both the wood
and the fruit withers, and "dropping" occurs, i.e., the fruit
shakes off in transit. Grapes have been successfully shipped
from some of the leading Constantia growers, and pay well
for production at 2d. per lb. — the price which the best of the

* To whose London agent, G. E. Hudson, Suffolk House, E.G., the
author is indebted for much vakiable information.

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 20-

1895 crops realised. Something of the quahty may be judged
from the fact that a few of the finest samples sold at 30s. for
a 20-lb. box — an indication that they must have gone into
competition in the market with English hothouse grapes.
Though the latter will always possess a more pretentious look,
yet when properly handled, the colonial grapes grown in the
sunlight under natural conditions ought to be superior in
quality. Another most favourable characteristic of many
South African grapes is the unique and most attractive
flavour possessed in the greatest degree of perfection by the
Haanepoot variety. This is a quality which is absent in
British, French, and Spanish grapes, and forms a distinctive
difference which will come to be of immense value when it is
more widely known.

California sends very fine plums and pears during winter
to compete with Cape fruit, but it does not seem to be possible
for exporters there to ship grapes so that they will keep on
the voyage.

Excellent Cape plums come to London, but the pears are
usually indifferent, although a few very good Bon Beurres have
been received — sufficient to give a hopeful indication of future
possibilities.

There is little question that the fruit industry of Cape Colony
is only in its infancy, but shippers must get thoroughly to
recognise the fact that only first-class fruit has any chance
of success in the markets of the northern hemisphere. Cape
fruit cannot present the appearance of British-grown fruit,
for reasons that have already been explained ; but it need
not be behind in quality, while in flavour it may even be
superior in some cases. To accomplish this possible and
desirable end, all concerned in the handling as well as in
the growing of the produce must combine in developing the
best possible means of preserving its condition, and hastening
its progress to market. They need not do so through a self-
sacrificing spirit of philanthropy, but purely on business
grounds. An important industry is being born, which will be
able to pay its way, and do so all the better for the best of
treatment. Government railways are now called upon to
provide better accommodation for the transit of fruit by rail.
Refrigerating- fruit-cars must sooner or later be made avail-

204 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

able, but until they can be procured, the trains for conveying
fruit should be run during the night. The Dock Company
in Cape Town is also called upon to erect cold-store chambers
for the reception of fruit, so that a shipper might send down
each day fifty boxes to be immediately placed out of reach of
injury from exposure to the sun, and remain until the whole
consignment could be put on board. Greater care than at
present should also be exercised during the process of hand-
ling at all stages of the journey to prevent bruising, which is
fatal to fresh fruit.

There is no doubt but that the fruit trade will develop
even under the present unfavourable circumstances, but it
would certainly do so more rapidly, and with greater advan-
tage to all concerned, if the suggested changes were carried
out. The condition of traffic both by rail and sea is such
that it could make room for a large fruit industry without
inconvenience, and much to its advantage. The greatest
amount of goods is carried up-country, and empty waggons
are numerous on the return journey. The steamship com-
panies also carry much more cargo by their outward-bound
than by the homeward-bound steamers. The fruit trade is
likely in time to become so extensive, that it already assumes
a position of colonial importance rather than one of special
interest to a class. The money earned by the extension of
an industry speedily circulates through the whole community,
and all classes in their different spheres and degrees are ulti-
mately benefited.

The district of Wellington has taken a lead in the recent
developments of the fruit industry, and deserves special men-
tion, not only on its own account, but as an example for other
districts to follow. P. T. Cillie, President of the Wellington
Fruit-Growers' Association, was sent to California by the
Cape Government, and spent the fruit season of 1893 in
acquainting himself with the Californian methods of orchard
cultivation, and the handling and marketing of fruit. The
President's fruit farm, Boven Valei, which had about twenty-
five acres under choice fruit-trees, is in itself an instructiv^e
feature. The soil is stiff, and better adapted to the growing
of fruit-trees than vines, although phylloxera has not yet
appeared in the district.

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 205

The pruning of apricots and nectarines, by the method
described at page 184, is there found to be most important
to protect the fruit from the south-easters cku-ing the spring
months — September, October, and November. The old-
fashioned Boer method of working, which inchided copious
irrigation, and in the case of the best practice, ploughing
only once in two years, had been given up for three seasons.
Since that time no water had been applied, and the orchard
had been ploughed once a year during August and Sep-
tember — four to seven inches deep — and the land frequently
cultivated during the warm weather (care being taken that
this is done after rain), as soon as the soil is dry enough to
permit of men and horses going on it without doing injury
by poaching the surface with their feet.

Manuring is done by kraal manure spread on the surface,
and worked in by cultivating after the fall of the first autumn
rains ; then the orchard is left to grow green throughout the
winter, and till the ploughing time arrives. Some hardy
leguminous plant might be found, which, if sown, would tend
to keep down weeds, and during mild weather carry on the
useful and important work of the fixation of the free nitrogen
of the air.

Wellington is a great apricot growing centre. The only
disease which has yet developed on this tree is the shot-hole
fungus, Septoria cerasina, which perforates the leaves ; but
spraying with a fungicide consisting of 4 lbs. of sulphur, 8 lbs.
of lime, and i lb. of common salt in 24 gallons of water,
proves an effective check to its ravages.

The district, like the rest of the Western Province, suffered
severely in 1895 from the attacks of the peach maggot; but
owing to the local facilities for fruit-drying, losses such as were
realised in other parts were not there experienced, and prices
little short of those of previous years were realised, viz., 8d. per
lb. for dried peeled peaches, and 5d. per lb. for unpeeled.

Raisins sold at 5d. per lb.,'after taking twenty-five days
to dry in the sun. The process adopted is slower than that
employed in preparing raisins for the making of sweet wine.
To crack the .skins, and make them dry quickly, grapes are in
that case dipped in boiling lye, consisting of i lb. of caustic
potash to TO gallons of water.

206 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

The Pioneer Fruit-Driers' Company, organised on the co-
operative plan, with a capital of ^2,000, has been in existence
for two years. It has carried on a remunerative business, and
by suppl}ung a good local market, it has been a boon to the
district of Wellington. The fruits, chiefly apricots, are cut in
halves, and the stones removed by children, who are paid 6d.
per lOO lbs. of fruit, and can at this rate earn is. 66. to is. gd.
per day. The fruit is laid at once on to wooden drying trays,
six feet by three feet, resting on trollies, by means of which
the trays are taken into an open field and exposed to the full
influence of the sun. After this, to restore the colour, the dried
fruit is bleached in sulphur fumes — sixteen trays at a time,
and 40 lbs. in each — in a close chamber built for the purpose a
little way from the main building. Air-dried fruit is liable to
be a little tough on the surface, and it requires to be piled in
a sweating-room to let it ferment for eight days, and become
soft and pliable.

The prices paid in 1895 to the farmers were 5s. per lb. for
apricots and peaches, and 12s. 6d. per 100 lbs. for prunes, and
the prices realised were yhd. to 8d. per lb., as compared with
4d., the price per lb. of fruit dried by the old system. Nearly
80,000 lbs. of dried fruit were turned out during the season,
packed in cases in a condition fit to be carried any distance.
To secure uniformity in drying and also in appearance, the
fruit is separated into uniform sizes by an American fruit-
grader or riddle.

Similar co-operative companies will no doubt ere long be
formed in other districts. The principle involved is good, as
all interests are centred in the one set of individuals concerned,
and each man reaps the advantage of being one of the number
in proportion to the amount of his business.

The Wellington Fruit-Growers' Association, which had
been formed nearly three years before, and only mustered
seven members during its first season, possessed a membership
of over a hundred in 1895. The Society has not yet adopted
printed rules, but it is non-political, and it is intended for the
dissemination of information relating to fruit, by means of
reports and monthly meetings, at which questions are asked
and answered, and discussions take place. Besides Wel-
lington, the following places have started distinct associations,

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING. 20/

in most instances with marked success: — (i) Constantia ; (2)
Stellenbosch ; (3) Paarl (both agriculture and fruit) ; (4)
Montague ; and (5) Robertson.

A Horticultural Board for the Colony had been proposed,
and one important question being discussed was whether the
Government or the Associations ought to have the power of
electing the greater number of the members of the central
body to meet in Cape Town, consisting of one representative
from each local Fruit-Growers' Association and two members
to represent the Government. The local branch in each case
was to consist of the local representative on the central board
and two others. No doubt an organisation of this kind might
confer certain benefits upon the struggling fruit-growers and
upon the industry of fruit-growing generally, and be in a
manner conformable to the usual custom of having Govern-
ment interference introduced into it; but it seems to a stranger
that all the purposes to which the Horticultural Board could
well devote itself, and many more besides, could be better,
more freely, and independently undertaken by a commercial,
non-political, and independent body of fruit-growers, who
might be well designated the South African Fruit-Growers'
Union. Such a body, with aims and objects similar to those
of the Californian Fruit-Growers' Union, would rapidly be-
come a power for good. No Government support or assist-
ance ought to be sought for further than the removal of unfair
or burdensome disabilities, the lowering of the rates of car-
riage, and the improvement of the transport service by rail
— objects which could much more readily be attained by an
independent powerful organisation than by any Government-
nurtured institution. [The chief function of a Horticultural
Board would be to disseminate useful information, a function
which as time went on, and other means of information
became available, would steadily become of less importance.
The commercial spirit would be wanting, and the real require-
ments of the fruit-growing community could not be satis-
factorily attended to.] The central authority, in conjunction
with its local branches, should unite the colonial fruit-growers
as one man. It should not only find suitable foreign markets,
but supply the medium through which the grower could place
his produce upon these markets in good condition, and at a

208 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

reasonable outlay. No body which is handicapped by depart-
mental red tape could ever undertake such duties, or could
ever gain the confidence of the shippers should the attempt be
made. The executive should be elected by the members — in
other words, the fruit-growers of the Colony — on account of
their fitness for the work, and be directly responsible to them,
so that they would only be retained as long as they were able
and willing to give their best services.

This is not an enterprise which is to be established while
sitting with folded hands, neither is it one in which to delay
in the hope of receiving Government aid in its inception or
its expansion. It can only be carried through to a successful
issue by the energy and the strength gained by the combination
of the individuals personally interested, encouraged and sup-
ported by Government giving facilities for development, and
removing obstacles to progress.*

Recent years hav^e seen an immense improvement in the
means for and methods of spraying fruit-trees, rose-bushes,
and such other cultivated plants as are liable to suffer from
the attacks of insect or fungoid parasites. The old English
force-pump, with plain jet, which showered a deluge of water
in the neighbourhood of the object under treatment, with
most unsatisfactory results, has given place to numerous hand-
power and horse-power apparatus for delivering, not only
water, but carefully prepared and scientifically proportioned
solutions of materials known to destroy the pests without
injuring the leaves. The great object in view is to get the
solution broken up during its passage through the delivery
nozzle t into an exceedingly fine spray, which envelops the
entire leaf-surface — under side and upper side as well. Illus-
trations are given of two hand spraying machines — one

* Since writing the above the author has learned that the Horticultural
Board has begun by securing a grant of ^600 from Government, but this
does not modify his opinion as to the best course to follow in a develop-
ment of this kind.

t T*hree well-known American forms are the Cyclone Nozzle, invented
by the late Professor Riley, Entomologist, U.S.A., and adapted by
Vermorel to his knapsack spraying pump ; M'Gowan's Nozzle, which is
capable when required to do so of delivering effectively a larger quantity
of solution than the former ; and Nixon's Nozzle, attached to the Ni.xon
Climax Spray Pump.

FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING.

209

^" 1

' AnTII'RST" Sl'RAYINC, M ACHINE— StRAWSON.

Thk Pkogkks-s Si'kavin(; Outfit.

Ag-enf—II'. Roe, Grnaff Kenict.

2IO

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONV.

American and the other EngHsh — -and also of the horse-power
Strawsonizer, which has recently been prominently before
the British public in connection with attempts to check the
ravages of potato disease, PhytopJithora infestans. By the use
of different forms of delivery tubes, this implement can be
made to spread the dressing over tall trees as well as over
those of low stature.

The most recent and most useful forms of spraying
machines dispense with the use of indiarubber valves and
tubing, which are readily gelatinised and deprived of their
natural elasticity by the ammoniacal solution of copper
known as eau celeste, or by preparations of kerosene or paraffin
oil.

TnK SlKAWSoN HORSE-POWEK STANDARD Sl'RAYER.

There are two distinctly different sorts of insects which
arc the enemies of the orchard and the greenhouse — (l) Those
the larvae of which chew the leaves or young shoots, such as the
codlin-moth, bud-moth, cankerworm, and tent-caterpillar; and
(2) those which live by suction on the juices of the plants
infested by them, such as the numerous scale insects and
plant lice. " They have the parts of the mouth consolidated
and prolonged into a tube or sucker," which penetrates the
vegetable tissues and reaches the sap, which the insect imbibes
by means of it.

The methods by which the two different sorts of insect are
attacked are as different in their aims as the insects are in
their habits.

FRUIT GROWINC] AND MARKETING. 211

The biting forms of the insects can be destroyed by
poisoning their food, either by vegetable or mineral poison
spread over its surface. Till recent times hellebore powder
was the great stand-by of the fruit and vegetable gardener,
but now the two insoluble arsenites of copper and lime, in
a very fine state of subdivision, are considered the most
effective materials to use. There is little difference between
them as regards results, although the copper arsenite, Paris-
green, Schweinfurth - green, or Emerald - green, is slightly
preferable to London purple or the arsenite of lime, as it
is generally more free from soluble arsenic, which is injurious
to vegetable tissue.* In the case of either salt, it is advisable
to use it along with lime or added to Bordeaux mixture.
By this means a base is supplied which unites with the
free arsenic and renders the solution innocuous. As some
of the powder is liable, when a parcel of it is opened, to fly
about in the air, and to irritate the mucous membranes of the
nostrils of the operator, it is well to purchase Paris-green in
the form of a fine levigated paste, which when wanted can either
be weighed or measured. It costs about is. per lb. put up in
glass jars of 14 lbs. The heavy arsenic being only mixed with,
and not dissolved in, the water, tends to sink to the bottom,
and this necessitates constant agitation of the liquid while the
dressing proceeds. A little well-boiled flour paste, being
gummy, aids the water in keeping the poison in suspension.

The sucking insects are not injured by the poisonous
dressings, which are only applied to the surfaces of the leaves,
but they can be destroyed (suffocated) by closing up their
breathing pores by means of a soapy or oily fluid, which on
drying leaves a coating over the parts actually wetted by it.

As the eggs of insects are more difficult to destroy than
the mature forms, it is necessary to spray a second time a week
to ten days later than the first, to overwhelm the new broods
which have meanwhile hatched out from the eggs which
escaped the first dressing.

Spraying is not an operation which may be delayed with
impunity until the insect or fungoid attack is well begun, or

* Paris-green is a double salt of arsenite and acetate of copper — an
aceto-arsenite. It is not in such a fine state of dixision as the purple,
and it is a little dearer, which arc both drawbacks.

212 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF Cy\PE COLONY.

even noticed ; it may then be too late to save the season's
crop of fruit. It is an operation which should be carried out
.systematically at the proper time of }'ear, in the same way
as the good orchardist undertakes the cultivation and the
manuring of his soil and the pruning of his fruit-trees.
Spraying has been aptly likened to a system of insurance.
It involves an annual tax in the form of labour spent in its
accomplishment, but this, like an insurance premium, is a
known and insignificant amount when compared with the
total value of the property protected, and is a safeguard
against disaster.

To obviate confusion, the carefully selected formulae for
making insecticide fluids, which have already been published
by the Agriculture Department of the Cape Government, have
been adopted with a few modifications.*

Paris-Greeo. — Strongest mixture — i lb. to 120 gallons water. Average
mixture — i lb. to 150 gallons. Proportion not to fall below i lb. to 180
gallons.

London Purple. — Strongest mixture — i lb. to 100 gallons water.
Average mixture — i lb. to 130 gallons water. Proportion not to fall below
I lb. to 160 gallons.

The above strengths are for the first application. The second should
be considerably weaker, say i II). to 200 gallons, unless heavy rains have
washed off much of the first deposit. Spray when the young fruit is about
the size of peas, z'.c, as soon as the blossom is shed, and under ordinary
circumstances make the second spraying a week or ten days after the
first. In smaller quantities one may take as follows : —

For Apples. — i ounce of either of the above to 12 gallons water.

For Peaches. — Paris-green for choice — i ounce to 15 gallons water,
choosing cloudy weather or late afternoons rather than hot sunny days,
because of the tenderness of peach foliage.

In all cases these two arsenical powders must be kept well stirred up
during the time of spraying.

These are excellently adapted to Vermorel's pump.

Paraffin Emulsion. — Craw's formula : —

Paraffin oil . . 2| gallons (z>., ii^ of a tin as sold).

Common soap . . 2 lbs. (about I5 bars).
Water . . . i| gallon.

Cut up the soap into small bits, add it to the water, and Isoil till per-
fectly dissolved by the heat and stirring. Then beat into it the paraffin
oil, little by little, using the dasher briskly. This stock will keep, and is

* Fuller information may be got in " The Spraying of Plants." By
E. G. Lodcman. One of The Rural .Science Series. Macmillan & Co.,
1896.

FRUIT c;r(j\ving and marketing. 213

used by mixiny i gallon of it to 7 gallons of hot water, and spraying it on
as hot as the hand can bear.

Paraffin Emulsion. — Hubljard's formula for orange scale : —
Paraffin oil . . 2 gallons (z.^?., | of a tin).

Common soap . . ^ lb.
Water . . . i gallon.

The soap is to be cut up and dissolved as before, then added, boiling
hot, to the paraffin with brisk agitation with the dasher. The creamy
liquid then formed is diluted with nine times its bulk of water. This
formula makes 3 gallons of emulsion, giving, when diluted down, 30
gallons of spraying wash. Apply on cloudy days or in the evening.

Milk Emulsion of Paraffin. H ubbard's formula : — Equal Ijulks of milk
and paraffin are measured off, and the former heated to the boiling-point.
The two are then mixed and violently churned. After ten minutes the
emulsion is formed quite suddenly, like the coming of butter, and as it
cools forms an ivory-white glistening paste or jelly. If the churning has
Ijcen continued long enough, the product is quite permanent when kept
free from exposure to the air. It may be diluted to any extent with warm
water, added gradually. One part to ten of water makes an effective wash.

The power of all petroleum hydrocarbons or their emulsions to spread
filmwise over a smooth surface is the secret of the measure of success
that has attended spraying for scale. They, in short, possess the power
of overcoming the resistance of the ever-present film of adherent air
which interposes and delays the actual contact and spread of fluids on
the smooth surfaces of solid bodies. Few other fluids so readily wet the
surfaces to which they are applied.

Rosin-Soap Wash. — Koebcle's formula: — Rosin can be saponified just
like ordinary fat if certain precautions are taken.

Caustic soda* . . . . i lb.
Black rosin ..... 8 lbs.
Water 32 gallons.

The caustic soda is turned out of the tin, broken up, and dissolved in
about a gallon of the water at boiling heat. Half the solution is then
taken out and set aside, and the rosin is slowly added in powder to the
remainder, which is boiled and stirred till complete solution is effected.
Then the other half of the soda solution is added very gradually with
constant stirring, and the boiling kept up until a little of the mixture is
found to mix with water like milk. Any water added to keep up the bulk
must be hoi, otherwise the rosin will be thrown down, and will be very
difficult to dissolve. Similarly, when the dilution to 32 gallons is effected,
it must be made with hot water.

The above wash is perhaps somewhat troublesome to prepare, but
Craw says of it : " When properly prepared, this remedy will be found one
of the best for citrus trees, both from its effect on the tree and as an
insecticide. It assimilates perfectly with water, making a milky solution

* This is sold in air-tight tins, and is quite a different thing from the Scotch soda
used for washing purposes. The latter is of no use for this formula.

214 i<'ARMIN(; INDUSTRIKS OF CAl'K r(JL(^NV.

that will adhere to both the foliaye and the wood, forming a thin varnish-
like covering that completely excludes air from the scale insects and
sufifocates them. For the fluffy insects {DortJiesia and Dactylopius, or
mealy-bug) it has proved the most penetrating of all washes, sealing up
the eggs in a mass and preventing them from hatching. As far as my
experience goes, we have no wash that is equally effective upon such scales
as are located on the fruit itself. In the case of most other washes, the oil
in the rind of the orange and lemon appears to prevent the adhesion of
the wash to the surface."

The formula has been varied for use on the larger scale, thus : —
Caustic soda ..... 6 lbs.

Black rosin ..... 20 lbs.

Fish oil ...... 3 lbs.

Water to make ultimately 100 gallons.
Twenty gallons of the water are brought to the boiling heat, and the
soda then dissolved in it. The oil and powdered rosin are next added
slowly, with constant stirring to mix and prevent burning, and the boiling
continued for at least three hours. Hot water is then added up to 50
gallons, a little at a time. This mixture may then be run into a 100 gallon
tank, and diluted to make up the full amount. No cold water must be
added during the boiling, otherwise the rosin will precipitate.

Lime and Sulphur Wash. — This is something like the common sheep
dip, and is effective both for insects and fungi. The effectiveness of it
depends a good deal on the quality of the lime.

Unslaked lime ..... 40 lbs.

Sulphur ...... 20 lbs.

Common salt . . . . -15 lbs.

Water ultimately to 60 gallons.
Ten lbs. of lime and the 20 lbs. of sulphur are boiled briskly in 20
gallons of the water for at least an hour and a half. By that time the
sulphur will be dissolved, and the solution will have a brownish-amber
colour. Thirty pounds of lime are put into a cask, and on it enough water
to slake it and dissolve the salt which is then added. This mixture is run
into the boiler with the dissolved sulphur, and boiled for half an hour,
adding sufficient water ultimately to make up the 60 gallons. The solu-
tion should be strained through a fine brass sieve, and be stirred when in
use. It should also be kept covered up from the air, if not all used at
once. There is a good deal of wear and tear of the brass nozzles with this
wash, from the friction of the particles of lime.

Fungicide Spraying Formulae. — There are only four mixtures which
with small variations are the proper remedies against fungous parasites,
and they all depend on the destructive power of salts of copper. The
following are taken from the U.S.A. Departmental Farmers' Bulletin,
No. 7 (1892).

Bordeaux Mixture, or Boiiillic Boi-delaise. — In a barrel of 45 gallons
capacity dissolve 6 lbs. of best copper sulphate (blue-stone) in about 10
gallons of water, by placing the salt in a gunny-bag suspended just
under the surface. This is better than using hot water boiled in an iron

FRUIT CROWING AND MARKETING. 21 5

vessel, for the iron inevitably brought away as rust alters the copper salt.
In another tub slake 4 lbs. of quicklime, and add enough water to make
a creamy whitewash. Put a fine sieve or a gunny-bag over the copper
sulphate solution, and pour the lime-milk slowly in, stirring with a dasher.
Then fill up to 45 gallons, churn it up well, and it is ready for the spray
pump. If the copper sulphate be powdered, it will dissolve more rapidly.
The lime must be of the very best, and fresh, to ensure which one should
get it in the "quick" form and slake it for oneself. Note that the older
formula for this mixture made it 50 per cent, stronger, but experiments
have shown that results from the proportions given here were quite equal
to those from the higher strength.

If required frequently it is an advantage to prepare stock solutions for
the Bordeaux mixture, rather than to make it each time it is used. Fifty
pounds of sulphate of copper c:in be kept dissolved in 50 gallons of water,
so that its strength is known ; and, by covering to prevent evaporation
and chemical change, the lime can be kept preserved in the creamy
condition, ready to be stirred and mixed with the copper solution, which
should first be made up with sufficient additional water to satisfy the
formula. No mistake must be made by way of adding too little lime, as
a slight excess of lime is a guarantee of the safety of the mixture.

A still more simple method is to use " Strawsonite," put up in bags of
10, 20, 40, and 112 lbs., and costing respectively 3s. 6d., 6s. 8d., 13s., and
36s. each. A measure dish with directions is placed in the mouth of each
bag. The danger of making a mistake is thereby reduced to a minimum,
as all the work necessary is to measure out the Strawsonite, mi.x it with
water, and pour it through the strainer before introducing it into the
spraying apparatus.

Copper Ammonia Carbonate. — Dissolve 3 lbs. copper sulphate in 2
gallons of hot water. Similarly dissolve 3I lbs. of washing soda in i
gallon of water. Pour the soda solution slowly into the first, and when
all action has ceased, bring up the whole to 10 gallons, and stir thoroughly.
Pour away the clear water when the sediment has quite settled. Pour on
fresh water and stir up again. This is done three times in all, till the blue
sediment, which is copper carbonate, is quite washed, and the clear water
has no salt taste. You will then have about i^ lbs. of copper carbonate
in a paste. Dissolve it in 2 gallons of ammonia, or less if the sample you
get is strong enough to dissolve all. The solution is then stored in well-
corked bottles, and when wanted i pint is diluted down with 12 gallons of
water for spraying."

Eau Celeste.— Dissolve 2 lbs. copper sulphate in 8 gallons of water.
When solution is complete, add 3 pints of strong ammonia, and subse-
quently water to make up 45 gallons.

Modified Eau Celeste.— Dissolve 4 lbs. copper sulphate in 12 gallons
of water, and stir in 5 lbs. of washing soda in powder till dissolved, to

* Note that all ammonia solutions must be kept in a cool place. If they are
exposed to heat— as, for instance, being set out in the sun— the escape of ammonia
may drive the stopper out, or even burst the bottle.

2l6 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAl'F COLONY.

precipitate the copper as green carljonate. Then add 3 pints strong
ammonia, and dilute to 45 gallons This is a rather slovenly formula,
and the sulphate of soda formed in the reaction is not an advantage.

These copper solutions are designed to kill the fungi of the potato
disease, and those that produce the apple scab, the pear scab, pear
cracking, and pear-leaf blight — classified as Fusicladhun and Entomo-
sporitint.

In every case, the operator must licar in mind two things besides the
killing the insects or the fungi. First, with the arsenious and copper
washes, he must be particularly careful that the poisonous spray does not
accidentally get carried over himself or his assistants ; with the others
the spray is not poisonous, but is offensive. Secondly, on finishing work
the spray pump must be scrupulously cleaned by pumping fresh water
through it — the suction and delivery hose unscrewed and drained, and the
last contents of the pump got rid of by lifting the valve with the finger.
Then, after drying the pump as far as possible, it is to be carefully oiled,
and the plunger worked a little, so as to spread the lubricant over it.
Neatsfoot oil is the best, paraffin oil next, vegetable oils the worst.

Within the decade gas has been shown to be the most
effective means for the destruction of scale insects on citrus
fruit-trees. Paraffin emulsions and rosin-soap sohitions,
especially when combined with arsenic, have been used with
a considerable measure of success in the destruction of scale
insects on orange-trees in America; but however well the
work may be executed, a few of the insects or their eggs are
sure to escape even repeated sprayings, and lead to renewed
outbreaks of the pest at a later period. A most effective and
complete remedy has been found in the use of hydrocyanic
acid gas, or hydric cyanide, prussic acid — one of the most
poisonous bodies known to chemistry. This fact necessitates
great care in handling it, not only to prevent injury to the
tree, but on account of the possible injury to the operator.
The gas is readily made by the action of sulphuric acid upon
potassium cyanide; and the proper means of using it to accom-
plish the desired effect upon the insects without injuring the
foliage have been demonstrated by Professor D. W. Coquillett.
Two dangers require to be avoided, (i.) The gas must be
used dry, a condition which can be secured by passing it over
strong sulphuric acid, or some other drying material, such as
slaked lime or calcium chloride, contained in one of the two
chambers of the leaden generating apparatus. If this is not
attended to, and vapour permitted to rise with the gas and
settle on the leaves, the moisture attracts and dissolves a

FRUIT GROWINC; AND MARKETING.

The Woi.fskill Fumigator.

2l8 FAK.\I1N(; INDUSTklKS OF CAI'K COL(JNV.

portion of the gas, which in that condition is most injurious
to vegetation. (2.) The second danger, although not so serious
in its consequences as the first, consists in a certain amount of
the fine particles of the cyanide being carried up and lodged
upon the leaves, when acid is applied directly to the dry
pulverised cyanide. In the proper method of preparation —

"The cyanide is dissolved by boiling in water for a few minutes,
taking t gallon for 5 lbs. weight. For every ounce of this solution use
half a fluid ounce of sulphuric acid. It should flow into the cyanide in a
very fine stream. The action is violent, and the gas comes off in the form
of a dense white fog, resembling smoke. After passing through the drier
or purifier, it becomes transparent and as invisible as air."

The poisonous gas is confined and diffused through the tree
being operated upon, so that it envelops the scale insects, by
letting down to cover the tree a gas-tight tent of thin oiled
ticking, which is made fast round the edge, touching the
ground by an upcast of earth. The gas is introduced by
means of a hose-pipe let through the tent by an indiarubber
mouth sewed into its side. Of many forms of simple and
complicated apparatus for adjusting the tent over the tree,
the Wolfskin has been selected to represent a successful
mechanism for the purpose when large trees require to be
treated. The smaller the tree, the more simple does the appa-
ratus and also the operation become.

CHAPTER XL

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING.

Genera of Struthious Birds : Ostrich, Emu, Cassowary, and Rhea — Natural
Habitat of the Ostrich — Introduction of Ostrich Farming — Parts
most Suitable — Artificial Food — Water Supply — Fences — Area re-
quired per Bird — Jumping Powers — Richard Gavin's Farm — Num-
bers of Eggs — Incubation — The Nest — Danger of Birds Kicking —
Distinguishing Characteristics of Birds of Different Ages— Health
of Ostriches — Internal and External Parasites — Dipping — Sulphur
taken Internally — Plucking the Feathers — Profits and Prices of
Birds — Improvement by Selection — Points- Sorting of Feathers —
Marketing — Numbers and Position of Ostriches in the Colony —
Weights and Values of Feathers Exported — Value per lb. of Ostrich
P^eathers in Quinquennial Periods since 1850 — The Home Market —
The Plucking of Live Geese.

The African and Arabian ostrich, Struthio camclus, is by far
the most valuable species of the four genera of the struthious
or running birds forming the sub-class Ratitce. All have
three toes, except the true ostrich, which possesses only two—
a large central and a small exterior lateral one.

The emu, Dronicens (in two species), the purely Australian
representative of the sub-class, is covered, male and female
alike, with brown hair-like feathers. The feathers are not
sent as such to the London market, but emu skins come, a
few hundreds at a time, and sell at 3s., 5s., and 6s. each, and
are utilised in the making up of many fancy-feather patterns.

The cassowary, Casiiarhis, of which there are no less than
nine species, is found in the north of Australia, the Malay
Archipelago, and the islands of the South Pacific. It most
resembles the emu in its plumage and size, and stands about
5 feet high. It is entirely without wings, and possesses a
large horny, brightly-coloured helmet on its head. A number
of the species have wattles hanging from the neck.

The rhea, or nandu, of South America, possessing three
species, is covered with feathers similar to the chicken feathers
of the African ostrich, but the tail is absent.

220 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The ostrich, like the other species of the tribe, p(jssesses
only rudimentary wing's, and is incapable of flight, but the
great speed and staying power of the bird in running render
this form of progression unnecessary in its case. The wings,
in addition to being ornamental to a degree, are useful to the
bird in turning, and while practising the gyrations for which
it is distinguished. The breast is rounded and full, and not
of the narrow, keel-like form that prevails among birds which
fly ; and the barbs of the feathers are equally balanced on
the two sides of the quill. The ostrich is nearly double the
weight of any of the other three genera named. Its head
and neck are bare of feathers, and in its natural state it is
extremely shy. iVlthough the proportion by weight of its
brain to its body is remarkably small, )'et it is not the stupid
bird which it is generally supposed to be. Its natural habitat
is the desert or semi-desert Karoo, to which, when left by man
to its own devices, it had retired for safety from the numerous
enemies which beset it in the more productive parts of the
continent.

Although ostrich farming is a large and important industry
in Cape Colony, its introduction is of comparatively recent
date. It was long believed impossible to tame the ostrich,
and that if individual specimens were tamed, they would not
bre:d in captivity. The first official record of domesticated
ostriches being farmed occurs in 1865, when eighty were
entered in the annual returns of live stock, and the yield of
feathers from them at 120 lbs. Between 1857 and 1864
encouraging experiments had been made in capturing and
taming wild ostrich chicks, but it was not until Arthur
Douglass of Heatherton Towers, in the Albany district, had
in 1869 perfected and made known an incubator for artifi-
cially hatching large numbers of eggs, that ostrich farming
extended generally, and the birds became thoroughly domesti-
cated through constant association with the attendants recjuired
in the work of artificial rearing. Even now, when birds are
permitted to hatch their eggs, the chicks require to be brought
to the homestead on the third day, and a Kaffir boy must
during daytime be in constant attendance upon the young
brood, else they grow up wild, and remain unmanageable, and
consequently valueless, unless for shooting like wild birds for

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 221

the plumage of a single season. Since the decline in value of
ostrich feathers, which has taken place in common with the
decline in the general level of prices of commodities in other
parts of the world, and the consequent narrowing of the margin
of profits accruing to the ostrich farmer, artificial incubation
has gone out of fashion. It is also thought that, owing to
the ample measure of exercise which the old birds give their
young, and that with liver disease and so many parasites
about, it is safer to adopt the natural method of rearing.

Ostriches do not thrive well under conditions of extreme
cold or of heavy rainfall, and even on land suitable to them
they soon do badly if overcrowded. On grass of strong
growth, particularly that close to the coast-line on the sour
veld where it becomes hard and indigestible, ostriches are not
so successful as when fed on sweet Karoo bushes, although
there are few parts in the Colony where they cannot be kept.
One advantage which a dusty bush country possesses over a
grass country lies in the feathers being preserved in better
condition where the birds can take a dust bath than where
they roll about in early morning on the dewy grass.

They are fond of all sorts of bushes which sheep eat,
and when the country is devastated by swarms of locusts,
ostriches, like most animals, consume locusts, but they are
not, as a rule, insect feeders. They do not suffer from the
attacks of ticks so much as four-footed animals, for the)^
remove them from all parts of the body, which the)^ can
reach with their bills, leaving only the head, upper neck, and
under the thigh assailable.

There is no contagious disease from which ostriches
suffer, and the heart-water of sheep, or the various common
bovine diseases, are unknown among them, although, as will be
explained later, they are most susceptible, especially when
young, to the attacks of internal parasites. These they pick
up with their food from the veld, or take in with impure
drinking water. Since ostriches have increased in numbers,
certain worm parasites have spread to districts in which the}'
were formerly unknown.

Young chicks feed at first on the solid excrement of the
old birds, and they thrive particularly well when thc\' have
access to the residential quarters of the Kaffir population.

222 PVVRMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

To supply a sufficient amount of bone-earth to satisfy the
demands made on the system for material to form the skeleton,
it is necessary in many parts of the Colony where phosphate
of lime is deficient in the soil, to provide broken bones for the
consumption of the birds, and on sour veld salt should also be
given.

Ostriches do well when permitted to run over arable fields
while out of cultivation, as they are fond of the numerous
succulent weeds that are 'found in such places. Like pigs,
they are particularly fond of arum lilies, which grow in great
profusion in some parts of the Colony. Young birds are some-
times poisoned by eating " stink kruid," but old ones are more
wary, and avoid it. Ostriches of any age will eat pumpkin
pips, which, when taken in quantity, paralyse the limbs for a
time.

During prolonged periods of drought, when the natural
food becomes exhausted, it is necessary to supply the whole
stock with some form of succulent food to prevent them
dying of starvation, or suffering from stop-sickness or consti-
pation. The power of digestion of an ostrich is proverbial,
even to the digestion of horse nails and pieces of wood, but
this vigour need not be looked for unless the bird be in good
health and living on suitable food.

The succulent branches of the prickly pear or the leaves
of the American aloe (agave), chopped into small pieces, serve
the purpose admirably, and birds can be successfully carried
through a period of scarcity on this food, supplemented by an
allowance of i lb. of mealies daily. In the drought of 1895
some large owners (of 2,000 birds) were said to lo.se about
one-fourth of the number, owing to their not making provision
for feeding in good time. Ostriches are much like sheep in
the matter of acquiring a taste for certain foods, and in
refusing, when in very poor condition, to eat even good food
with which they are not familiar. An ostrich which has been
accustomed to live exclusively upon lucerne will die of star-
vation in a camp where spek-boom is abundant, although
naturally the rounded succulent leaves of this bush are highly
prized by ostriches reared on the veld.

In those districts where lucerne is extensively grown under
irrigation, the ostrich farmer is independent of difficulties aris-

T?:?^

>;'*' *

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARM INC. 223

ing from climatic irregularities. Two hens and a cock can be
kept during summer in a lucerne camp of less than half an
acre, and are not able to consume the whole produce.

Ostriches thrive admirably on green lucerne during the
growing season, and in winter time on lucerne hay cut into
short lengths, and well wetted the day before it is to be
consumed. A daily allowance of 3I lbs. of hay, when birds
are running on bare veld, will keep them in good condition.
Oat hay treated similarly is found to be constipating, but this
defect would be easily remedied by showering the hay-chaff
with treacle water from a rose can — a dressing which would
also make the hay more palatable. Birds fed during a period
of drought are liable to injure their feathers by rushing against
each other. Chick ostriches at all times, and old birds when
on dry food, require to be supplied wath water ; but the latter
do not absolutely need to drink if they be feeding on green
herbage. There ought to be no muddy dams in an ostrich
camp, as the birds get into them in hot weather to roll, and
thus destroy their feathers.

Ostriches require to be enclosed in camps, and con-
sequently the development of the ostrich industry led to the
fencing of large areas of the Colony, and, returns from feathers,
eggs, and birds sold being good, it also supplied the funds
necessary to meet the outlay. Wire fences form by far the
most available means to this desirable end, although, owing
to their invisible nature, they are a serious source of clanger
to birds, until they become accustomed to them. A single
wire fence of four or five wires (galvanised, in preference to
annealed, so that they may be the more readily seen), 5 feet
high, serves the purpose well, when birds are in camps on the
veld, as the cocks soon find out which one is master, and
the weaker ones keep out of his reach ; but where birds
are kept on lucerne on areas of less than an acre, it is
necessary to i:)lace two fences a few feet apart from each
other to divide the camps, so that the birds cannot get at
each other.

On good Karoo-bush veld one bird should not be allowed
less than 1 5 acres. Camps of 30 acres, or even 40 acres, for
the accommodation of a pair of breeding birds, do very well,
and it is most advantaereous both to the veld and to the

224 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

ostriches if some other description of stock be pastured in
alternate years. The bushes which ostriches eat closely then
get a chance of growing, and cattle, sheep, and goats keep
down other bushes that tend to grow too rank. Moreover,
some of the parasites which attack ostriches disappear, or
become reduced in numbers, during the period that the birds
are- on other veld. Cattle do well when pastured throughout
the season on the same veld with ostriches, but under similar
circumstances sheep and goats thrive badly. Although it is a
common practice to place two hens with one cock, it is best to
have only a pair of birds together, if the cock be quiet. If
he teases the hen mercilessly it is necessary to give him two,
or even three, hens, to divide his attention, and prevent him
actually killing the one.

The idea which generally prevailed, only a few years ago,
in this country, that anything in the shape of a fence, even a
low bank, would turn an ostrich, not that it could not get over
it, but that it would not attempt to do so, is quite erroneous.
The author was shown at Richard Gavin's farm, near Oudts-
hoorn, the scene of two marvellous jumps made by birds
from a kraal where they were being plucked. One was a
standing jump made by a young cock under two years old.
The distance was 5| feet over a wire fence 4^ feet high.
The other was a running jump made by an old cock over a
6- foot clay wall. The toe of one foot rested on the top of
the wall, and the toe of the other about 9 inches down on
the side from which he sprang. The usual way for a bird to
get over a wall, if he be in no great haste, is to breast it and
roll over.

On Gavin's farm of 200 acres, the wonderful results which
can be achieved by growing lucerne under irrigation were
amply illustrated. Ostriches formed the main permanent
stock, and numbered 550. During the season previous to the
author's visit, in- addition to the birds, 117 oxen had been
bought in, fattened, and sold off, between the ist of August
and the middle of the following June; and 50 sheep, 15 young
cattle, and 10 horses had been kept all the year round. The
produce of the farm included 40 tons of hay, or sufficient to
feed the ostriches for about fift}- da}s during winter, before the
lucerne bei^ins to erow.

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 225

The hen ostrich lays from 12 to 17 eggs of a yellowish-
white colour, weighing, on an average, about 3 lbs. each.
When two or three dummy eggs are left in the nest, and the
real eggs are regularly removed, a hen will lay as many as
thirty before stopping. When more than one hen claims the
same nest, and laying continues after one pair of birds has
begun to sit, the eggs belonging to the setting are marked, so
that newly-laid eggs may be recognised, and removed before
they begin to hatch. Although elliptical, they are more
rounded than a hen's egg. The period of incubation is six
weeks, and the hen sits during the day, while the cock re-
mains on guard in the vicinity, and takes her place at night.
Some birds remain off the eggs only for a few minutes, while
others will leave them to cool for an hour or more. At times
the cock drives back the hen somewhat roughly to her
domestic duties when it appears to him that she has been
too long away. The eggs may become quite cold to the
touch, and not suffer in consequence, and when birds are not
molested they usually bring out a chick for each egg, chipping
the hard shells with their beaks at the proper time, to liberate
those that have difficulty in escaping.

In well-managed camps, a proper place is prepared for the
nest, after three or four eggs have been laid, by digging a
hole 6 feet wide by 2 feet deep beside the original nest, and
filling it with gravel, to secure drainage in the event of
heavy rains occurring while the birds are sitting. After the
birds become familiar with the alterations, the eggs are moved
on to the place prepared for them. Birds that are well fed
and attended to may have as many as three nests in one year ;
and two nests are quite common. The breeding season for
ordinary stock is from the end of May till September.

To ensure the safety of the young chicks from jackals
and wild cats, which are still numerous in certain parts of the
Colony, meat, in which strychnine has been inserted, is left
about on the veld to poison them.

After the hen commences to lay, the cock bird becomes
unsafe to approach, unless one be armed with a long thorny
mimosa branch, which, on being held out in the line of his
eyes, will stop the charge of the most savage bird. The
ostrich kicks forward and downward — in short, with his great

226 FARMING IXDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

toes he attempts to rip open liis opponent, after the fashion of
an "old man" kangaroo defending liimself against a dog. There
is Httle chance when attacked of taking safety in flight if the
sheher of a bush close at hand cannot be gained. A man
well mounted on horseback can be easily overtaken, and
instances have been recorded of old cocks kicking so high,
and with such effect, as to break a man's thigh and the ribs {
of the horse underneath him with one blow. The only
chance of escape when overtaken in the open without any
suitable means of defence is to lie down flat, and even then
some birds can administer a kick as they pass over a person.
In such a case the bird is most likely to lie down and roll on
the top of his victim, and no one need expect to escape
without a thorough bruising. When caught by the neck an
ostrich becomes helpless and amenable to treatment, but it is
no easy matter to reach the neck of a bird actively engaged
in an attack, and ready to kick the moment one rises from
the horizontal position. When a person gets close to the
nest, the bird seems to be afraid of injuring the eggs, and will
not venture an attack, but as soon as retreat i.s begun one
may expect to be followed. ■

The hen, which throughout the early period of hatching
remained quite harmless and safe to approach, becomes even
more savage than the cock as soon as she hears the chicks ]
chirp in the shell. Ostriches are encouraged to attack people,
in fact, tempted to do so, by men approaching them without
suitable means of defence, and then having to run for a fence
or dodge behind a bush. If ostriches are accustomed to turn
for a thorn bush, they will almost invariably do so when a
walking stick is held up,^although it would be of little value
in the case of a genuine charge.

Ostriches are spoken of as chicks as long as they retain
their first feathers, i.e., up to seven or eight months old. After
this, till they are twelve months old. they are designated
young birds. They are plucking or feather birds from one
till they are four years old, and then they become four- or five-
year-old birds. At four years old they come to maturit}-, and
are camped off for breeding. The distinguishing character-
istics of the different ages, which, however, do not follow an
absolute rule in all birds, are given by Douglass as follows: —

ti vfr ■i7*Y^ iiKW x * .

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 22/

At six and a half months old the quill feathers will be ready to cut ;
some of the body feathers will have begun to change ; some of the cocks
will show yellow in the front of the legs.

At a year old the second growth of quill feathers should be showing ;
some of the cocks should begin to show black feathers ; all cocks should
show white on legs and bill.

At two years old all the chicken feathers should have gone from the back,
and the cocks should show quite black, or nearly so. Most of the little
white belly feathers should have been replaced by blacks or drabs, accord-
ing to sex. [Exclusive of the white plumes, black is the mature colour of
the male, and drab or dark grey that of the female and young male.]

At three years old there should not be a single chicken feather to be
found on the body ; the last place from which they disappear is where the
neck joins the body. Every vestige of the white belly feathers has gone.
The bird's plumage has reached perfection ; some of the cocks will be red
in front of the leg and on the bill.

At four years old the birds have reached maturity and the breeding
organs are fully developed ; the cocks in season will have the back sinews
of the leg pink, the front of the leg and the bill scarlet, and much of the
fineness of the feet, the leg, and the lines of the body will have gone.

At five years old and upwards the only distinguishing marks we know
are a generally coarser look of the limbs and body, and an increased
coarseness of the scaling in front of the legs and feet.*

The ostrich is generally supposed to live for a very long
time, even a. hundred years has been mentioned; but the
industry in South Africa has not been long enough in exist-
ence to furnish reliable data. The author saw one bird which
was over twenty years of age, and which showed no signs of
failing strength or vigour.

Old birds are hardy and healthy when properly attended
to, but there is great mortality among young- birds. Until
they pass three years of age they suffer much from internal
parasites, especially during periods of scarcity of food.

Tape-worms of several species, but most frequently the
broad one, are almost universally present in young birds of
two and a half to three months old and upwards. They may
be kept under control by the administration every three weeks
of ^ oz. to i-i- oz. of turpentine, according to the size of the

* " Ostrich Farming in South Africa," by Arthur Douglass (Cassell,
Fetter, Galpin, & Co., London, Paris, and New York), to which interest-
ing publication the present writer acknowledges indebtedness, as well as
to a visit to its author's property, Heatherton Towers, and lengthened
discussions on ostriches and their management with his sons.

228 FARMING INDUSTRIP:S OF CAPE COLONY.

birds, while they are between the ages of four months and
fourteen months ; but it is now impossible to stamp out the pest,
as knorhaans, paauws, guinea-fowls, and domesticated fowls
are all liable to the attack, and have spread tapeworms every-
where. The worms are located in the small intestines, and
are often present in large numbers. When ostriches come to
maturity the worms generally disappear. Their presence is
indicated by the feathers not lying as closely as they ought to
do when birds are thriving, and the skin losing the greenish-
yellow tint due to a thin layer of fat immediately under it,
and indicative of high condition.

Another injurious parasite is the Strongylus douglassii, a
minute, white, round worm, not more than a fourth of an inch
long when full grown, which buries its head in the mucous
membrane of the stomach and produces irritation and redness
of the parts affected. The lowering of the digestive functions
which follow^s leads to the bird's death from extreme poverty.
The moving worm is easily detected if a piece of the stomach
be held up to strong sunlight. It has thus been identified in
chicks of six weeks old.

No means have yet been found by which the worms can be
killed, but a few doses of turpentine and extract of male fern
will relieve the bird from the reducing influence of tape-worm,
and by liberal feeding its system may be built up so that the
injury done by the strongylus can be reduced to a minimum.

A swamp in the neighbourhood of an ostrich camp is
ruinous to the industry, as mosquitoes breed in large numbers
in such places, and the birds pull their feathers to pieces in
trying to defend themselves against their attack.

A disease known as yellow liver carries off many
young birds of one or two months old. It generally occurs
on land which has been long stocked with ostriches. A change
of pasture, Hberal feeding, and careful treatment seem to be
the most that can be done when an outbreak occurs, yet it
must be admitted that little is known of the nature or cause
of the complaint. It is thought by some to be due to the
poisonous influences of a louse, with a blue body and red
legs, which adheres to the body of the bird, and takes shelter
in its ears. This is a belief similar to one which is held in
some districts of this country, viz., that in some way or

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 229

another the worms which produce gapes in chickens are
intimately associated with ticks which fasten themselves to
the combs of barndoor fowls. With the important association
before us of ticks with Texas fever, it would be short-sighted
to disregard such beliefs until it has been demonstrated that
they are unfounded.

When birds get down in condition, lice are liable to
become numerous among the feathers. They may be kept
in check by providing dust-baths in which sulphur has been
mixed, or by dipping with sulphur and lime. This is a
practice which has come in recently, with the object of
checking another external pest, the ostrich fly, Hippobosca
strutJiionis, A. E. Janson, which strongly resembles the tsetse
fly, Glossina inorsitans, only the former is smaller, darker, and
the more wary of the two. On lifting the wing of a bird five
or six hundred of these may be seen to fly off. It is only
recently that they have been introduced into the Eastern
Province, where they are now universal. They came from the
north by way of Colesberg, and are most detrimental to the
interests of the ostrich farmer, on account of the injury they
do, especially to old birds sitting on eggs, by unsettling them.

Dipping is done with birds of all ages in a tank 7 feet deep
and 40 feet long, so that they must swim. The best time for
the work is immediately after plucking. The materials used
are sulphur and lime, i lb. of each, being well mixed and
boiled with water, for every 6 gallons of solution. The bath
.should be used at a temperature of 90" to 100° F., immediately
after being prepared, and when quite clear, so that no injury
can result to the feathers. The smell of the sulphur remains
for months on the feathers, and keeps the flies from settling on
the birds. Flowers of sulphur administered internally, in
doses of a table-spoonful daily for a week, and every alternate
day thereafter for a time, has been found valuable as a protec-
tion against both internal and external parasites.

Great cS.re is necessary while lowering a bird into the
dipping tank not to rub the scales from the hocks or legs,
because any injury to these parts is liable to be followed by
acute inflammation, and the death of the bird. Skin or flesh
wounds on the body of an ostrich are easily healed, but any
accident to the limbs is generally fatal.

230

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Plucking the feathers of birds that run on natural veld
is done for the first time when the bird is about seven months old,
by clipping the quills when these have become dry, so that no
blood will come, and at the same time the tail feathers and
drabs, two rows of body feathers from the upper side of the
wing, and two rows below it, termed " onder-baatje,"* are
pulled. Two months later, the stumps, then quite ripe for
removal, are drawn by means of small forceps. Six months
after the first drawing of stumps the second plucking takes
place, followed by stump-extracting at the end of eight months,

Plucking an Ostrich Cock with a Bag or Hood over his Head to keep him quiet.

and so on, a crop of feathers being secured every eight months,
or three crops in two years. The relative values of the
pluckings are as follows, although the actual figures fluctuate
with the prices in the market. If the first crop be worth 4s. to
6s., the second will fetch 15s. to 20s., the third £1. 5s. to £2,
and the fourth, which is the most valuable of all, £T). ios. to
£4. When the author landed in the Colony, the return from
a troop of ostriches kept naturally on the veld was generally
estimated at about ^^"2. los. per plucking; but owing to the rise

* The under-coat or waistcoat.

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 23 1

in the price of feathers before his departure from the Colony,
£2)- I OS. had been touched. When birds are fed on rich food,
as on kicerne, a crop of feathers may be got in seven months.
Cutting of both the tail and quill feathers is done at six months,
and the stumps and short feathers are removed a month later.
The high feeding tends to make, the quills stronger, and as
regards the finest plumes not worth so much per pound, but
the quantity of produce is greater, and the total value per bird
more. At Oudtshoorn 2 lbs. of blacks and drabs may be got
from one plucking, while in the Eastern Province, where the
.system of management is not so intensive, the weight might
probably not exceed r| lbs. from a bird.

At Graaff Reinet it was reported that the practice is to
take only one crop of feathers in the year, the stumps being
left for six months to give the bird a rest from feather produc-
tion. This course is also followed by some farmers in the case
of show birds, so that greater length and luxuriance of plumage,
like that found on wild birds, may be secured.

The profits from ostrich farming, even in the earl}- part of
1895, were more remunerative than in the case of sheep-
farming, considering the capital invested. A troop of ostriches
such as one would see on an ordinary farm ^^'ould then be
worth probably ^5 each all over. At one time prices were
very different. Richard Gavin on one occasion sold twent}'
birds at ^17. los. each. Eggs were worth £10 each, and a
six weeks old bird was worth from £1^ up to ^30. These
-figures relate to the ordinary stock of a farm, not to specially
selected fanc}- birds, the price of which at times went up to
i.' 1,000.

Much can be done by way of improving the quality of a
breeding stock of birds by careful selection of those of best
form \\"hich produce the finest qualit}' of feathers, and by
discarding those that are inferior in those respects. At one
time there was a run upon light-coloured hens, which possessed
more white feathers than dark hens, without sufficient care
being bestowed in selecting for quality of feather. It is now
found that dark hens of good feather exercise a beneficial
influence upon their cock progeny, and quality has conse-
quently taken precedence of lightness of colour. The cock
must be depended upon to produce the best white plumes, as

232 FARMINC. INDUSTRIKS OF CAPK COLONY.

■the L^ioss of the female feathers is not so good. It is also ^
important to select birds descended from parents which Jiave 1
been successful breeders. Douglass says, in writing of the
points to take into consideration : " They should have a well-
developed, muscular frame, large feet, thick powerful-looking
legs, with great depth of girth, and a prominent bold eye.
On no account have anything to do with a herring-gutted,
fly-away looking bird. A bird, if in good condition, should
be broad across the back, with a furrow running down the
middle. The tamer and more domesticated they are the
better, but by tameness is not meant want of pugnacity. The
body feathers should be curly, rich in colour, with a shiny .
gloss on them. The great complaint against Cape feathers
is a want of fulness, closeness, and breadth of fluff of the
lower part, as well as a want of width at the crown." These
defects can no doubt be got rid of by careful breeding, as
many parcels of Cape feathers can compare favourably with
the best Barbary feathers.

Feathers require to be sorted with infinite care into
bundles, which are mostly sold by auction — Port Elizabeth
and Grahamstown being the great markets for the Eastern
Province. Reference has formerly been made to the part
jDlaycd by Jews in Oudtshoorn district. The system of selling
the feathers on the birds before plucking-time, apart from the
objections already pointed out, leads to careless management
and less careful handling of the birds in plucking.

The ostriches in the Colony, by the returns taken 31st
May 1895, number 253,463 — an increase of over 21,000 within
two years. Ostrich farming in South Africa is nearly all con-
fined to Cape Colony. The chief ostrich farming divisional
areas are mentioned in the order of their importance, with
the number of birds stated in each case : —

No. of Birds.

10,820

10,283

9,298

6,082

premier position, with
more than three times the number of birds posses.sed by any
other division in the Colony, to the success of the cultivation
of lucerne under irrisjation.

Uivision.

No. of Birds.

Division.

Oudtshoorn .

• 54,663

Willowmore .

Albany .

17,190

GraafF Reinet

Somerset East

• 16,745

Cradock

Uitenhage

12,650

Bedford

Oudtshoorn is indebted

ir the premi

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARM INC.

!33

The subjoined table, extracted from the Statistical
Register of Cape Colony, shows the amounts of feathers
exported and the declared value in alternate years : —

Year.

Weight in lbs.

Declared Value.

1882* .... 253,954

-£1,093,989

1884

232,411

966,479

1886

288,568

546,230

1888

259,967

347,992

1890

212,276

563,948

1892

257,027

517,009

1894

350,404

477,414

1895

353,626

527,742

The next table t shows the value per lb. of ostrich feathers
exported from the Cape, given in quinquennial periods. i\ll
kinds of ostrich feathers, including " Dark Chicks," worth 2s.
per lb., and " Prime Whites," worth many pounds sterling per
lb., are included, so the figures are only valuable as guides to
the relative values from \'ear to year : —

Year.

Average per lb.

Year.

Average per 11

1850 .

■ £3 iS

1875 •

■ £(^ 3

1855 .

600

1880 .

. 5 8

i860 .

. 880

1885 .

. 268

1865 .

• 3 14

1890

2 13 It

1870 .

■ 3 I

1S94 •

■ I 7 3

The London Feather Auction Sales take place bi-
monthly, and usually last three or four days, buyers from
Germany, France, and America entering into competition
with those in the home trade. The dates at which the six
sales were held in 1895 were — 4th February, ist April, loth
June, 1 2th August, 7th October, and 9th December.

A price list of one of the leading firms of sworn brokers
on the London market has been reproduced below, with the
object of introducing the reader to the phraseology of the
London feather trade, and of giving some idea of the
numerous classes into which ostrich feathers are sorted to
attract different buyers ; as well as of showing the relative
values per lb. of feathers of different descriptions.

* This was the year of the highest prices, and also the year which
reached the highest record value in total.

t Taken from the chapter on " Ostrich Farming " in the Official Hnnd-
liook of the Cape and .South Africa, but brought down to date.

234

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Current prices of ostrich feathers, from Cape, Natal, &c.
[a few days after the author's return to London], loth October
1895:-

White primes and

bloods, superior cut

or light quills
Do. ists

Do. 2nds .

Do. 3rds . . 20

Do. stalky and inferior i 10
White femina tipped
Femina, light istsand

2nds, good
Do., do. ordinary

or defective
Do., dark, ordinary

to good .
Do., 3rds or defective
Byocks
Black, long and medium

Prices per lb. Oct. 1895.

^6 10 o to/9 10

5 o o ,, 6 10

o „ ^10

10 o

2 10
I O

3 15

o o

5 o

2 O

7 o

6 10

4 o

5 o

6 5
8 10

(i lot/; 1 1.)

Do., medium good to fine 2 10 o to 5 15

(iioti;8.)

Do., do. ordinary i o o to i 5

Do., medium and short o 15 o ,, i 10

Do., inferior or very short o 6 o „ 10

Drab, long and medium 2 5 o „ 310

Do., medium . . i 5 o ,, 3 10

Do., medium and short 0100,, 1 5
Do., do. inferior

or very short . o 2 o ,, o g
Floss, black and drab

medium . i o o „ 1 12

Do., black and drab

medium and short 012 6 ,, i

Spadonas, white and light i 50,, 3

Do., femina . o 10 o ,, i

Do., drab . . o i o ,, o

Boos white . . 2 o o „ 2

o o

5 o

10 o

Prices per lb Dec. i8

o
o
3 10
2 o
I 10
^ 10

o to /lO o

7
6 10

o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o

200,,

200,,
o 10 o „
3 10 o „
200,,

(I lot ^8.)
3 10 o to 60

4 o
2 o
6 o
6 10

1 o o „ 300
015 o „ 115 o

5 o „ o 12 6

2 10 o „ 3 10 o

(j\oi£s-)

1 5 o to 215 o
o 10 o „ 100

016,, 090

12 6 „ I 50

040,, o 10 o

1 10 o „ 3 10 o
o 10 o „ 150

I o „ 050

1 17 6 „ 250
Few super, lots

£2. ys. 6d. and £2. los.
I 7 6 to I 12 6
100,, 176
o I T o „ 110

(i lot £2. 15s.)

Do. femina . . i 10 o to 2 o o

Do. do. black butts 019 o „ i 4 o
Do. femina and drab 100,, 176

"The sales commenced on 7th inst.,and concluded to-day. In all, 3,146
cases Cape were offered, of which 3,140 cases were sold ; and 39 cases
Egyptian, of which 36 cases were sold. The weight of feathers offered
was 60,365 lbs., against 66,700 lbs. in August. The sales opened rather
flatly, but a better tone prevailed as they progressed, and with a generally
good demand nearly the whole quantity offered was disposed of. White
feathers were generally steady, occasionally the best lines were a little

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 235

weaker, but 3rds and medium feathers were fully 15 per cent, higher.
White and Liyht Femina were very firm for good and medium, and
common 10 per cent, dearer. Dark Femina, 5s. and los. per lb. higher.
Byocks steady. Spadonas brought full prices. Boos of all kinds were in
good demand, and generally 5s. per lb. higher for all kinds except Black
Butts, which were 2s. per lb. dearer. Black were very irregular, and
although some lines brought up to last sales, rates on the average
declined — long and medium, los. to 15s. per lb., and medium and
medium short about 15 per cent. Drab, long', and medium were about
I OS. per lb. lower, medium were irregular at steady prices to los. per lb.
decline, and medium short 10 per cent, easier. Floss in good demand,
especially shorter lines, which advanced 5s. to 7s. 6d. per lb. The
quantity sold realised ^i 13,000."

Large consignments are now sent to London from North
Africa — Tripoli, Mogador, and Egypt — and still more were
sent when the Soudan was open. Very few ostrich feathers
come from Australia and South America, and still fewer from
California — the supply from that quarter being dispo.sed of in
tlic United States of America.

The term " White " refers to the long pure wing feathers
of the male bird, ** Femina " indicating the corresponding
plumage of the female, hence the name. " Byock," said to be
a corruption of a foreign word for black and white, denotes the
parti-coloured feathers from the wing of the male ; onl}^ a few
are found on each bird. " Boos" is used to distinguish the
short and stumpy tail feathers of both birds — white from the
male, and drab from the female. " Spadonas" refers to the im-
perfectly developed first year's crop from young birds. These
feathers are pointed like a sword, hence the name, which
comes from the Italian. " Black" is the long growth on the
part of the wing near to the junction with the body of the
male, the short and medium are the body feathers ; and
" Drab" is the corresponding growth on the female. " Floss"
is derived mostly from the under-wing coverts of the birds,
both male and female, and is of a soft nature.

The variation in prices which occurred between the end
of 1894 and the end of 1895 ^^'11 indicate the tendency of
the fashion of the day. The rise in some classes was to a
certain extent due to a revival in the feather trade with
America, which had been at a very low ebb for some time.
The largest and finest feathers, which were at one time all the
rage, are now very much at a discount. Prices of these have

236 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

consequently declined, while prices of infericjr " lines " have
L^one up. The feathers used for trimming hats are not now
the long flowing " whites," sweeping gracefully in a horizontal
position, but groups of small feathers standing up after the
fashion of the Prince of Wales plume. The less expensive
varieties of feathers are extensively used in the toilet of
ladies for mantle and dress trimmings, boas, and muffs, and
to wear in the hair, while the finest feathers of medium length
are mainly seen in fans used in the ball-room and at the
opera.*

The prices of ostrich feathers, being dependent upon the
whims of fashion, which is liable to change, must remain
somewhat uncertain. This should lead a farmer to provide
more than one string to his bow, and adopt ostrich farming
as one branch of his industry, not as the sole means of
livelihood.

Apart from this being a judicious and safe course to follow
by a person desirous of eliminating from the business of
his everyday life all excessive market fluctuations, which
lead to the introduction of something not far removed from
gambling, w^e have already seen that decided advantages
result from the annual change of stock on the natural veld,
and we may therefore conclude that the profit per bird will
be greatest when ostriches do not exceed a certain, and not
an excessive, proportion of the stock upon a farm."^

Feather-beds are regarded as luxurious by the house-
wives in the rural districts of the Colony, and it is a common
practice on a farm to keep a number of geese, and to pluck a
considerable proportion of the breast and belly feathers five
or six times annually, or every six weeks during summer. In
some places the ganders are plucked even in winter, which
appears to be an aggravation of what must be regarded as a
painful if not in the eyes of the law a cruel practice, judging
from the loud protestations of the creatures, and the rate at
which they make their escape from their tormentors after the

* The author is indebted for much information relating to the
London Ostrich Feather Market to Hendrey & Martin, Colonial Brokers,
9 Mincing Lane, E.G.

t See also " Ostriches and Ostrich Farming," by Mosenthal and
Harting. Trubner, 1879.

OSTRICHES AND OSTRICH FARMING. 237

operation is over. Six or seven geese furnish i lb. of feathers
at one phicking, worth on an average about is. 6d. One
informant declared that she plucked 12 lbs. of feathers from
58 geese, and sold them at 2s. 6d. to 3s. per lb., but as
regards recent times these may safely be taken as record or
maximum figures. Some birds live till they are thirteen
years old. Many die during seasons of drought from stop-
sickness, induced by their picking up too much sand with the
roots of grasses on which they feed at such times. To give a
few mealies or a little barley is a good safeguard against the
most serious consequences of drought or winter scarcity.

CHAPTER XII.

THE WILD GAME OF THE COLONY.

Migratory and Non-Migratory Species — Fact of Antiquarian Interest —
Destruction of Game— Murrain of Cattle Spread to Game — The
Eland — The Koodoo — Rhinoceros Birds — Black Skins of Antelopes
and Large Game Generally — The Gemsbok — The Blue Wildebeest
— The Hartebeest — The Springbuck — Blesbok and Bontebok —
Small Antelopes — The Elephant — The Buffalo — Tsetse-Fly — List of
Predatory Animals and Rewards offered for their Destruction.

Ir is impo.ssible to make a definite statement as to the
geographical position of much of the game of South
Africa, as about four-fifths of it are migratory in habits. Not
very long ago the black wildebeest or gnu, the blesbok,*
the quagga, and the springbuck, grazed on the open plains
of the Midland Karoo, the Free State, and the upper portion
of Natal. As the pasture became exhausted, from overstock-
ing or drought, they shifted their ground periodically from
their favourite haunts, growing the sweet grass and bush of
the Kai"oo, to the sour grass in such areas as are found on
the borders of the Free State and Natal. The great con-
sideration was an open outlook, unencumbered by bush.

The gnu, blesbok, and quagga did not extend far north
of the Vaal River. The springbuck was more generally dis-
tributed, although most plentiful towards the west. The
blesbok is still to be found carefully preserved in the Free
State and in the Colony. The true quagga has altogether
disappeared, and the gnu, Connoc/ustes giui, with the excep-
tion of a small troop in the Free State, is extinct. The gnu
is interesting, on account of the extraordinary combination
of characteristics, usually found in widely diverging species
of animals, exhibited by it. It forms a connecting link
between the antelope and the bovine families. The head is
distinctly bovine in appearance, the mane and tail resemble

'" " Bok" is the Dutch for "buck," and the two words are used indis-
criminately in this chapter.

THE WILD GAME. 239

the corresponding appendages of the horse, and the hmbs those
of the stag, while the horns are Hke the horns of the buffalo.
The horns in both male and female curve from their broad
bases, first down and forward, the terminations being directed
upward and backward. The size of the animal corresponds
to that of a large pony.

There are still many troops of springbuck, the variety
known as the " trek-bok " occurring in very large numbers in
the direction of Namaqualand.

These were the most conspicuous of the migratory species
of game. The practically non-migratory species were the
eland, hartebeest, and koodoo. These included in their
grazing grounds the bush veld, river banks, and broken coun-
try, where shelter and grazing suited them. An excellent
instance of the sharp division of the two varieties of game
could be seen to the east of Kimberley. There a range of
hills divides the black country, " swart veld," from the bush
veld. On the eastern side the migratory game was for-
merly to be seen in countless thousands,, while to the west
the hartebeest and koodoo used to consort with the eland,
the elephant, and the giraffe.

An interesting fact, from the antiquarian point of view,
is that where the migratory game prevailed the stone
weapons found consist of small arrow and spear heads,
with rough flakes, sharp enough to be used at one time to
skin and cut up bucks. In the bush veld or big-game
country are found small arrow heads and battle-axes. The
latter, about the size and shape of an open hand, would
make formidable weapons when mounted on handles. They
consist chiefly of Lydian stone and jasper very rudely fashioned,
the makers evidently being unaware of the ingenious yet
simple mechanical contrivance used by the North American
Indians in turning out their beautifully finished weapons.

A good general idea of the game, which originally belonged
to a certain district of the country, can be got by examining
the cave drawings and so-called " bushman drawings " or
figures Calready referred to in the opening chapter) chipped
out on the hard smooth surfaces of rounded basaltic boulders
on the tops of the look-out hills. The latter were probably
executed while the aborigines were watching the movements
of the vast herds of game on the plains below.

240 FARMING IN' DUSTKIlvS OF CAPE COLONY.

It seems marvellous how such enormous numbers of
animals should have been all but exterminated within a few
years. But the flesh could be turned to profitable account,
being dried in the sun to form " biltong," an invaluable
adjunct to the commissariat of the hunter or wayfarer on the
•veld. It is not bulky, and it is light to carry. It requires no
cooking, and when cut into thin slices made across the line of
the fibre of the meat it is tasty, easily digested, and strengthen-
ing, and forms the great stand-by of the African traveller. The
skins were easily dried and exported, or prepared by the
African method of " braying " for nearly all sorts of purposes
for which hempen twine and rope and even in some instances
iron chains are used in this country. The former settlers in
the outlying districts gave the creatures no quarter, and the
very shyness and wariness of their dispositions led to their
speedy destruction. The system followed by the hunter was to
race on horseback after a mixed troop, jump off and shoot at
a distance of from 300' to 800 yards into the "brown," and pro-
bably not one in ten of those mortally wounded was bagged.
The number of cartridges carried by a man was generally
fifty, and it was no uncommon thing for a sportsman (l) to
return empty-handed.

With the game, the vultures are also disappearing, but
this matter has been discussed in connection with other
considerations.

The non-migratory game have had a better chance of
escape. They were in smaller troops, and had, when dis-
turbed, better opportunities for getting out of sight than those
in the open country.

Another untoward circumstance is likely to militate against
any attempt at the rehabilitation of wild game, and will pro-
bably lead to a further decrease in numbers. The murrain of
cattle, described by Joseph Thomson, has spread to the wild
animals. In some places the buffaloes have died out on
account of it, and pigs and many antelopes, exclusive, however,
of the hartebeest, have succumbed, to it.

The eland, Oreas cajiiia, H. Smith, in the wild state is
generally supposed to be " extinct in Cape Colony, Natal, the
Orange Free State, Griqualand West, and the Transvaal, and
almost so in all the countries watered by the tributaries of the

X 5

H ~

a 5
5 K

■5 K =

^k a.

THE WILD GAME. 241

Limpopo to the west of the Matabele country," but it is
reported to exist in Griqualand East, on the spur of the
Drakensberg Mountains. It has been domesticated in Cape
Colony, as may be seen from the accompanying plate (showing
a group of five tame cows). Up-country elands are still
plentiful north of the Zambesi River, and in the Kalahari Desert
where they attain their greatest size and are devoid of the
characteristic white stripes which are common to both males
and females belonging to other districts.

The eland is the largest and most useful of the antelope
family, and its members are ox-like in general proportions and
appearance. The finest specimens stand 6 feet high at the
withers, and measure 9 feet from the nose to the root of the
tail. F. C. Selous records the girth of the specimen in the
British Museum at 8 feet 2 inches, and the neck measurement
midway between the jaw and the shoulder at 5 feet i inch.

They become very heavy, weighing 1,500 to 2,000 lbs., and
fatter than any other large game. The flesh resembles beef
in grain and in colour, but in flavour it is not equal to that of
the buffalo, giraffe, or hippopotamus, and its good qualities
have been rather exaggerated by early hunters and writers
on large game.

It roams in herds, preferring dry and often sandy plains,
although it does not shun thickly wooded country. It is
slow in movement, and can generally be overtaken by a man
mounted on a good horse. Cows possess greater speed and
staying power than bulls, and " when pursued they often bound
high into the air, higher than the backs of their fellows."

The eland is gentle in disposition, as is evident from its
" soft brown eye," and there are few wild animals which hold
out more encouragement for their domestication. The horns
of well-developed males approach 2 feet 6 inches in length,
and a cow's horns have been measured 2 feef 10 inches long.
In form they are straight and erect, and each is conspicuously
adorned with a spiral wreath, extending well up towards the
tip in the case of the male. In the female this feature is but
slender.

The animal is distinguished by a prominent dewlap,
fringed with long hair ; a black mark above the knee inside
each fore-leg ; a black line up the centre of the back and tail ;

242 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the body hair short, except on the ridge of the back, and of a
reddish Hght fawn colour above, shading off to white beneath
(or according to Selous, writing of an eland cow, " a hght-red
colour fading into a creamy-yellow shade"); eight or nine well-
defined narrow white stripes falling from the backbone down
each side, reddish bands taking their places over the neck ;
the tail thin and whiplike, terminating in a black tuft of hair ;
fine clean-cut limbs ; and a small game-looking head, with in
the male a dense dark brush of hair on the forehead and face.

Selous says : " What a grand-looking beast an eland bull
is ! He is one of those stately creatures that few reflecting
men can slay without regret;" — and of calves a few days old :
" Beautiful little creatures of a reddish fawn colour, profusely
banded with perpendicular white stripes."

The koodoo, Strepsiceros kudu, Gray, one of the largest
and perhaps the most handsome of all the antelopes, calls for
little description with two such illustrations as the accompanying
plates. These are reduced copies from J. G. Millais's new work,
" A Breath from the Veldt," * and represent in a lifelike manner
both the male and the female.

Plate 40 also shows rhinoceros birds, BnpJiaga erytJiro-
rJiyncha, or " rhenoster vogels," feeding on the koodoo cow.

The attitudes of the rhinoceros birds were drawn, by the aid of a
telescope, direct from nature, and show a party of these birds relieving an
animal of ticks and other parasites. The birds possess tails of horny
feathers and claws of extraordinary strength and sharpness, by which they
can cling securely. They can hop backwards cjuite as well as forwards,
and they often make long drops from the shoulder to the fore-leg or down
the side of the animal. Among wild beasts their attention is chiefly
devoted to the rhinoceros, the Cape buffalo, the sable antelope, and the
wart-hog ; whilst among domestic animals horses and oxen are their
favourites. It is no uncommon sight to see an ox lying stretched on the
ground on his back, exposing the under parts of his body to them. The
flight of the rhinoceros bird strongly resembles that of our fieldfare, and
its jarring cry of alarm is like that of the common starling when its nest
is being robbed. All the birds utter it together when they wish to warn
an animal of approaching danger, sitting in a line along its back and
stretching .their necks upwards preparatory to taking flight. It is only
wild animals that they warn of the approach of danger ; when feeding on
domesticated animals they are comparatively tame, and suffer the close
approach ol x\\7m.— Condensed from ''A Breath from the Veldt:'

_ * Published (1895) hy Henry Sothern & Co., London, at ^3. 3s.

^1 *

"^-,'.

* 1

» -w

• -x"

1 •*-^^ -^--i*' ■"' ^.^

'^,F

'#¥

THE WILD GAME. 243

The koodoo is still found in Cape Colony (although not in
large numbers), in the vicinity of Uitenhage, Beaufort West,
Fraserburg, Prieska, and in Griqualand West. It is more
solitary in its habits, and not found so much in herds as the
eland. It is " usually partial to hilly country, covered with
dense thickets," but it is also common in thick bush by the
banks of rivers, and in the wait-a-bit thorn-jungle on the edge
of the flat and sandy Kalahari Desert. The horns, only present
in the male, are cylindrical and twisted spirally, and have been
seen as long as 3 feet 8! inches in a straight line from top to
base, which is equivalent to more than 5 feet along the curves.
A long beard adorns the throat, and a mane the back of the
neck. Selous says : " The ground colour of female koodoos
and young males is - reddish or greyish brown, with eight or
nine white stripes " (which are even more distinct than those of
the eland) " down each side. But the old males become a deep
blue-grey, which is owing, I think, as in the case of the eland,
to the colour of the skin showing through the scanty hair." In
writing of the eland he also says : " Old eland bulls, as well as
old cows, have very little hair on their skins, and look a dark
slaty-blue colour," also attributed by him to the same influence
as that just stated in connection with the koodoo.

These simple statements open up a wide field of interest
in connection with the colour of the skins of antelopes and
other wild animals in Central and Southern Africa. The hair
of a large number of species of antelope is light rather than
dark in colour, with a tinge of red or russet brown ; but it
has probably not occurred to any one that underneath this
light exterior hairy covering. Nature has for special reasons of
her own placed a dark skin. In short, the colour of the skins
of the animals in tropical regions seems to follow the same
law as that of the skins of the aboriginal inhabitants, and to
be almost invariably black or dark in colour.

During the author's visit to India in 1887 he made the dis-
covery, from the European point of view, that underneath the
white or light-grey hair of the zebu cattle was to be found,
in all but a small percentage of cases, a jet black or a dark
skin. It is interesting to recognise the similarity in the matter
of colour in tropical Africa, and to find that, on such undoubted
authority as that of F. C. Selous, the two largest antelopes are

244 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

black skinned ; and further, that all the species of smaller
antelopes which the author had the jDrivilege of examininc,%
are amenable to the same hidden influence. The rule docs
not hold good in the case of feline animals, which prowl at
night and find shelter by day from the direct rays of the sun,
but of those that feed by day, the buffalo, the elephant, the
rhinoceros, the zebra, and many others are dark skinner] .
The fact that the skin of the zebra is uniformly dark in spite
of the existence of numerous bands of white hair is peculiar])-
interesting, because with British cattle and horses a white
spot of hair generally implies, though not invariably, a white
spot underneath. The secret of the matter is that a dark
skin is not injured by sun burning and blistering, as a light-
coloured skin usually is, and the law of the survival of the
fittest has done its work so well through past generations, that
the beneficial condition of blackness is now all but uniform in
tropical areas.*

The lesson for the South African farmer to learn is to
select dark-coloured cattle, so that they may benefit by securing
immunity from sun-blistering, and its injurious consequences
on the animal's health and condition. Although Cape Colony
is not tropical, yet, owing to the cloudless nature of the sky,
the sun's influence is powerful. In dealing with the various
breeds of cattle, reference is made from time to time to the
importance of the consideration of colour.

The gemsbok antelope, 07yx gazclla, belongs almost
exclusively to the deserts of South -Western Africa. In
Griqualand West and the Kalahari Desert to the west of that
area, as well as in Namaqualand, it is still "fairly plentiful."
It is usually very wild and prefers open country, or that which
is merely covered with stunted bush. The body is heavy
though symmetrical, and the tail long and bushy. The colour
of the face, limbs, and belly is broken, and beautifully marked
in a manner peculiar to this species, and the horns are very
long, straight and slender, frequently longer in the female than
in the male. Selous gives 3 feet 6 inches as the greatest

* The subject of black skins in cattle is treated at some length in the
author's work on " Indian Agriculture," published at ^i. is. by Oliver &
Boyd, Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh.

THE WILD GAME. 245

length in his experience in the latter, and 3 feet loi inches
in the former case.

The blue or bastard wildebeest, or brindled gnu, Conno-
cluEtes taurina, a species included in the same genus with the
almost extinct true gnu, is to be found on the western border
of Griqualand West, along the eastern edge of the Kalahari
Desert, and all over South Central Africa. Selous says: " It
congregates in immense herds on the Mababe flats during the
dry season. It is partial to open downs devoid of bush, or
open glades in the forest, and is never met with in hilly
country." It is very swift of foot and enduring.

The hartebeest, AlcdapJms caania, is one of the fleetest
and longest-winded of South African antelopes. Its natural
habitat is very similar to that of the gemsbok and blue wilde-
beest. It is still "fairly plentiful " in Griqualand West.

The springbuck, Gazella euc/iore, or " springer " antelope,
named from the habit it possesses of bounding high into the
air, meanwhile assuming many most extraordinary positions,
which have been beautifully portrayed in J. G. Millais's
artistic work, previously referred to (from which, by per-
mission, the accompanying plate representing springbucks,
secretary birds, and a \'ulture has been copied). The animal
stands higher and is somewhat larger than a fallow deer.
The greater part of the body is of a light fawn colour, but the
belly and a narrow ridge running up to the middle of the back
is white, and furnished with white hair, which stands up
along the line of the back-bone. The horns are " simple and
annulate, and curved to form a l}Te-shaped figure."

Springbucks are plentiful in many parts of the Karoo
country, and in total numbers in the Colony they far ex-
ceed all other species of antelope. They tend to increase
since the institution by Government of a close time against
killing them.

Millais says that " the true home of the springbuck is now
found in the Kalahari, Damaraland, Ovampoland, and Great
Namaqualand," from which latter place come many beautiful
" karosses," or skin rugs, made by the Hottentot women, who
preserve and soften the skins and sew them most neatly
and strongly together with pieces of thin thread-like thong.
Springbucks graze together in large herds of hundreds or even

246

FARMING INDUSTRIES OK CAPE COLONY.

thousands. They have great power of scent and observation,
and, except when " trekking " in large numbers, so that they
crowd each other, they are difficult to approach unless a man be
well mounted on horseback. Shooting springbucks is done by
riding after the troops, now very frequently confined in large
camps within wire fences, and trying to cut them off by taking
advantage of shelter to make a short cut in the direction in
which the leading members of the troop are heading.

Head of a Steeniiok.

PJwto. by Percy Ashendcn, Civil Engineer.

The blesbok, Alcclapluis albifrons, and the bontebok, A.
pygarga, are both allied to the springbuck. The latter has
already been referred to in Chapter I. The blesbok is larger
than the springbuck, and it inhabits similar country to this
more widely represented rival. It is so fleet of foot that no
dog can catch it. There are several other small antelopes, as,
for example, the steenbok, rhebok, and bushbuck, which
are holding their own and rather tending to increase since a
close time has been instituted.

THE WILD CAME. 247

The elephant and the buffalo are still found in consider-
able if not in large numbers, in the forests of Knysna and
Humansdorp, and in the Addo Bush.

The African elephant, Elephas africauus, has not been
subjected to the influences of domestication since the time of
the Romans. It is a taller animal than the Asiatic species,
but it does not stand more than 1 1 feet at the shoulder. It
exhibits prominent differences in certain details of structure.
The forehead is convex in place of flat, and the back con-
cave rather than slightly arched. The ears are enormously
large, completely covering the shoulders when thrown back,
sometimes even 3^ feet long by 2% feet broad. The tusks are
heavy, and particularly so in the male, and they are freely
used for digging up the roots of trees for food, in which service
one tusk is generally much more worn than the other.

The Cape buffalo, Bubalus cajfer, is nearly as large as and
fully stronger and bolder than the Indian species, although
it is not so dangerous as is generally supposed, except when
wounded. The horns are broad and thick at the base, where
they come closely together and form a most effective pro-
tective covering for the crown and upper part of the forehead.
In this respect, and also in the way the flattened horns incline
backwards and downwards, and finally sweep round to form
graceful curves before the terminations occur, at a distance of
about four feet apart from each other, the animal strongly re-
sembles the Indian Jafarabadi variety of buffalo, which is above
the average size. The cows are well known to possess superior
milking qualities. The black skin, which is so thick and tough
that in the early days it was made by natives into shields
capable of turning musket bullets, is only indifferently pro-
vided with hair, and old animals become almost destitute
of this covering. South African buffaloes have never been
domesticated. They get into shallow, muddy pools, and carry
away thin coatings of mud, w^hich protect them at the same
time from the attacks of gadflies, and from the direct influence
of the noonday sun. They also participate in the pleasures
derived from the friendly offices of rhinoceros birds.

The tsetse fly, Glossma niorsitans, belonging to the sub-
family MuscincB, and closely allied to Stomoxys, is the fatal
pest which destroys the horses of big-game hunters, and the

24H FARMING INDUSTRIES OK CAI'E COLONY.

oxen of up-country transport riders, when they unwittingly
come within the fly-infested country, which is generally in
such a place as buffaloes prefer, viz., country covered with bush
and near a river. It is believed that this fly follows the buffalo,
and disappears from a district when the buffaloes are killed out
or are driven away. It is most numerously represented and

A Wounded Cafe Buffalo.

After Selous.

most injurious in its action in certain areas in the basin of the
Limpopo River. It is present in Zululand between the coast
and the mountains down to the 28th degree of south latitude,
but it does not appear in Cape Colony, unless it be in the
harmless form in which the species is represented in Australia.
The body is not much larger than that of the common
house-fly, which it also resembles in appearance. When

THE WILD GAME.

249

at rest, the wings, being longer, overlap at the tips and pro-
ject posteriorly, giving it an elongated character like that of
the common grey horse-fly, but with what may be described
as a broad-shouldered appearance. It is of -a "dull greyish
colour, with bars of a pinky tinge across the body." Its
proboscis is long enough to penetrate readily a thick flannel
shirt, and the poison is supposed to be " contained in a dilated
horny bulb" at its base. It is generally believed that man
possesses immunity from the poisonous influences of its bite,
and it is certain that it does not have the same effect on him

TnK TsrCTSF. Fi,Y, Gi.ossina MORSii'ANS, Magnified.

as on the lower animals that suffer from its attentions ; never-
theless it has been asserted that it is cjuite possible the fly is
the direct cause of certain derangements commonly ascribed
to fever. Certain constitutions are very differently affected as
compared with others by the sting of the bee and the bite of the
common horse-fly, and it seems cjuite possible that some men
might suffer from the bite of the fly in the manner indicated,
while others might escape. The bite alone is a source of in-
tense annoyance to the traveller, and, contrary to the general
belief, where flies are in large numbers, they do not desist
during night — at least while the moon is bright. The bite of

250 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the fly, though innocuous to every species of game, is fatal to
all domestic animals, including the donkey, the dog, and the
goat, which were once thought to be exceptions to the rule.
In the matter of results something depends upon the number of
flies that bite an animal, or in other words, the amount of poison
that the flies succeed in introducing into its system. A few
animals, not very severely bitten, have been known to develop
the symptoms and afterwards recover, but no remedial or
preventive medicinal treatment, not even inoculation, has
proved of any avail to an animal which has been severely
bitten.

The natives living in the fly country own dogs and goats,
but the ancestors of these have been bred there for generations,
and have become acclimatised. In a litter even of acclimatised
puppies some always die of " fly " symptoms. Selous says
that if a goat or a dog which has been bred and reared outside
the " fly " country is taken in, " it will die in nine cases out of
ten, and the original progenitors of the animals the natives
now possess were no doubt such exceptions to the general
rule."

Cattle and horses that have been bitten during the dry
season, usually die soon after the commencement of the rains.
The poison may begin to show its effects in a few days, or it
may take months to develop. The usual visible symptoms
are "swelling under the jaw and round the navel." The eyes
and nose run, and the animal becomes steadily more emaciated,
and ultimately dies of exhaustion, aggravated in the end by
diarrhfjea.

By post-mortem examination it is found that the muscles
of the body and heart are soft and. flabby ; the lungs and li\'er
are both affected. The fat is oily and of a greenish-yellow
colour, and the blood thin and deficient in quantity. The
symptoms are those of a persistent progressive anaemia, the
poison, whatever it may be, acting by destroying the red
corpuscles in the circulating blood, while concurrently there
is an increase of the white corpuscles.

Since the foregoing was written, a report on the fly, by
Surgeon- Major David Bruce, has been presented to the
Governor of Natal. Doubts of the bite being poisonous,
unless the fly had previously fed upon a diseased animal, are

THE WILD GAME. 25 I

expressed, but no conclusive evidence is advanced to over-
throw the accepted theory in this matter. The fact that flies,
Hving on the healthy blood of immune game, can poison
domestic animals, is against the new suggestion that the " fly
is merely a carrier of the disease from affected to healthy
animals." The only important advance recorded is' the dis-
covery of a blood parasite, a Haviatozoon, which ought to
make it possible to adopt inoculation as a means of securing
immunity.

Protection can be secured in a rough and ready way while
passing through a fly country by smearing the skins of the
animals liable to be attacked with a mixture of cow-dung and
milk or with lion's fat.

Although the tsetse fly has been generally condemned
and looked upon as an enemy of civilisation, it has in recent
N'cars proved to be the salvation of the remnant of large
game yet remaining in Southern Africa. The wholesale
slaughter which has been going on for 3^ears in most parts of
the country is effectually checked in the fly-infected areas,
owing to the difficulties which are associated with the absence
of hunting horses and trek oxen. To this fly, which has
been so universally maligned, the hunter of the future will be
indebted for the preservation of numerous species of game,
which, but for its good offices, would undoubtedly have become
extinct before the arm of civilisation had reached far enough
to establish close seasons, and regulate the times and manner
in which legitimate sport might be indulged.

The following list of predatory animals (which appeared
in a Government notice in August 1895, offering rewards
for the destruction of vermin) indicates the species which still
linger in Cape Colony in mountainous and little frequented
areas where natural shelter is to be found : —

Wild dog
Tiger .
Leopard
Hyena .
Maanhaar jackal
Common red jackal
Baboon .

Payable by
Government.

.V. d.

Payable from

Local Sources.

i. d.

CHAPTER XIII.

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT.

Native Cattle — The Hottentot Ox — The Afrikander Breed — Lake'Ngami
Cattle — The Cape Cow — Damaraland Cattle — Polled Cattle — Zulu
Cattle — Dutch and Shorthorn Cattle — The Ayrshire — The Devon —
The Hereford — The Dexter-Kerry — The Dexter- Shorthorn — The
Channel Islands Breeds —Milking Native Cattle — Hay Making —
Village Cattle — Kaffir Servants' Cattle — Transport Oxen — Farming,
Bathurst District — Transport Riding — Dairying.

Large numbers of cattle were found in the possession of the
Hottentots when the first European discoverers landed at the
Cape towards the end of the fifteenth century. They possessed,
in addition, goats, sheep, clogs, and poultry. The horse they
were ignorant of, and the ostrich had not been domesticated.

The Hottentot ox has been described as " a gaunt bony
creature, with immense horns and long legs, but hardy, and
well adapted to the wants of its owner, and corresponding
somewhat to the appearance of the larger of the native cattle in
Namaqualand and Damaraland at the present day." As these
characteristics are greatly due to the nature of the climate and
other natural circumstances, which so materially modify the
different species of animals that live for generations under their
influences, it is believed that in the east of the Colony, where
the conditions were more favourable for the development of
superior forms of bovine life, the cattle were of better quality
from the European point of view. The natives used their
oxen for riding, for carrying pack loads, and for racing. They
even trained them as war oxen, and guided them in battle
against their enemies by calls from a distance. Both Kaffirs
and Hottentots exhibit great attachment to their cattle, and,
observing with the greatest accuracy and minuteness the habits
of the animals, acquire wonderful skill in their management.
The Hottentots and Kaffirs are supposed to have gradually

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 253

found their way from North Africa, and to have brought their
cattle with them. It is consequently not to be wondered at
that these cattle belong to the same species as European
cattle, and strongly resemble some of the types which are
most directly representative of the original Bos urns of Caesar,
viz., the Spanish and Portuguese cattle, and the descendants
of those breeds which arc found roaming on the plains of
Mexico and the ranches of the Western States of America.
There they are bred under conditions not very dissimilar to
those under which large numbers of cattle are kept in South
Africa. The success in crossing with the native cattle, which
followed the introduction of Portuguese cattle by the first
settlers, is another strong argument in favour of their close
relationship.

The Afrikander breed, which is regarded as the most
direct descendant of the native cattle, crossed by imported Por-
tuguese animals, is supposed to have derived the best of its
foundation stock from superior cows captured from Bushmen
in the neighbourhood of Mossel Bay in 1668. The breed
might easily pass as indigenous, having so thoroughly adapted
itself to conditions of soil and climate. None of the breeds
now imported from Europe can compare with it in maintain-
ing condition or even existence in the recurring periods of
drought and scarcity of food to which the Colony, more par-
ticularly in the Karoo country, is subject. It is a slow-maturity
breed, as may be inferred from the last-mentioned character-
istic, and the crossed progeny by a Friesland or a shorthorn
bull possesses greater size and increased aptitude to fatten, but
while gaining in this direction loses in constitutional power
to withstand the exigencies of the climate. The crosses pro-
duce more powerful draught oxen, but they are too heavy, and
go back in condition, and cannot endure the hardships by the
way like the pure Afrikander. While the veld-fed cross-bred
bullocks rising four years old will yield 850 lbs. of dressed
beef,* the Afrikander bullock will yield 600 lbs. to 700 lbs.
The introduction of either shorthorn or Friesland blood
greatly improves the milking qualities of an Afrikander herd,
but this must not be carried too far if the cattle have to depend

* ^i per 100 lbs. of dressed beef is considered a good average paying
price for the farmer to receive away from large centres of ]iopulation.

254 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAFE COLONY.

entirely upon what the veld provides, unless in those districts
where the land is of superior quality, and in that case it would
probably be better to maintain the purity of European herds.
Near Kimberley, cross-bred heifers of two years old realised,
in 1895, £6 per head, or almost as much as oxen of twice the
age. The typical Afrikander animal is of a rich dark-red
colour, with gay upstanding horns, characteristics which have
led some people into the belief that the breed must have had
a cross of the English Devon during the process of its forma-
tion, but no satisfactory historical records exist in confirmation
of the fact, although the traditional belief is widespread. One
point against the truth of the tradition is that the type of the
Afrikander is very different from that of the Devon. The
cows are permitted to suckle their calves, and, like the calves of
breeds that are treated similarly in Great Britain, they grow up
more timid and less amenable to gentle control than animals
reared under a more domestic system. This does not pre-
vent their being broken in to work in a waggon or on the farm,
but they are always more dangerous when roused to anger,
and then they will charge recklessly and furiously like a
wild animal. The cows also hide their calves for the first
week or so, like the wild White Park cattle of Great Britain
and the West Highland breed, and go to them from time to
time to let them suck. The Afrikander is a compact, sym-
metrical animal, having well-developed fore-quarters, and a
considerable elevation on the neck immediately in front of
the withers, with an appearance strongly resembling a hump,
but it is only a muscular enlargement, not a fleshy protuber-
ance like the hump of the Indian zebu. There is one serious
shortcoming when measured by a British standard, viz., the
light, short, and drooping hindquarters and thin thighs.
Splendid legs and feet for travelling, activity, strength, power
of endurance, and constitutional vigour, are all conspicuous
qualities. In a mixed lot of cattle living on the veld during
winter, the pure Afrikander will generally be the one in best
condition and with the sleekest coat. Excellent specimens
of the breed may be found in the possession of up-country
Boer farmers, who are slow to introduce new blood, and are
in no haste for early development, or anxious for a cow to
give more milk than her calf can readily consume. A few

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 255

herds are to be found which give more than an average
amount of milk. These are supposed to have been dashed
with a strain of blood from the Cape cow, sufficient to im-
prove the milking qualities, but not enough to make any-
material alteration on the external form or appearance. The
breed has a fixed type which distinguishes it readily from the
thick-horned Kaffir cattle, which in comparison with it are
broken in colour, and lack style and uniformity.

In some strains of native cattle in South Africa there is
a strong tendency to the growth of large horns. The Lake
'Ngami breed possesses horns of such enormous dimensions
and weight that one would imagine they would prove a detri-
ment to the well-being of the animals. Selous states that he
personally measured a pair of horns 13 feet in length from
tip to tip, but even a better record than this by i foot 2
inches is recorded in " Big Game Shooting" in the Badminton
Library, 1895.* The bases of the horns in these cases are
almost as thick as a man's thigh, and the muscular effort in
carrying them must be enormous.

The Cape cow, bred in the Cape Peninsula, belongs to a
mixed breed famous for milking qualities, and though smaller
in size, it retains a strong resemblance to the Dutch breed,
which contributed largely to its formation. Evidences are
also to be seen in certain specimens of the use of Channel
Island, Kerry, and Ayrshire bulls. The merit of good per-
formance is in this instance more in favour than purity of

* W. Cotton Oswell, in chapter v., "With Livingstone in South
Africa," says : " By the shores of Lake 'Ngami a gigantic long-horned
breed is found, stolen in a raid from the Ba-Wangketsi thirty years
before our visit. They were originally remarkable for their heads, but in
four or five generations, from feeding on silicious-coated reeds and suc-
culent grasses near the lake, had developed wonderfully in horn and
height. Through Livingstone I obtained one 6 feet 2 inches high, with
horns measuring from tip to tip 8 feet 7 inches and 14 feet 2 inches round
from one point to the other taking in the base of the skull. This animal
had to be shot when he came into a region where the grass was short, as
his horns coming to the ground before his nose prevented him feeding."
The same writer mentions a miniature breed of cattle owned by a Kaffir
chief, Sebitoani. He says : "They were most remarkably small things,
like sturdy Durham oxen, 3 feet high. There was not the least difficulty
in carrying them about bodily. Pretty little gentle beasts, when the men
milked them they held them by the hind leg as you would a goat."

256 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

blood — a condition of things which has been previously
observed in other parts of the world — New South Wales, for
example — in connection with the breeding of dairy cattle.

Damaraland cattle are the best of animals for light
bullock traffic. They are light and active, and their feet arc
hard and specially well adapted to work on the road. The
horns are elevated and handsome. All ordinary combinations
of colour of hair are represented, but black and tan, with a tan
muzzle, is the most common and most characteristic colour.

One section of the Pondo breed is hornless, with a high
projecting poll, and in common with polled breeds it has
generally great potency in conferring this characteristic on its
progeny. Even when crossed with the shorthorn, most of the
calves are polled. The hornless condition is now considered
a decided advantage, as animals without horns can get their
heads into the thick bush and find food in times of scarcity
in a way that horned cattle cannot. They consequently
maintain their condition better. So much is this believed,
that an increasing number of cattle are annually dishorned
by placing a few drops of caustic potash on the budding
horns when the calf is only a few days old. This is a simple,
effective, and humane practice, as horned cattle are ready at
all times to inflict injury on their weaker neighbours, and the
operation of dishorning not only deprives them of the weapons
of offence, but also of the inclination to use them.

Zulu cattle are diminutive, but hardy, active, and useful
animals, working frequently under very trying circumstances.
The Zulu country is within the area which is so much infested
with ticks. At times the ears are reduced to mere stumps
by the biting of the ticks and the after-effects that arise.
The ticks break the skin inside the ear and give rise to
suppuration. The injured part becomes fly-blown and mag-
gots develop, which at times cause death by finding their
way through the ear into the brain. In hot districts the smell
which is meanwhile produced is like that of Kipling's camel,
" most awful vile."

The Cattle of English East Africa and Urundi.* — The cattle met
with on my journey were not specially studied, and therefore my im-

* By G. F. Scott Elliot, F\L.S., F.R.G.S., author of " Naturalist in Mid Africa."

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 257

pressions are to be considered simply as the observations of a passin"-
traveller much occupied with other matters. Before I returned and
consulted any authorities on the subject, it seemed to me perfectly clear
that there were in English East Africa and Urundi two distinct races.
One of these is seen in its greatest purity close to the east coast, and is
apparently a Zebu race. According to Mr Hall, of Kikuyu, who has
trained the cattle of that district, they are in many ways much like the
little Zulu breed which produces some of the best draught o.xen in
Southern Africa, but to my mind they seemed more like the true Indian
Zebu than any of the southern breeds. This race is, however, certainly
not in most cases the regular Indian form, though whether the differences
are due to crossing, or to having been separated and reared under different
climatic conditions, is far too difficult a cjuestion for me to hazard an
opinion on. The other race I found in its greatest purity in the mountains
of Urundi, at a height of some 6,000 to 7,000 feet. Dr Baumann, who
traversed this country, has given a photograph of one of these animals
("Zum Nilquelle"), and investigated their origin at great length. There
is a figure, Tab. viii., in Stuhlmann's "Mit Emin Pascha," which pur-
ports to be one of this race. To my eyes it is not nearly so good an
illustration of the pure race as I saw it in Urundi, but far more probably
a cross with distinct Zebu traces. The race in Urundi agrees very closely
with the description given in Brace's " Travels in Abyssinia," and it seems
to me quite certain that it represents the original cattle brought by the
Wahuma when they first came down from Abyssinia. They are usually
reddish-brown, somewhat slim and narrow, and with relatively longer
legs and a more slender build than the Zebu. Their horns are truly
astonishing in size, and some I saw must have been fully three feet six
inches long, and nearly as far apart at the tips.

The following observation, whatever may be its value, is exactly
according to my experience. The cattle are kept at night within the
villages, and driven out every day to feed. On those paths which they
traverse daily, the ground is a series of little ridges and furrows at right
angles to the direction of the path. These ridg'es are about nine inches
high and a foot broadj and I ha\e on no cattle-tracks elsewhere seen
anything to correspond with them. They appeared to me to show that
the hooves were all placed on nearly the same spot, instead of as usual at
different intervals as on an ordinary cattle-track, which becomes poached
up into an intricate honeycomb of steps. Probably this springs from
their legs being much longer relatively to the body.*

Starting from these two extreme forms, one finds in Ankole, Karagwe,
(Sec, animals much more like the Urundi breed, and I have seen even in
Buddu an enormous beast with huge horns, but still with a distinct hump
and obvious Zebu affinities.

* The conditions ilescribed are sometimes to be observed in Great Britain, when
cows which naturally walk slowly are permitted to spread in many directions from a
given centre on soil which is deep, and after rain, somewhat soft under foot. When
the soil is hard, or when the animals follow each other in a line, they are more liable
to form narrow paths in the direction of their course than the cross ridges described,
— R. W.

258 FARMING INDUSTRIES OV CAI'E COLONY.

On the other hand, the Masai cattle, though much like the Zebu in
many respects, differ from the cattle of the Wakamba, and tend towards
the type found in Uganda, which latter appears to me a distinct blend of
these two extreme races, and shows the extreme variety which one would
expect. Heads very much like those of the Guernsey breed are very
common in Uganda, but there is plenty of white in most herds, though
perhaps less than one finds in Masailand.

Dr Stuhlmann seems to agree with me that these two races, one along
the eastern coast and pretty close to it, and the other extending south
from Abyssinia as far as Urundi, are all that is necessary to explain the
cattle which I met with. One Usogawco accompanied me from Kampala
to Ruwenzori and Tanganyika, and was a most gentle and intelligent
beast.

The two most popular European breeds are the Holstein,
Dutch or Friesland, and the shorthorn — the first introduced
during the Dutch occupation, and still largely imported and
highly prized. The second is of more recent British introduc-
tion. There exists great rivalry between the supporters of the
two breeds as to which is the better of the two. The question
resolves itself pretty much into one dependent upon local
circumstances. On fine rich land, where there is a good
climate, the shorthorn can usually take the lead as a general
purpose farmer's animal in the production of meat and milk,
but where dairying is the chief object, or if there be a certain
amount of struggling to be done against the influences of the
climate and a restricted supply of food, or food which is
not of the best quality, the Dutch cow will give a better
account of herself than the shorthorn. In some localities
where both breeds do well — the district of Bedford, for
example — the advocates on each side are pretty equally
matched in enthusiasm if not in numbers. The fact should
never be lost sight of, that welhbred cattle, like well-bred farm
animals of almost any species from Europe, have been brought
into their present state of advancement towards perfection
without being subjected to the struggles for existence
which country cattle go through, and this having gone on
for generations, the instinct as well as the power of self-help
has become to some extent lost. The incapacity of well-
bred animals to struggle for themselves amounts to more
than this. There is a connection, or, more correctly, a
repulsion between early maturity and constitutional vigour
exhibited in the direction referred to. As the quality of early

3 hC

I o

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEiMENT. 259

maturity advances, so must greater care and a better supply
of food be provided for the animal, otherwise with ordinary
treatment and ordinary food the results will become more and
more unsatisfactory. Where the system of management is
good, cows are supplied during winter wilh green barley or
rye sown as a forage crop, or from the growth resulting from
shaken wheat, the land being ploughed immediately after
harvest. To this custom should be added the system of
ensilaging green food during the period of the year when
it is most abundant.

The most highly bred cattle, being in-bred, also suffer
most from disease, a fact which reaches its full measure of
significance in Cape Colony, where diseases are so numerous
and so insidious.

Dutch cattle at the Cape are black and white, this colour
being in fashion with breeders, although in Holland many
pure-bred animals are fallow-coloured, red, and red and white.
There are several strains of the breed in the home country,
both large and small, due to the nature of the land on which
they have been kept for many generations. Professor Overman
claims that they have existed as a pure breed since about the
time of Cctsar. The larger variety is the one in favour in Cape
Colony, as it combines in quite an unusual way the qualities
of both milk and meat production. The body is massive,
but in symmetry the true type of the milking animal is seen,
the forequarters being light and the hindcjuarters large and
capacious. The horn is short and springs horizontally usually
assuming a downw^ard inclination, especially in the bi !1. The
average annual amount of milk given by good cows properly
treated amounts to over 750 gallons, but records of 1,000
gallons and more have often been made. The quantity being
so great, the average quality is below that of the milk of most
of the British milking breeds, nevertheless 3 to ^h per cent, of
butter fat is present. The calves when dropped are of im-
mense size, weighing sometimes over 100 lbs at birth, and their
buttocks are so large that they frequently give trouble at
calving time. When heifers are well fed, they take the bull at
fifteen or sixteen months old, and calve when about two years
of age. If they are poorly fed, they do not come into profit
till they are a year older.

26o FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The Shorthorn.* — " In colour the breed is represented by
roans and reds of various shades, light and dark, and also by
red and white as well as wholly white specimens. The latter,
and also the light or yellowish-light reds, are out of fashion
with American buyers, who, on account of their numbers, tend
to regulate custom in such things. Brindled colours are not
seen in pure-bred shorthorns, and the same may be said of
black. The skin, including that of the inner ears, is of a
creamy-white or yellow colour. The nose, palate, lips, and
eyelids should be flesh-coloured, and free from dark markings.
A bright red nose is indicative of delicacy, just as black is
considered to denote impurity — this, too, in spite of the
acknowledged fact that black or dark noses existed in some
of the best strains of blood mentioned in the early records of
the breed.

"The characteristic horns are short and blunt, more or
less curved in a downward direction, of a waxy yellow
throughout (free from black tips), laterally flattened, and set
on wide apart. It is essential that the masculine or the
feminine characteristics should be naturally represented in
individual specimens of each sex. Shorthorns are descended
from the old North-East of England breed, variously desig-
nated the ' Durham,' ' Tees-Water,' ' Yorkshire,' or ' Holder-
ness.' It was probably originally formed several centuries
ago by crossing the aboriginal British cows with large-framed
bulls imported from the Continent — Holland and Denmark.
The dark noses referred to were no doubt due to their relation-
ship with the ancient white cattle. Early shorthorns were good
milkers, and it may be presumed they in part inherited that
quality along with the shortness of horn from their Continental
ancestors."

The drawbacks to the shorthorn as a milking animal are
its tendency to run to flesh, and its substantial forequarters,
which are not typical of milking characteristics ; but certain
strains produce much better dairy catLlc ihiin the great
majority of the breed, and it is this class of animal which the
colonial importer should be careful to select in view of the

* Quoted from the author's work on " The Farm Live Stock of Great
Britain," published by Crosby Lockwood & Son, London.

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 26 1

progressive development of dairying. Useful yearling bulls
suitable for the purpose of breeding good n:iilking stock by
colonial-bred cows can be bought in England and Scotland
for £2^ to ;^30 each. The cost of shipping being £-}^o each
unfortunately increases the capital expenditure very materially.
Another important matter which should not escape considera-
tion is the colour. European cattle which possess white hair
have usually white or fleshy-coloured skins underneath it, a
shade which is less able than the darker colours of skin, which
are generally correlated with brown or dark-coloured hair, to
withstand the influences of the sun. It is a significant fact that
dark brown is the favourite colour for native cattle among the
Boer farmers, although probably it has not been previously
pointed out that a light shade of skin is liable under South
African conditions to be scorched by the sun while a dark
skin would escape. It was known, however, that the tan-
coloured teats of brown cattle are not so liable to crack and
become sore under the influence of a hot sun as white teats
are. Brown or dark roan shorthorns should certainly be pre-
ferred to light roans or whites. White cattle have long been
in disfavour with American bu)'ers, and they may be trusted
to recognise what class of animal best suits their purposes
and climatic conditions. The subject of colour of skin has
been fully discussed at page 243.

The Ayrshire breed is not largely represented in the
Colony, but in view of the fact that dairying is rapidly on
the increase, and that this is perhaps the most perfect dairy
cow among the smaller breeds, both in symmetry and per-
formances, the points of the Ayrshire cow and their value
in judging in the show-ring are given from a report by a
committee of the Ayrshire Herd Book Society : —

" I. Head ■s\\ox\. ; forehead wide ; nose fine between the muzzle .and
eyes ; muzzle large ; eyes full and lively ; horns wide set on, inclining
upwards, . . . . . . . . .10

2. Neck moderately long, and straight from the head to the
top of the shoulder, free from loose skin on the under side, fine at
its junction with the head, and enlarging symmetrically towards
the shoulders, . . . . . . . .5

3. Forequariers — shoulders sloping ; withers fine ; chest sufii-
ciently broad and deep to ensure constitution ; brisket and whole
foreciuarters light ; the cow gradually increasing in depth and
width backwards, . . . . . . .5

262 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

4. Back short and straight ; spine well defined, especially at
the shoulders ; ribs short and arched ; body deep at the flanks, . 10

5. Hindquarters long, broad, and straight ; hook-bones ,wide
apart, and not overlaid with fat; thighs deep and broad" [but thin
of flesh on the inner thigh or twist]; "tail long, slender, and set
on level with the back, . . . . . . .8

6. Udder capacious, and not fleshy, hinderpart broad" [and
rounded like the side of a cheese]. "The whole firmly attached
to the body ; the sole nearly level, and extending well forward ;
milk veins well developed ; teats from 2 to i\ in. long, equal in
thickness, and hanging perpendicularly ; distance apart, at the
sides, equal to one-third of the length of the vessel, and across to
about one-half of the breadth, ...... 33"

[Small teats are now considered most objectionable, both in
the market and the show-ring.]

" 7. Legs short in proportion to size ; bones fine, and joints
finn, . . . . . . . . .3

8. Skin soft and elastic, and covered with soft, close, woolly
hair, ......... 5

9. Colour red, of any shade, brown, or white, or a mixture of
these — each colour being distinctly defined Brindle or black
and white is not in favour, . . . . . .3

10. Ar'craffc live weii^ht in full milk about loj cwts., . . 8

11. General styiish appearance diwA \'\'\o\'Qvc\&r\\, . . .10

Perfection, 100"

One great drawback to the breed for the hot sunny
climate of Cape Colony is the preponderating number of
very light-coloured and almost white animals. Care would
require to be taken not to select any for importation but
those of dark colour.

The Devon breed is another which crosses remarkably
well with Afrikander stock, and is in high favour in the
comparatively limited number of places where it is known,
it is the present-da}' representative of a breed of cattle that
has long been noted for producing draught animals. In
size it is greatly inferior to the Dutch and the shorthorn, but
for activity and durability it more nearly approaches the
Afrikander breed.

The North Devon is the original hardy type belong-
ing to the elevated region in the north of Devonshire. As
represented by the best specimens, this division of the
breed is unsurpassed for compactness and symmetry of
form. It is smaller than the Hereford or the Sussex, two

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 263

breeds to which it is allied. The colour of hair is a deep
blood-red, and of the skin orange-yellow ; inside the ears it
is orange-red. The yellow is specially noticeable by its
appearance round the eyes and muzzle. A small patch of
white hair is a common marking on the belly in front of the
udder of the cow or the scrotum of the bull. At times it
extends till it reaches the forelegs, and by this it may be
recognised as corresponding in a limited extent to the white
under-line of the distantly related Hereford. The white hairs,
sometimes mixed with the natural red brush of the tail, and
also in patches on the body, are further proofs of the tendency
to develop white markings. The head is adorned, in the
case of the female, with particularly elegant, creamy-white,
sharp-pointed, black-tipped horns of medium length, having
a good elevation at the junction with the head, and curving
upwards. In the bull, as compared with the cow, they are
shorter in proportion to thickness, straighter, and less raised.
The shoulder is specially neat and well formed, the barrel
joining on behind, with scarcely a depression at the region
of the heart-girth — a defective point in many breeds. The
quality of the beef is excellent.

Hereford bulls cross well with native cows. As with the
Devon breed, the red colour is favoured, and the white face
is an attraction. It is, moreover, a larger animal than the
Devon, and equally tractable in the yoke. It is next to the
shorthorn the most widely distributed British breed of cattle,
as it has a wonderful power of adaptability to varying sur-
roundings. Neither the Devon nor the Hereford is fam.ous
as a milk-producer, although in recent years a decided im-
provement has taken place in this direction in both breeds.

The points of special and peculiar interest in the Here-
ford are, that the face, forward part of the back, as well as
the throat, belly, inside and lower parts of the legs, and the
tip of the tail are white, the greater part of the body being
red or brown, varying from a light to a dark shade. The
shoulder is particularly neat, and well covered with flesh,
and the twist is also good. The great defect of the Here-
ford breed is its want of internal fat in proportion to its
external appearance when ready for the butcher, e.g., it is
defective in internal " making-up." The setting on of the

264 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

tail is also frequently defective as compared with that of the
shorthorn. The muzzle is flesh-coloured, and the horns are
black tipped, of medium length, and in the female they
incline slightly upwards.

The Dexter- Kerry, generally spoken of in the Colony as
the Kerry, is to be seen in considerable numbers, not in herds,
but as milch cows, where only one, or at most a limited number,
is kept. The crosses for at least two generations retain
several of the unique characteristics of the pure Kerry, and
are usually spoken of as Kerrys. The pure Dexter-Kerry
is a compact, substantial, low-set animal. It turns its toes in
after a peculiar fashion, and it tends to walk over the outer
digits, especially in the case of the hind feet. The breed and
its crosses are famous for their good milking properties, in the
matter of quality as well as quantity, even under circum-
stances which cannot be regarded as favourable for milk
production. The oxen are too small and short in the leg for
effective transport cattle, but they fatten readily and yield the
finest quality of beef

The Dexter-Shorthorn is a recently formed hardy breed
of cattle, which has been reared on Major Barton's Straffan
estate in Ireland. It combines in a marvellous way some of
the most valuable characteristics of the two distinct and very
different breeds which were employed in its formation. The
stature and the milking properties — cows yielding 18 to 22
quarts of very rich milk per day — are those of the Kerry, but
the marvellous substance and the faculty for beef production
are decidedly of shorthorn origin. The colour is also that of
the darker shades of the shorthorn breed — the black of the
Kerry, on the one hand, and the white of certain strains of
shorthorn on the other, being both absent. Should the breed
progress as it promises to do, it will prove a valuable addi-
tion to the European breeds already represented in Cape
Colony — its chief characteristics, even to the matter of colour,
being suitable to South African conditions.

The work of forming the breed was begun by accident
rather than by intent about thirty-five years ago, when a
Dexter-Kerry heifer was put to a shorthorn bull. The
invariable practice for many }'cars was to castrate all the
bull-calves, and to use well-bred shorthorn bulls on the

Plate 46A. — Dexter-Kerry Bull.
From the Herd of R. Robertson, The Firs, Warwick, England.

-^-■-^^i

I'laie 40L;. — Ulxil:: Ki_ki;\ Ll

Plate 47A.— Dexter Shorthorn Bull, "Tiny Tim." Fifth Cross by Shorthorn Bulls

from a Dexter Cow. Height at Shoulder, 4 feet J inch ; Length, Shoulder-top

to Tail-head, 4 feet 3 inches; Girth, 7 feet 3 inches ; Dewlap, 13 inches from the ground.

Pl.ate 47B. — Dexter-Shorthorn Heifer Face />ace 26s

Three j-ears old, Five Crosses, from a De.xter Cow by Shorthorn Bulls.

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 265

Dexter-Shorthorn crosses. In spite of the fact that the cows
in recent years have been working up to the possession of five
and six pure shorthorn crosses in them, they tended in each
succeeding generation to become shorter in the leg and more
like the Dexter-Kerry in size. This tendency was encouraged
by the selection of short-legged compact shorthorn bulls to
use on the Dexter cows. With the object of fixing the new-
type, the old practice of using shorthorn bulls has recently
been discontinued, and Dexter-Shorthorns, male and female,
with five and six crosses of pure shorthorn blood in them,
have been mated together. So far the first results arc satis-
factory, but the experiment has not yet gone beyond the
stage of the first time of mating the Dexter -Shorthorns
together. With so much shorthorn blood, and with such
marked tendencies to retain the Kerry size and the Kerry
milk-producing properties, little fear need be entertained of
the ultimate results.

The only other cattle which it is necessary to mention are
the Channel Islands breeds — the Jersey and the Guernsey,
which usually go by the name of Alderneys. They occupy a
similar position to that held by Island cattle in this country,
being the cows of the men of means, who can afford to
provide the attention necessary for their somewhat tender
constitutions, and who wish to be provided with good supplies
of milk, cream, and butter of a deep rich yellow colour. The
Jersey is the smaller of the two, and also the more handsome
and deer-like, though when bred in the Colony the repre-
sentatives of the breeds become coarser and heavier, as they
do when bred in England, but at the same time hardier
than Island-bred cattle. The symmetry' strongly resembles
that of the Ayrshire, and the points, with the following
exceptions, may be described in similar language : — Muzzle
dark and encircled by short hair of a light colour ; horns
small, crumpled, yellow, with black tips ; ears small and thin,
and of a deep yellow colour inside ; chest broad and deep ;
hide thin and mellow, and of a yello\\- colour ; teats }-ellow ;
hair fine and soft, and of various, usually though not in-
variably, whole colours — fawn, silver-grc}-, dun, cream, or
white, in addition to rare specimens, which arc more or less
black,

266 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY. j

The Guernsey is a larger, stronger-boned, and coarser
animal in appearance than the Jersey. Its outlines are not so
regular or symmetrical, but in addition to good milking ?
qualities — the sole possession of the Jersey beyond its good
looks — the Guernsey adds no mean capacity for beef pro-
duction when not giving milk. The meat is not of first-rate
quality, being yellow in the fat like that of the Jersey.

The colours of Guernsey cattle are more " broken "
than those of the Jersey, patches of white appearing on the
predominating light-yellow, brown, or fa\\'n. The muzzle
is flesh-coloured.

Management of Cattle.

When cows are milked while running in the veld, where
they sometimes travel as much as seven miles daily to feed
and back again for water, they are brought up by boys in
small clumps to the kraal, and milked once a day, the calves
getting their only suck at the same time. The calves are
kept apart from the mothers, and as each cow is tied up to a
post in turn her name is called out, and a Kafiir boy, knowing
each cow's calf at sight, cuts out the calf wanted from the
mob of calves, freely using a long whip to facilitate matters.
The calf is permitted to take the first milk, and when the cow
has settled down to parting freely with it the calf is driven
back by the liberal use of a light " knob-kerry," and the milker
takes the middle portion of the milk, leaving the last for the
calf to finish. It is generally believed that a native cow will
not give her milk if the calf be not present, and when a calf
dies a dummy has to be made by stuffing its skin, to prevent
the cow going dry altogether. This is no doubt the result of
training, as has been proved to be the case in India and in
Egypt, and even in Scotland, where not so long since the
dummy calf or "tulchan"* was in common use. The native
boys who do the work have their own methods and ways of
working, and it is almost impossible to introduce any modi-
fication of the system, which appears to have become a
part of themselves. It would be practically impossible to get

* Cnrlyle in " Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches," in discussing
the "Tulchan-Bishops," gives an interesting account of the term, which was
derived from the dummy calf. The word survives only in legal literature.

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 267

them to let the calf have its share first, and, as a matter
of economy, to milk the latter or richest portion which is
left in the udder. A Kaffir would do it if you^ told him and
stood by till he finished, but he would not comprehend the
meaning of it, and would return to his own old wa}^ again
next day. The Kaffirs do not drink sweet milk, as it
is considered indigestible, and liable to pass too rapidly
through the alimentary system without gix'ing nourishment,
but they put it for a few days in a gourd-calabash until it
sours and becomes in warm weather a most palatable and
refreshing beverage.

It is a usual practice in some parts of the bare, open
grass-country during winter time to send the cattle to farms
where there is tall bush. There grass and leguminous plants
are protected by the overhanging bush, and supply the neces-
sary winter food, but in spite of all this cattle become very
poor at this season, and the time will come when a portion of
the luxuriant growth of grass which cannot be used up in
summer will be cut and made into hay of excellent quality
for the use of cattle and other farm stock. This practice has
already been successfully tried on an extensive scale at the
De Beers stock farm, near Kimberley. The grass is cut
down b}- mowing machines, which work well enough on
selected places in the veld, and the weather is such at the
time that all further working consists in simply raking the
hay together within the next day or two and building it into
stacks — 200 tons being put up in the summer of 1894-95 at an
outlay for extra labour of only £^6. Owing to the drought
it was worth £2) per ton, or ^600, in Kimberley market the
following winter.

The teeth of sheep and cattle often get loose in winter
when the}- arc in poor condition, owing to the want of soft
green food and to a scarcity of salt.

Village cattle are usually provided with a common
grazing ground, and are attended in a lot, each owner con-
tributing a small sum towards the wages of a herd, and also
in certain cases paying a nominal rent to the municipal or
other local authority, under whose regulations the cattle are
kept. In such a place as Worcester it was interesting to see
the commonage herd, amounting to a few hundreds, brought

268 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

home at five o'clock, and each animal wending its way
unattended through the streets to its own stable.*

It is a common practice to allow Kaffir servants to gra/
a few cattle — ten or even twenty each — as a portion of their
remuneration, and on large grazing farms up-country, in the
Transvaal, the Kaffirs' cattle at times rival the master's in
numbers. One old Kaffir, who has been all his life on a farm
near Pretoria, owns 500 head of cattle.

Until the railways were made nearly the whole haulage of
the Colony was done by transport oxen, and the main
thoroughfares of traffic followed unmade roads, or simply
tracks in the veld, so numerous that they formed a regular
network all through the country. This state of matters is
largely accountable for the rapid rate at which all forms of
contagious disease among cattle used to spread, and it also
made it extremely difficult to enforce regulations with the
object of checking the spread of disease. Interference with
the movements of cattle not only meant inconvenience to
stock farmers and butchers, but a dislocation of the carrying
trade as well, and consequent dissatisfaction and opposition.
Young farmers in certain districts laid themselves out to do
transport work, and not only neglected their farming opera-
tions, but got into indolent habits, so that when the railway
supplanted the ox-waggon they, not having acquired a taste
for agriculture, or experience of manual labour of this kind,
could not or would not work on the farm. Transport riding,
although a hard life, is a free and easy, hanging-on, and lazy
one. The remuneration was tempting in the early days of the
diamond fields — as much as 25s. and even higher rates were
paid per 100 lbs. for carriage from Grahamstown to Kimberley.
The farming in the Bathurst district has suffered from the
influences alluded to. It is also a district in which the farmers
have had exceptional trials and difficulties, and have been
driven or induced to change their systems too rapidly.
It was at one time an excellent sheep country, but the
heart-water disease made it impossible to farm sheep at a
j:)rofit, and cattle were resorted to. A period of prosperity

* A similar condition of things is characteristic of the famous town of
Erzeroum, and on a small scale may be seen at Newcastleton and certain
other rural villatres in Scotland.

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 269

followed, as breeding oxen required little supervision or
outlay, and yielded large prices for transport purposes, while
the transport work itself brought much money into the
district. The collapse of the transport trade, followed by
serious losses of cattle from red-water, simultaneously with
losses from horse-sickness, has effectually depleted the coiTers
of many farmers not well trained to turn to agricultural
pursuits ; nor do the prices of agricultural produce offer much
inducement for them to do so even if they were willing. The
development of a dairying industry, which had begun, has
been checked for a time at least by the ravages of red-water,
and notln'ng is left for the moment capable of being carried
out on a large scale except fruit culture, which, however,
seems to be promising.

Experienced transport riders do the most of their work
at night, and thereby prevent much death among their oxen
from chills, and from the general exhaustion which would
follow continuous struggling in the hot sun. Natives, much
to their advantage, are now following this example. The
practice is to inspan.an hour before sunset, and to go on
till say eleven o'clock, then outspan for a few hours, tying
up the cattle in the yoke where they lie. A start is again
made in the early morning — probably about three o'clock —
in time to have the oxen in motion before the occurrence
of the period of cold which precedes the dawn. By this
means chills are avoided, as the sun is well up and the
air warm before the next outspan is made. The cattle
are then allowed to disperse on the veld to feed and drink.
While resting at night they get an opportunity of chewing
the cud. They at times do this on the road if they are not
pulling hard, and if the neck-strap of the yoke is not exercising
pressure on the gullet. Sixteen is the usual number of a
span of oxen, though on very heavy roads twenty may be
yoked together. Up-country in wet weather as many as five
spans are sometimes yoked to a waggon to get it out of the
mud. The " voor-ossen " and " achter-ossen," or the first and
last pair, being picked specimens, used to be worth in the
good old early days as much a.s £16 each, and the whole span
would average about £12. Now good transport oxen are
only worth £6 or £y each. Oxen are broken in to work at

270 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

two or three years old, and are now sold to the butcher at
six or ei\^ht years of age. In the busy times they were
worked as long as their teeth remained good enough to
enable them to cat to keep themselves in working condition.

Though the numbers of cattle have not fallen off so much
as those of horses and swine, there has been a considerable
decrease in recent years, a tendency which is altogether in
the wrong direction in a Colony which has such extensive
possibilities as a stock-rearing country. The numbers of
cattle taken during the census of 1891 were 1,557,166; in
1892-93 the estimate was 1,313,298; in 1893-94, 1,299,291; and
in 1894-95, 1,290,461.

Dairying.

The dairy industry has grown in a most satisfactory
manner within recent years. Encouraged by the success of
Victoria in developing a large export trade in butter to Great
Britain, the Cape Government in 1892 sent Alexander Mac-
donald, the Agricultural Assistant stationed at Grahamstown,
to Europe to inquire into the most recent advances in the
dairy world, and to procure the most approved modern appli-
ances. As a result of this action, two travelling dairies have
been fitted out, one in the Eastern Province and the other in
the Western Province, and instruction not only in the theory
but also in the best practices of butter- and cheese-making-
has been provided for farmers within easy reach of their
homes. This has proved perhaps the most succe.'^sful effort,
so far as it has gone, ever made by the Cape Government in
the interests of agricultural improvement. The Boer, as well
as the English farmers and their wives and daughters, have
taken to the work with so much success that it may be said
an important industry, capable of great extension, is being
developed in the Colony. The butter which was made before
this time could not be put on the market in large samples of
uniform quality, and the market rate was governed by local
derhand. In seasons of plenty it went down in price until it
fell below a figure that left a profit to the farmer — as low as
6d. and 9d. per lb. in out-of-the-way places. Experiments in
the storing of butter in refrig-erating- chambers during the
period of plentiful supply, and keeping it for sale at a later

CATTLE AND Til KIR MANAGEMENT. 27I

period, were reported in 1895 by the Agricultural Assistant at
Grahamstown. The butter was sold at is. iid. per lb., which
left 5d. per lb. of profit after all expenses of storing were
deducted — /.^., from about lid. to 3d. per lb., according to the
length of time — two or four months — the cold chamber was
in requisition.

The interest in butter-making has been successfully fos-
tered by Government giving prizes of £2. los. to £\Q) at
butter-making' competitions at agricultural shows, and also
large money prizes f(jr butter exhibited after having been
kept for a week without being previously salted.

By the last published statistical returns 1,782,464 lbs. of
butter and margarine, valued at i^8 5,246, were imported into
the Colony within the year, although an import duty of 3d.
per lb. on butter and 12 per cent, of the value of margarine is
charged. The money paid for margarine amounted to ^25,000,
or nearly one-third of the whole. In a stock country like
Cape Colony, there is no insurmountable reason why it should
not in time be an exporter rather than an importer of butter,
following the excellent example set by the Australasian
colonies — the development of who.se butter trade with Europe
within the last eight years has been phenomenal. And it
would not be contrary to the prevailing South African opinion
of the duty which Government owes to a new industry if
Government bounties were offered for a few years, on lines
somewhat similar to those adopted in Victoria, to encourage
exportation.

The great advantage of an export connection to the
farming community does not lie in a high price for produce
shipped abroad, for such prices are usually moderate, but in
maintaining a more uniform market at home by providing
a ready means for the disposal of surplus produce. Export
encourages the extension of production, and enables a farmer
to produce on a wholesale scale at wholesale [i.e., moderate)
rates of expenditure, so that he is in a better position on the
whole with a larger growing business than if he were working
merely for a local and limited market, and receiving a higher
return per unit.

The success of the new dairy industry prominently in the
Bedford district is a hopeful indication of the future possi-

272 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

bilitics of an cxjx)rt trade to be established after the advan-
tat,^es of co-operative dairying have been fully realised. One
defect of the creamery system adopted in the Bedford district
is that it is not on the true co-operative plan, under which
each man concerned participates in the profits in proportion to
the amount of his milk supply, and only milk producers who
send milk are permitted to be members of the company.
This arrangement entirely eliminates conflicting interests, and
encourages all to work in the interests of the common good,
as they are identical with their own. No doubt the arrange-
ments in the neighbourhood of Bedford, in the numerous
creameries which have been there established in recent years,
have been productive of good, but they lack the important
element of finality and stability which could be better asso-
ciated with genuine co-operation.

The practice is for the farmer to run the milk warm from
the cow through a centrifugal separator, so that the separated
milk may remain on the farm for the feeding of calves and
pigs, and for consumption by the native population, who prefer
it to ordinary si<immed milk. This preference is no doubt
due to the fact that during the subsequent keeping of the
separated milk in their gourd calabashes, there is much less
chance of butyric acid fermentation (which produces bitterness)
being set up than in the case of skim-milk which had been
exposed for a considerable time to atmospheric influences.
The cream only is sent to the creamery, but owing to the
want of community of interests, each man's supply requires to
be churned by itself at great labour and expense. One shilling
per lb. is paid for the butter, and the profits go to the individual
or the company which owns the creamery.

It was at one time believed that something in the South
African climate or in the pasture rendered it impossible to
make cheese of first-rate quality, but the success of a limited
number of private individuals, and more recently of the dairy
experts in charge of the travelling dairies, has clearly shown
that only skill and the necessary dairy conveniences are re-
quired under the somewhat trying conditions prevalent in the
Colony to command success.

The mechanical milk separator has no doubt a promising
future in Cape Colony, a future which may emulate the mar-

CATTLE AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 2/3

vellous success in recent years of the Laval hand separator
in India. Machines capable of doing excellent work can now
be had, from the " Humming-bird " hand separator, which can
be easily worked by a lady, to the steam-power machine, doing
hundreds of gallons per hour.

After a few partial successes and many failures, at last a
mechanical milking machine has been invented, which can
extract the milk of one up to ten cows at a time in the short
space of five minutes, agreeably to the animals, and without
doing any injury. The great advantage, from the consumer's
point of view, is the gain in cleanliness, a matter as important
in Cape Colony as in Europe. Although, partially owing to
their greater cost, and partially owing to the presence of Kaffir
milkers, mechanical milking machines are not so likely to
become as widely distributed as mechanical milk separators,
yet, in dairies kept for the supply of milk to large centres of
population, they will no doubt prove to be an important con-
venience as well as an immense safeguard in the interests of the
community against filth and against numerous contagious
diseases which are so frequently spread by a contaminated
milk-supply. (See Appendix E.)

CHAPTER XIV.

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

Nature of Diseases — Boer Remedies — The Veterinary Staff— Necessity
for Scientific Research — Tuberculosis — Lung-Sickness — Anthrax —
Stijf-Sickness — Gall-Sickness — Liver Disease in Calves — Red-Water
in Cattle — American Experiments on Texas Fever — Influence of
Ticks — Rinderpest.

The diseases of farm animals may be said to be well
repre.sented in Cape Colony. Most common forms familiar
to stockowners in Europe are to be found, although a few of
these are of a decidedly milder type than we are familiar with.
As in Australia, pleuro-pneumonia is not so deadly as in
Great Britain, although large numbers of cattle die annually
of the disease. The Colony also possesses a number of
diseases which are not met with in Europe, and are either
peculiar to South Africa, or are only heard of in some other
distant part of the world. Heart-water in sheep and horse-,
sickness are, so far as we know, exclusively African ; while
red-water, which is entirely distinct from the red-water due to
poor feeding in this country, appears to be identical with
Texas fever and the red-water of Queensland, being inti-
mately associated with the presence of large numbers of ticks
{^Ixodes) adhering to the skins of cattle grazing in those areas
which are subject to the disease.

Diseases of the malarial fever type are particularly preva-
lent, owing to the nature of the climate supplying suitable
conditions in the high temperature of the South African
summer, and the moisture which comes in the form of heavy
dews and mists or fogs at night. The great range of tem-
perature brings about directly, and also indirectly, numerous
derangements of the liver, very frequently as a secondary asso-
ciate to disorder of the stomach and intestines.

If diseases are to be counted by the hundred, the common

ftm

Face page 274.

Plate 52.

DUNCAN HUTCHEON.

The Colonial Veterinary Surgeon who was the Author's companion during west
of the time spent in the chief Live Stock Districts of the Colony.

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 2/5

remedies practised, and also firmly believed in by the farming
population, amount to thousands. There never was a country
where local remedies were more numerous, and in a vast num-
ber of cases, it might well be added, more worthless. The
best that can be said of many is that at least they can do no
harm. A moment's consideration of the composition of the
following mixture, used as a cure for loose teeth, will show
how harmless and at the same time how useless certain
of the remedies are. The amounts are — one bucket of salt,
two buckets of bran, and half a bottle of paraffin oil, for
800 to 1,000 sheep. The salt might be useful to a very
limited extent, but three drops of paraffin oil per sheep
could have absolutely no effect whatever.* The giving of
a mixture of eight bushels of salt to one bushel of sulphur
per 1,000 sheep every third day is an example of a valuable
and simple preventive and alterative treatment. The sulphur
is an excellent purifier of the system. It encourages the
growth of wool, and is the best known simple preventive of
parasites generally. The salt also acts as an anti-pest, and at
the same time supplies a most necessary saline ingredient to
the blood in a country which is in many parts deficient in
a natural supply of salt.

Another practice, the wisdom of which may be regarded
as somewhat doubtful, is the mixing of household ashes with
salt, and making the mixture into a paste, to prevent the in-
gredients washing away readily. No doubt this is a saving
of labour, or an encouragement of laziness, as the case may
be ; but it is probable that the sheep would be fully better off
did they not consume the potash present in quantity in the
household ash.

It is not difficult to see the reason why simple home
remedies should be resorted to, because, owing to the popu-
lation being widely scattered, and to the impossibility of
getting veterinary relief in time, if at all, farmers are thrown
much more upon their own resources than they are in Great
Britain ; but the extraordinary nature of the position is in the
persistence with which worthless remedies continue to be prac-
tised and recommended when one would expect individuals

* One pint bottle (12 oz.) contains 5,760 minims, drops, or liquid grains
of water at 60° F.

2/6 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

with well-developed powers of observation, as farmers usually
are, to distinguish between what is valuable and what is worth-
less. It would seem as if they started with the assumption that
most animals when they become ill die, and that those which
recover are saved by the remedy which promptly receives the
credit of it. Animals are often half killed by drenching, and
then permitted to recover from the maltreatment and the
ailment at the same time. There is no limit to the variety of
materials used for this purpose. Practically, anything at
hand will do. If a man is out shooting, and one of his animals
suffers from a functional derangement, he administers gun-
powder ; if on a journey, the anti-friction grease which he
uses for his waggon wheels is substituted ; and if at home,
paraffin would probably get the preference over a number of
other alternative remedies, each of which, in the absence of the
others, might have secured attention.

The leading idea of the uneducated Boer farmer is to
find remedies for the diseases that appear among his stock.
He has not grasped the spirit of the comparatively new science
of preventive medicine, regardless of the fact that precau-
tionary measures are capable of being carried out wholesale,
and at wholesale cost, whereas remedial measures are of the
nature of a retail business, and naturally limited, even when
successful, to contracted spheres of usefulness. The difference
between the two amounts to the difference of keeping an
enemy out of the camp, and the forcible ejection of him at
considerably increased risk and increased expenditure of energy
when he has gained an entrance. It was no uncommon occur-
rence to hear a Boer farmer argue that his knowledge of
disease is greater than that of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon,
because he could make up his mind, while looking at an
animal, what the disease in question was ; while the latter
frequently could not tell the cause of death until he had
examined the animal's inside. So many diseases show similar
external symptoms that it is often impossible to be absolutely
certain of the cause of death without conducting ?l post-viorteni
examination. The praiseworthy scientific caution displayed in
not jumping to conclusions without sufficient evidence, and the
natural reserve in expressing opinions, which are inherent quali-
ties in a man of science, are too often mistaken for want of

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 277

knowledge ; and the hasty conckisions and confident assertions
of the quack doctor gain a popularity which is denied to the
man who digests his thoughts and weighs his words. One
farmer, in all seriousness, associated the increase of disease
with the presence of the Veterinary Adviser — familiarly called
the " Bok" or " Buck-doctor." from early associations connected
vvath the stamping out of contagious lung disease in goats —
and suggested that if he were got rid of, the diseases which
had appeared, or had seriously extended since his coming,
would disappear also ! Whatever local opinion may be of the
direction from which relief from diseases among farm stock
may be expected, the great hope of the colonial farmer should
rest on the extension of prophylactic rather than on remedial
treatment. And this remark applies as well to the preven-
tion of injury due to parasitic infestation — internal and exter-
nal — as to those ailments which are known as diseases, the
causes of which are often more obscure. But before any import-
ant advances can be made in this direction, much work has yet
to be done in investigating the nature of the diseases to be dealt
with. A number of well-known diseases represented in South
Africa possess local peculiarities, and the nature of others,
which are inherent to that part of the world, remains undeter-
mined. At present the qualified staff of veterinary surgeons,
consisting of the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon (Dr Hutcheon)
and seven assistants,* are employed in giving veterinary ad-
vice and assistance to farmers in all parts of the country free
of charge, or at the Government expense — rather a unique
arrangement. A vast field of investigation lies open, and
almost daily evidence is forthcoming of the necessities of a
more extended knowledge of the diseases from which many
thousands of animals die annually, to enable the veterinary
surgeons to give valuable assistance when they are called .in.
Nevertheless, it is somewhat strange that, with one or two
insignificant exceptions, really no systematic attempt has been
made to investigate the at-present-hidden nature of so many
diseases from which colonial stock suffers.

The Bacteriological Institute is engaged mainly in one
great line of research on certain diseases, the local aspects of

* J. D. Borthwick, J. F. Soga, O. Henning, J. W. Crowhurst, H,
A. Pattison, M. A. Hutchence, and J. W. Dixon.

2/8 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

which are pretty well understood, but there are other forms of
disease with regard to which a certain amount of preliminary
investigation on the spot where they occur is necessary.
Whether the Government may or may not find it expedient
to continue to retain a staff of veterinary surgeons engaged
in general practice, the veterinary department can never
assume the position of importance and of usefulness which the
clamant needs of the Colony demand until its best energies
are devoted to original investigation into the nature of those
diseases which remain for the present more or less hidden
mysteries. It has already been demonstrated in connection
with the inquiry made at Koonap into liver disease in calves,
that farmers are to be found who are willing to offer ample
facilities for the investigation of diseases on their farms ; but to
carry out experiments in a perfectly independent and satisfac-
tory manner Government must bear the burden of all expenses.
The work is done in the interests of the community, and the
public purse ought to supply the necessary funds. A moderate
outlay in the direction indicated would lead to more satis-
factory results being obtained from current expenditure, for it
must be evident that the country does not reap full benefit
from the services of men who, at the charge of the Colony, go
to inquire into and to recommend treatment for diseases
which they do not understand. It would also be the means
of removing a solid and reasonable doubt in the minds of the
Boer farmers regarding the skill of the veterinary staff. While
common diseases remain uninvestigated, the practitioner when
called in must either show his ignorance, which would be fatal
to his reputation, or under great disadvantages try experi-
ments which, in the event of failure, would have the same effect.
Though little progress has been made in the original investiga-
tion of disease, a good deal has been done in the matter of find-
ing means to cope with the attacks of internal parasites, yet the
work in this direction is far from complete. With the increase
of live stock in a new countr}' there is, as a rule, concurrentl\-
a great increase of parasitic pests, and where there is an\-
tendency to overstocking, the pests become all the more
numerous and more destructive. Oxerstocking crowds the
animals on a limited area, restricts the amount of food, and
makes the pasture foul. It also leads to stock thriving badly,

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 279

and whenever an animal falls into low condition, it becomes a
more ready prey to most classes of parasites. The climate
seems also favourable to the increase of parasites. Periodical
and even annual droughts reduce the condition of stock, and
make them susceptible of parasitic attack, and the .system of
running sheep clo.sely together in flocks and kraaling them at
night al.so directly and indirectly leads to the increase of para-
sites. The system of watering stock from stagnant dams
encourages probably more than anything else the dissemination
of those parasites which pass a portion of the cycle of their life-
history away from the body of the animal host. Where well-
water is to be had, the danger resulting from the drinking of

Dam of Stagnant Water on the Karoo.

stagnant water made putrid and unwholesome by the droppings
of animals coming to drink can be overcome, but in many
places it would seem as if it would be necessary to try means
in other directions by which parasites may be kept in check.
One of the best preventives is obtained by divisional fencing,
so that a change of pasture can frequently be secured. The
internal parasites of farm animals do not make all species
indiscriminately their hosts, but each species of parasite is, as
a rule, although there are exceptions, confined to one class.
By changing the stock at suitable times from one portion of
veld to another, while stocking the land which had been
cleared with animals of a different species, parasites which are

28o FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

dependent upon an animal host can be reduced in numbers to
a very large extent. In the case of those pests which pro-
pagate independently of the animals of the farm, the difficulty
of coping with them is infinitely greater. With the others the
change of stock means a period of starvation, and if this be
continued long enough the parasites die, and the veld becomes
clean and ready to receive the original stock once more. In
another respect the change of stock leads to a decided improve-
ment in the natural herbage. Different species of animals
have special favour for different species of plants, and the
change of stock gives a rest to those plants which for the time
being are not in favour with the stock on the ground. Mixing
various species of stock in grazing confers in a modified
fashion the advantages to be derived from change of stock.

There are a few diseases which, either from their peculiar
nature or from the amount of mischief they bring about, are
worthy of being briefly and generally mentioned, but no
attempt will be made to describe exhaustively either symptoms
or treatment. The object will have been gained if an interest
be awakened and a desire to learn stimulated in those whose
duty it is to become familiar with the numerous diseases that
affect farm live stock in general, but those of South Africa in
particular. The shelves of the Department of Agriculture
at Cape Town hold a wealth of information in convenient
pamphlet form, to a large extent from the reliable pen of the
Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, ready for distribution to farmers,
on nearly all the most important diseases represented in the
Colony. Should enterprising inquirers after knowledge desire
to go further afield, they could not do better than read the
voluminous works of Professor Williams, the Principal of the
New Veterinary College, Edinburgh.*

Tuberculosis in farm stock, which is the bovine form of
the disease known as phthisis or consumption in the human
species, is peculiarly interesting to the general public, owing
to the liability which those who drink the milk and eat the flesh
of tuberculous animals have of contracting the disease. More
especially is this the case when from any cause the system is
run down, or the mucous lining of the alimentary canal is

* Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Surgery (7th and 8th editions),
each 22s. 6d. net, J. Menzies & Co., Edinburgh.

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 28 1

in a catarrhal or weakened condition. Useful progress has
recently been made in determining the nature of this disease,
and it is now regarded as one which human efforts might
by proper means nearly eradicate. Koch's discovery that the
temperature of an animal suffering from the disease, however
slightly, rises after its injection with tuberculin, while the
temperature of a healthy animal so injected remains normal,
has made the diagnosis of the disease both simple and certain.
Professor Bang", of Copenhagen, who has conducted during
a number of years many interesting experiments with dairy
cows, has demonstrated that calves born of tuberculous cows
can be reared free from tuberculosis if kept apart from diseased
animals and fed on boiled milk which may be drawn from
tuberculous cows. This disposes of the old idea that the
disease very frequently descended for constitutional reasons
from the father or mother to the progeny. Although an animal
may not inherit the disease from its parents, the offspring of a
diseased parent is liable to inherit a constitutional tendency
to take the disease when exposed to its influences. The produc-
tion of tuberculin will naturally form a portion of the work of
the extended Bacteriological Institute of the future. With the
object of getting rid of tuberculosis among cattle, it has been
proposed that all suspected herds should be inoculated every
six months, and that all which respond to the action of the
tuberculin should at once be placed apart from the healthy
section of the stock and kept by themselves. Many such will
look healthy to the eye, and yet have entered the early stages of
the malady. All unthrifty tuberculous cattle should be killed
without delay and destroyed, but the flesh of those which are
only locally affected may, as a rule, be used for human food
with comparative safety. The eradication of tuberculosis is of
such absorbing personal interest to all, and of such pecuniary
interest to the farming population, that it is worthy of Govern-
ment consideration to the extent of grants as compensation to
those whose animals have been slaughtered for the public safety.
Cattle which run at large on the veld, practically in a state
of nature, rarely if ever suffer from the disease. Even animals
kept in open yards in England, under conditions which corre-
spond closely to those that cattle in kraal are subjected to,
rarely suffer. It is in the badly ventilated dairy in which

282 FARMING INDUSTRIES OK CAPE COLONY.

COWS are stalled closely together, as is often the case in the
dairies engaged in the production of the supply of milk
for towns, that the disease once introduced is likely to
spread — in the very position, in short, where its presence is
most objectionable. Although the great majority of Cape
cattle may be regarded as quite without the sphere of the
disease, those shut up in close houses are as liable to its
attacks as the cattle in Great Britain. As it is rapidly on the
increase in this country, the Colony ought to be alive to the
growing danger of importing it.

Lung-sickness, " longziekte," or pleuro -pnetinionia, a
highly infectious lung disease in cattle, is one of the most
severe stock scourges in the Colony. The post-inortein reveals
pleurisy, accompanied by pneumonia, consolidation of the lung
substance, which presents in section a marbled appearance due
to the infiltration with lymph of the interstitial tissue of the
lung, so very well developed in the ox. Microscopical ex-
amination of a section of the lung shows the lymphatic spaces
and air-tubes completely plugged with an inflammatory co-
agulated exudate, while the epithelial lining of the bronchial
walls is healthy and natural. The latter condition readily dis-
tinguishes true pleuro-pneumonia from broncho-pneumonia,
the "corn-stalk" disease of America, which any animal is liable
to contract if exposed to inclement weather. In this disease,
which is not infectious, though several animals in the same
herd and exposed to the same conditions may suffer from
it simultaneously, the bronchial tubes are the primary seat of
the disorder, not the lung parenchyma nor the pleura. The
epithelial cells forming the bronchial lining are shed, and
mixing with the catarrhal products in the tubes, also help to
fill them up.

Regulations have been from time to time drawn up with
the object of checking or stamping out the disease, but not
being stringent enough, they have only proved vexatious and
of little value ; but that the disease can be stamped out has
been demonstrated in Great Britain by the successful efforts of
the Board of Agriculture, which cleared the country of pleuro-
pneumonia in 1893. The method employed — viz., the slaughter
of all diseased and in-contact animals — would hardly be pos-
sible in the Colony, nor is such an extreme measure as whole-

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 283

sale slaughter necessary. A judicious combination of inocula-
tion and slaughter would ultimately attain the same end at
much less cost, on account of there being fewer animals for
which compensation would require to be paid by Government.
Inoculation without slaughter of those which refu.sed to
react to the inoculation would not accomplish the object, as
certain animals which recover from mild attacks of the disease
can carry about latent diseased nodules in their lungs, which
are liable at any time to become active, and to lead to an
outbreak among the other members of the herd which come
in contact with or breathe in the same atmosphere as the
affected animals. Some 12 to 20 per cent, of the cattle
exposed in the vicinity of diseased cattle, on account of some
natural immunity, do not take the disease, yet few resist the
influence of skilful inoculation, unless they are suffering from
the disease at the time, and even then a limited number react if
the disease be in an early stage. Even those which have been
previously inoculated give the reaction, though in a mild form,
after a second inoculation. A few animals actually contract
true pleuro-pneumonia through the medium of inoculation,
although such cases are extremely rare. In what has already
been said rests the weak point of inoculation. Once the
operation has been successfully carried out, an animal, however
exposed to the presence and influence of diseased cattle, will
not, for a considerable time at least, contract the disease. The
system of ingestion is altogether less satisfactory than inocula-
tion, and experience has shown that the most suitable and
safest spot to operate upon is the inner side of the tail, a short
distance from the point. The lymph can be got from the clear
serous exudate from the lung of an animal which has died
of the disease, but it is best obtained from the clear serum
found in the interlobular spaces of lungs secured in the early
stages of the inflammatory process, the animal having been
purposely killed and properly bled. In the Colony it is manu-
factured at the Bacteriological Institute on a large scale, and
sent out in hermetically sealed tubes to those who care to pay
for it. A piece of clean white woollen yarn, after being soaked
in the liquid, is inserted for the distance of about an inch under-
neath the skin of the tail. If the instrument used for intro-
ducing the yarn goes deeper than the skin, it is liable to injure

284 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAI'E COLONY.

the bone and induce disease of the part, which, if not attended
to, might cause death from mortification. Should any injury
to the bone occur, or should the swelling which naturally
takes place go far up and threaten to extend to the body, the
point of the tail should be amputated. If this is not done the
tail becomes gangrenous. A large j^ortion frequently sloughs
off, and thereby saves the animal's life. This accounts for the
large number of cattle with truncated tails seen in the Colony.
When cattle are running at large in the open veld, it is difficult
to watch with sufficient care the rise of temperature and the
local enlargement which take place. Still, when the work is
skilfully performed, not more than i or 2 per cent, of casualties
occur.

In 1893 over 36,000 cattle are reported to have died of
pleuro-pneumonia in the Colony, a serious drain upon the
resources of the stockowners. There is no doubt whatever
about the possibility of getting rid of the disease, but the diffi-
culty would arise in the opposition of farmers and transport
riders to Government interference with the movement of cattle.
At present diseased cattle are left to wander about in the veld
in such a manner that it is wonderful the losses are not infinitely
more numerous than they are. The period of incubation is
very various and uncertain. The specific germ of pleuro-
pneumonia, like that of rabies, cannot be cultivated artificially
in the laboratory. There are several important points which
remain in doubt with regard to lung-sickness, but there is one
which has been fully demonstrated, viz., that no cure, medicinal
or otherwise, exists for the disease. An animal which has
partially recovered must always remain a centre of danger,
and should not be retained among healthy animals.

Anthrax, locally termed " meltziekte" or " gift-ziekte," is a
disease which, in its well-known erratic and spasmodic way, ap-
pears from time to time in all districts of the Colony, and among
all classes of stock. One of the most serious outbreaks, extend-
ing over a number of years, occurred among horses inGriqualand
West. The disease is produced by the rapid multiplication or
growth of a rod-like vegetable micro-organism, allied to the
Fission-fungi and distinguished as Bacilbts anthracis. The
great difficulty which is met with in combating this disease
arises from the fact that this organism can live and multiply,

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 285

apart from animals altogether, in soils rich in humus, such as
in meadows or low-lying vleis which retain a good supply of
moisture. The spores of it, following the natural law in
relation to lower organisms of this kind, have great power of
persistence, only developing into mature forms under favour-
able circumstances as regards heat, air, and moisture. Natural
atmospheric changes of heat and cold will not destroy
them, and they remain for years ready to be picked up and
swallowed by animals grazing over land which has become
impregnated with them. This is the most usual way of
infection, but in addition to the organisms or their spores
being taken up by the animal, it is a generally accepted
opinion among sciejitific men who have studied the question,
that there must be some lesion in the mucous membrane by
\\hich they get access to the circulatory system, else they are
liable to be destroyed by the gastric juices and prove inno-
cuous. Being of the nature of a blood poison, the disease is
readily contracted by accidental inoculation, as while one is
engaged in skinning an animal which has died of anthrax, or
by people consuming the flesh in an imperfectly cooked con-
dition. It is somewhat anomalous in this connection that, on
anthrax breaking out in horses or in cattle or sheep, the attack
is generally confined to the one species, and does not extend
to the others. The disease is known in two forms in the
Colony — (i.) Splenic apoplexy, or the true meltziekte, some-
times designated intestinal anthrax, in which there are no
local swellings, but the blood is much affected and the internal
organs generally congested, the spleen being three or four
times its normal size. Death usually occurs within an hour
after illness is noticed. (2.) Gift-ziekte might be described
as localised anthrax ; it is contracted frequently by acci-
dental contagious inoculation. It is recognised by local
external swellings, most frequently about the under surfaces
of the body. It does not run its course so rapidly as the
other form of anthrax, and after the death of the animal
there is not the same danger of contaminating the surface of
the ground with the anthrax bacillus. It is most frequently
met with among horses, when it is commonly recognised
as malignant pustule. The administration of carbolic acid
internally, and the local injection of it hypodermically.

286 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

have been successful in curing a large percentage of horses
suffering from this form of the malady. In true anthrax little
can be done in the way of treatment, owing to the extraordinary
rapidity with which it runs its course ; but it is possible to
reduce the amount of anthrax in the Colony by preventive
means, such as carefully burning all carcases of animals which
have died of the disease, or burying them five feet deep in dry
sandy soil, unsuitable to the propagation of the organisms,
and by spreading quicklime about the place. Although the
germs do live and propagate in the soil, giving evidence of
their presence through fresh outbreaks during the summer and
autumn months, there is no doubt but that the true fountain-
head is the blood of diseased animals, from which the supply
is replenished from time to time as they die and remain un-
buried. If the supply of germs from carcases were completely
stopped, the outbreaks of anthrax would steadily grow less,
and might in the end disappear altogether.

Stiff-sickness or " stijf-ziekte," and "lam-ziekte" or para-
lysis, would appear to be two forms of the same disease. The
first, chiefly affecting the fore-limbs, is much the more prevalent
of the two. The second form involves the spinal column and
hindquarters, and is generally accompanied by a greater or
less amount of serous effusion into the spinal canal, which, as
it tends to gravitate towards the brain and medulla oblongata,
produces paralysis more or less complete. Stiff-sickness and
lame-sickness are 'Vz/^w/Zc diseases confined to certain localities,
and due to certain peculiarities of soil and climate." They are
characterised by a " congested and inflamed condition of the
articular extremities of the bones of the limbs and their car-
tilages and of the vertebral column." These diseases generally
appear " during the winter and spring months, after the
grasses have shed their seeds, and before the fresh grasses have
sprung up," and also during periods of drought. Cattle are
most subject to them, and they suffer most severely, but sheep
and goats, and even horses, in some localities become affected.
Young and growing animals and milch cows are most liable
to the disease. Full-grown oxen as a rule escape. Animals
do not die so much from stijf-ziekte as from poverty due to
the difficulty experienced in moving about in search of food,
but the recoveries from lam-ziekte are comparatively {q.\\. The

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 287

Colonial Veterinary Surgeon traces the inciting cause to "de-
fective nutrition of the bones," due to the absence of a proper
supply of phosphates in the food, the soil on which it grew being
deficient in phosphate of lime. It is a fact that animals living
on food grown upon rich land do not suffer, and that the re-
currence of the disease in a herd of cattle is prevented when
supplies of bone are consumed by them. In those districts
where the disease prevails, the bones of dead animals are
greedily eaten by stock. It is a regular practice with many
to supply bones to their animals in a finely ground condition
as meal, or better, as flour, and usually mixed with common
salt. Experiments initiated by the Veterinary Department,
and carried out by J. D. Borthwick, in the summer of 1895-96,
go not only to confirm the good opinions held relating to the
efficacy of bone meal as a remedy, but they have also demon-
strated that cattle improve much in condition and in appear-
ance when it is supplied to them. In out-of-the-way districts,
where facilities for grinding do not exist, the bones can be
made into a condition which renders them easy of reduction
by burning them and wetting them with dilute hydrochloric
acid, or by throwing them into a pit with quicklime. Change
of veld is a useful precaution, having not only a preventive but
also a curative effect. To give plenty of exercise, especially
in the earlier stages of an attack of stijf-ziekte, is a beneficial
treatment.

There is a very general belief among farmers that the
disease is contagious, but this seems to have arisen through
cases of anthrax — a disease readily communicated to healthy
animals — having been mistaken for lam-ziekte. Others believe
that the disease is due to poisonous plants which the cattle
eat. But unfortunately for this theory the first symptoms
are not a deranged digestion, but a peculiarity of gait ; and
although it is generally only on certain parts of the veld that
animals develop the disease, healthy animals brought from a
distance do not suffer so quickly as those which have grazed on
the same land for a time. Although the want of "bone-earth"
in the food is no doubt the main cause, it is possible that in
the consequent enfeebled condition of system some other evil
influence which is not yet understood is also at work in bring-
ing about the acute symptoms of the disease.

288 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Gall-sickness is a term indiscriminately applied by farmers
to derangements of the liver, brought about by many exciting
causes — rich food, little exercise, and hot weather being three
of the most common — and too often when the liver derange-
ment is merely a secondary symptom, both in the matter of
time and of importance. The number of deaths in Cape
Colony from gall-sickness, as the term is commonly under-
stood, amounts to over a quarter of a million of cattle, sheep,
and goats annually. Dr Hutcheon points out that the horse,
having no gall-bladder to leave in a distended condition on
the liver to attract attention, is not included in lists of casual-
ties from gall-sickness, although the horse in reality is more
liable to suffer from derangement of the liver than other farm
animals. True or black gall-sickness or biliary hepatitis in
grazing cattle is comparatively rare. It is characterised by
inflammation of the liver parenchyma and catarrh of the bile
ducts, and by a thickened condition of the bile, which, in
place of flowing naturally, is reabsorbed into the blood, giving
rise to the condition known as jaundice. The malady is gene-
rally fatal unless treatment be applied at a very early stage.

The more skilled of the old transport riders, when they
had got a day or two on their journey in a country known to
be dangerous, gave each animal as much calomel as would lie
on a shilling, and twelve hours afterwards i lb. of salts and
I oz. of ground ginger. In consequence these men saw
more rarely than their neighbours the characteristic weakness
of the loins and the madness which not infrequently occurs
before death.*

An inflamed and congested condition of the liver is
quite common in the hot climate of South Africa in the case
of highly fed stalled cattle, such as milch cows. It is usually
amenable to ordinary treatment, viz., a dose of calomel (6o
grains for a cow or an ox), followed after a few hours by
Epsom salts and ginger. When an outbreak of what may
be termed gall-sickness occurs from a derangement of the

* The practice, although known in Natal, was by no means general in
South Africa, and to Dr Hutcheon must be awarded the credit of intro-
ducing into Cape Colony the general use of calomel in the treatment of
gall-sickness. He recommends a dose of lo grains for a calf, and 60
grains for a full-grown ox or cow.

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 289

digestion, due probably to the want of water, or to some
indigestible food or poison-plants, the chief thing to do is to
change the pasture, and thereby to introduce those animals
that have not suffered to new conditions.

There is one form of liver disease common to horses, cattle,
sheep, and goats in \\ hich there is mental derangement leading
to delirium and coma before death. In the case of the horse,
this disease — the nature and cause of which have yet to be
determined — has usually been attributed by colonial farmers

'o ' "*^'

-A •'".

> -=!

- -^w \

Dots adhering to the Cuticulak Lining of the Stomach of a Hokse.
The male bot-fly is seen with expanded wings, and the female with folded wings.

From U.S.A. Report 'on Horse Diseases, 1890,

to bots. In autumn the gad-fly lays its small, yellow, elon-
gated eggs on the hair of horses, on a part of the skin
convenient for the horse to bite or scratch frequently with his
teeth — usually about the shoulders and surrounding parts. The
eggs, on hatching, produce larvae, which, on being swallowed by
the horse, attach themselves by hooks to the mucous lining of
the stomach, there to remain for about eight months to grow
and mature ; not by sucking the blood of the horse, but by
absorbing, through the entire surface of its grub-like body,

290 I'AKMINC, INDUS'l'KIES OF CAPE COLONY

nutritious juices from the food undergoing digestion in the
horse's stomach. All horses grazing at large have bots, and
they do comparatively little harm, unless they are in abnormal
numbers. Little or nothing can be done, as they are extremely
difficult to dislodge until their proper time comes ; then they
let go their hold and pass out in the clung, in which they are
protected for a time. Ultimately they develop into gad-flies,
and begin anew the cycle of their life-history.

The horse gad-fly, l^etter named the horse bot-fly, GastropJiilus eqtd,
attacks the horse while j^razing late in the summer, its object being, not
to derive sustenance, but to deposit its eg'gs. This is accomplished by
the ovipositor of the female, and the ova (eggs) are glued to the hairs by a
sticky secretion. The parts selected are chiefly those of the shoulder
and inner part of the fore legs, especially about the knees, for in these
situations the horse will have no difficulty in reaching the ova with its
tongue. Eggs are also deposited on the mane, so that they may be
within easy reach of other horses, which from time to time naturally
scratch the necks of their neighbours. When the animal breathes upon
or licks those parts of the coat where the eggs have been placed, the
moisture of the breath or from the tongue, aided by warmth, hatches the
ova, and in from five to twenty-one days from the time of the deposition
of the eggs the larva; have made their escape. The maggots wriggling
produce itchiness, which the animal attempts to relieve by licking. In
this way the maggots are transferred to the mouth, and ultimately to the
stomach along with food and drink. A great many larvii; perish during
this passive mode of immigration, some being dropped from the mouth,
and others being crushed in the fodder during mastication. It has been
calculated that out of the many hundreds of eggs deposited on a single
horse scarcely one out of fifty of the larv;e arrive within the stomach.
Notwithstanding this waste the interior of the stomach nearest the gullet
(which at this part is not vascular but whitish to appearance) may become
completely covered with bots. Whether there be few or many, they are
anchored in this situation chiefly by means of two large cephalic hooks.
After the bots have attained perfect growth, they voluntarily loosen their
hold, and allow themselves to be carried along the alimentary canal until
they escape with the faeces. In all cases they sooner or later fall to the
ground, and when transferred to the soil they bury themselves beneath
the surface, in order to undergo transformation into the pupa condition.
Having remained in the earth for a period of six or seven weeks, they
finally emerge from their pupal-cases as perfect dipterous (two-winged)
insects — the adult horse bot-fly. It thus appears that bots ordinarily pass
from eight to ten months of their lifetime in the digestive organs of the
horse. — Cobbold.

The general unskilled opinion is that these bots, penetrat-
ing" the walls of the stomach, and escaping into the abdominal

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 29I

cavity, cause death. Dr Hutcheon contends that the bots
only begin to move and to penetrate the mucous hning of the
stomach after death, and that during his fifteen years of
colonial experience, in which he has embraced every oppor-
tunity of making post-mortem examinations of such cases, he
has not met with one case in which the cause of death could
be attributed to bots. In this contention Dr Hutcheon is
supported by the leading authorities in Great Britain and in
the United States. Death in the majority of the so-called
suspicious cases arises from acute indigestion associated with
disease of the liver.

The true gad-fly of the ox, Tabaniis bovinus, Linn., is
sometimes mistaken for the horse bot-fly, but it differs in this
respect that the larva is not parasitic on the horse, but is a

The True Gad-Fly of the Ox, Tauanus bovinus, Linn.
Larva and pupa, life size.

After Dc Geer.

harmless vegetable feeder. The female visits the horse not to
lay her eggs but to pierce the skin with her mouth lancets,
and to draw blood upon which she feeds.

Another common form of liver disease in horses, in which
the organ becomes atrophied, is due to the periodical state
of starvation to which the animals are reduced before the spring
growth comes. The liver, as well as the other organs and parts
of the body, shrink as the animal becomes poor. After this
has been repeated for a number of years, the liver remains
permanently smaller, and ultimately becomes leathery and
inactive.

Liver disease among calves, " liver-ziekte," has been
known in the Colony for at least fifteen years. It was first
recognised in the coast districts of Peddie and Bathurst, and
from these it gradually spread to Albany, Alexandria, Fort

292 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Beaufort, Victoria East, and Bedford. It is brought to a
farm by affected calves, and once established, it remains, and
annually appears during the summer months. It is a con-
tagious disease, contracted very much like typhoid fever.
The contamination of the homestead, of the water dam or
drinking pool, and even of the veld itself, seems to be due to
the excrement dropped by sick calves. The Symptoms are
" high temperature, great prostration, and an offensive, greenish-
yellow, clay-coloured discharge from the bowels." The liver is
congested, enlarged, and of a saffron-yellow colour in the early
stages. If the calf lingers for some time, atrophy, with fatty
degeneration of the liver, occurs. The mortality in the cases
of bad outbreaks is alarming, as many as 60 per cent, of the
whole calves dying — in fact, very few recover. Otto Henning,
one of the Government veterinary staff, conducted a series of
experiments in 1894-95 ^it Koonap Heights, by which it
was ascertained that safety could be secured for a lot of young
calves by shutting them up day and night in clean kraals, and
allowing them to suck twice daily — forage and grass being
given as well. Under this treatment there was only one-tenth
of the former mortality, some 6 per cent, dying of liver disease.
So long as diseased calves are permitted to resow year by year
the germs which are unquestionably the origin and cause of
the disease, so long will it remain to be the scourge of the calf-
kraal. There is every reason to believe that, with scrupulous
cleanliness and care in the management of calves till they are
five months old, the disease may, to a large extent at least,
disappear.

The short tape-worm, Tccnia denticulata, about 1 2 inches
in length, and of the thickness of a clay-pipe stem, and also
the T. expansa, are sometimes troublesome in young calves
from three weeks old and upwards. A tablespoonful of tur-
pentine soaked into raw meal, and given in a little cold water,
or in a cupful of raw linseed oil, or 30 to 40 grains of blue-
stone dissolved in a breakfast cupful of warm water, and given
after a good fast, are two useful alternative remedies.

In certain seasons a plague of black Hce attacks the
transport cattle, which may be relieved by washing with
M'Dougall's sheep dijx The "jigger," a South American
flea, Sarcopsylla penetrans (the female of which bores into the

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 293

skin of the human foot and of the feet of various mammalia,
and there deposits her eggs), was introduced on the Guinea
coast some years ago. It has found its way right across the
continent, and is a source of great inconvenience to the native
porters carrying loads up-country. When it gets underneath
the nails, sores are liable to develop, and the toes to drop off.

Red-water in cattle, as it is understood in Cape Colony,
is not the non-contagious derangement known by the name in
Great Britain, but is identical with the highly communicable
disease called " Texas fever " in the United States of America.
It is also believed to exist " along the Danube River, in the
Balkan Provinces, and in Queensland, Australia."

Symptoms. — Dr Hutcheon tersely describes it as "a
specific infective fever characterised by great nervous prostra-
tion, congestion, and loss of function of the digestive organs,
and disintegration of the blood, with the rapid escape of some
of its constituents by the kidneys — the urine having a colour
like sherry, or even dark claret at times." Not much success
attends the treatment of the disease after the characteristic
symptoms have been developed. A liberal dose of Epsom
salts and ginger, along with one drachm of carbolic acid — the
latter repeated — is frequently beneficial if given on the first
appearance of derangement when the fever is about, and
animals are being watched in anticipation of its coming.
Red-water belongs to a class of diseases which ought to be
prevented, or made amenable to treatment by inoculation.

It is only twelve years since its first appearance in the
Colon)', and its direction of ingress was from the north. The
Zulus had experience of it before it reached Cape Colony,
and there is a belief that it came to them from the swamps
of Swaziland. The disease appeared in 1871 at the Tugela
River, forming the boundary between Zululand and Natal.
It travelled along the coast districts of Natal to Durban,
and following the main lines of ox -waggon traffic, it had
penetrated as far as Kokstadt in Griqualand East in 1873.
The Pondos to the east kept it back for a number of years,
as they permitted no oxen to go through their country, but
supplied healthy cattle for hire to the traders, until in October
1882 the Cape Government sent up a newly formed regiment
— the Cape Infantrj- — and fort}- waggons of baggage, with

294 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

authority to i^o on to Kokstadt, the transport riders holding a
guarantee that all cattle which died of red-water would be paid
for out of the public purse. A number of oxen died on the
return journey, and several in the Kafrarian districts. By this
means the disease spread rapidly in the Transkei countr)-,
still extending along the coast in a southern direction. It has
penetrated much farther now, and it is only a matter of time
until it finds its way to Cape Town. The parts in which it is
most severe are low-lying grassy districts— those places where
ticks are most numerous and most troublesome. While the
disease was spreading in the south, it was extending quite as
rabidly towards the north-west. In the space of three or four
years it had entered the Free State and Transvaal ; and about
the same time ticks, which were unknown in these inland
parts, though abundant near the coast, were introduced, and it
would seem from their increase in numbers that they are likely
to remain. It must not be believed that ticks are the origina-
tors of red-water, as they merely form a medium by which it
spreads. Ticks were as numerous on the coast districts before
red-water appeared as they are now, and ticks are spreading
up-country where as yet there is no red-water.

Red-water is a specific fever of a contagious nature, but in
one respect it is different from the most of contagious diseases.
A diseased animal does not communicate the disease direct to
a healthy animal. There seems to be some intermediate link
wanting ; and in America the opinion, not only of the cattle-
men, who recognised it first, but also of the veterinary autho-
rities at Washington, is that the numerous ticks present in
the country in which the fever prevails have to do with it.

Rather an interesting coincidence was recognised in the
neighbourhood of Pretoria in support of the belief that the tick
is intimately associated with the spread of red-water in South
Africa, as well as in the Southern States of the American
Union — below the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude. It is the
practice to burn the grass on the veld in September, so that
the ticks which ha\'e not then procured shelter in the ground
may be destroyed. If from any cause the burning is not
accomplished at this time, and is delayed till January, red-water
almost invariably appears. It is as.serted by the farmers that
when burning takes place in the latter month, some plant

DISEASES OE CATTLE 295

grows which produces it, but the ticl< theor\' is the more
Hkely explanation of the difficulty.

The feasible theor}- about red-water is that the fe\er is
caused by a specific micro-organism which has been detected
in the blood of cattle suffering from Texas fever ; that this
organism possesses more than one stage in its life-history, and
that one of these stages is spent in the body of the tick as an
intermedial host. Before healthy cattle can suffer after contact
with diseased animals this intermediate stage must pass ; but
the respite is not for long, as cattle driven into a district subject
to the disease will take it if brought in contact with animals
that look perfectl)' well ; and a very large proportion of
grown-up cattle die, especially if they are in good condition.

Young calves introduced into a red-water country take
the disease, but usually recover. Cattle born and reared in
such a country do not seem to suffer from the disease, at least
in a visible or dangerous form ; and while they remain in their
own locality they are said to be " salted" and possess immunity
from the well-known acute form which it takes, but if they be
removed for six to nine months to a part not subject to the
disease, and are then brought back, they arc as liable to contract
it as if they had ne\er been in an affected district. Absolute im-
munity is consequently not obtainable. On the high veld the
intermediate link becomes a missing link in \ery cold weather.
The organism seems to get destroyed, so that the cattle are in
practically the same position as those last mentioned. They
do not secure the possible measure of conditional immunity
from the disease which those in warmer districts possess. We
gather from all this that there is some hope for farmers in the
coast districts when all the farms are thoroughly infected with
red-water disease, or rather with the intermediate link. As
long as the cattle are kept at home or in their own district,
they will not die of red-water.

From a study of the nature of the disease, it is easily
gathered that quarantine regulations or restrictions of any
kind are worthless unless a permanent line be fixed, and no
cattle permitted to pass from the affected area. In 1883, when
red-water first appeared in the Colony, an effort was made to
stop it by quarantining individual districts, until these became
too numerous. Then a large area was thrown together to the

296 lARMINd INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

north-east of Buffalo River, embracing East London, Stut
terheim, King William's Town, Komgha — the Kafrarian
districts. This was maintained till 1884, but that being a
dry season, little red-water appeared, and Government, at the
urgent request of the farmers, removed the quarantine. In
1885, a very moist season, it reappeared with great virulence,
and rapidly spread to the southward, some cases occurring
near to Port Elizabeth. An urgent request that the quarantine
be again established led to the new south-western boundary
being fixed along the line of the Koonap and Great Fish
rivers. This was maintained till 1893, when all boundaries
were done away with, it being found that the disease had been
established in numerous centres in the districts of Bedford,
Albany, and Bathurst, to the south-west of the quarantine line.
The restrictions are now confined to the individual farms on
which the disease breaks out. Quarantine as a means of
stopping the disease was hopeless from the first. Any
possible success could only do more harm than good, by
delaying the time when the whole country should be overrun,
so that animals would become salted while young, and the
death-rate decrease. The last chance of keeping it out of the
Colony was lost when the Government neglected to secure by
purchase or other means the control of the two places on which
it first appeared, viz., Peeltown mission station, andLeary's farm,
near Maclean Town. Had these been fenced, and no cattle per-
mitted to go on to the land, the disease might have been
stamped out. The slow rate at which Government machinery
moves, and the want of sufficient knowledge and interest on
the part of the farmers, made the adoption of any such safe-
guard impossible.

The nature of Texas fever {alias Cape red-water), and
the relationship of the tick to the disease, has since 1888 been
undergoing investigation by the United States Bureau of
Animal Industry, and important and interesting results were
published in an exhaustive report in 1893. These experi-
ments have clearly established as a fact the belief long held
by Southern States cattlemen, that the eight-legged ticks,
which, as in South Africa, are present in large numbers on
animals within the fever-infected area, are the direct and at
present the only means by which the disease is known to be

XH- 1;

• • » * »f f f f f 11

■^:.

,r-^^^^ :: x^^"^??^^

Tig. 4^

FiP. 7

Fig. 6

/■'iicc page 297.
Plate 53.— The Catile Tick, the Cai.:rier of Texas Fevek ok South African Red-Water.

DISEASES OE CATTLE. 297

communicated naturally to cattle reared without the area
referred to. The disease can be artificially produced by sub-
cutaneous and intravenous injection of blood from cattle
suffering from Texas fever. An elevation of temperature
occurs within a few days of the inoculation, and visible signs of
illness manifest themselves not later than the sixth day. This
marks the limit of the true period of incubation, although the
disease did not appear, in some instances, for ninety days after
healthy cattle had been put on tick-infected ground. Clearl}'
the poison, from one of several possible causes, had not found
its way into the systems of the animals. Two types of the
disease were discovered — the one acute and fatal, occurring
in the hot summer months ; and the other mild, prolonged,
and usually non-fatal, occurring during the colder weather of
autumn. In the acute form the temperature rises progres-
sivel}- from day to da\', as high, in some fatal cases, as 108' F.
It falls rapidly when convalescence begins, and at times also,
as in horse-sickness, immediately before death. The next
important symptom — the discoloration of the urine, which
may be a " very light claret colour, or so deeply tinted as to
be opaque and blackish — is not due to a discharge of blood
from the kidneys, and subsequent breaking up of the red

Thk Cattle Tick, the Carrier of Texas Fever. Figs., Plate 53.

(Figs. I, 3, 4, and 5 were drawn under the direction of Dr Curtice. Nos.
4 and 5 were slightly modified before insertion.)

Fig. I. A series of ticks from the smallest, just hatched from the egi:^, to

the matured female ready to lay eggs.
Fig. 2. Eggs magnified 5 diameters.
Fig. 3. The young tick just hatched ( x 40).

Fig. 4. Sexually mature male after the last moult. Dorsal view ( x 10).
Fig. 5. The sexually mature female after the last moult. Dorsal view

( X 10).
Fig. 6. A portion of the skin of the udder of a two-year-old heifer on

which ticks artificially hatched were put when small.
Fig. 7. A portion of the ear of the same annual, showing adults ready to

drop off and lay their eggs.

From " Investigations into the Nature, Causation, and Prevention of
Texas or Southern Cattle Fever," by Theolaald Smith, Ph.B., M.I)., and
F. L. Kilborne, B.Agr., B.V.S. Washington, 1893.

29'S KAR.MINC; INDUSTRIES OK CAI'K COLONY.

corpuscles, but to filtration of the colouring matter of broken-
down red corpuscles (haemoglobin) already in solution in the
circulation into the urine in the excretory structures of the
kidneys," a fact demonstrated by Stiles in 1868.

Thinness of the blood, which becomes pale and watery,
is the most constant and most valuable of all the symptoms
of this disease, and it results from the disappearance of red
corpuscles. The minor symptoms and appearances are a
"dry hot skin (readily perceptible to the touch), high rate
of pulse and rise in temperature, loss of appetite, cessation
of rumination and of milk secretion, constipation, hyperaemia,
followed by bloodlessness of the skin and mucous membranes."
The liver and spleen are also much enlarged, congested, and
diseased. In the cases which do not prove fatal in America,
the " high temperature rarely lasts more than eight or ten days."
In Cape Colony the duration of the acute stage is four or five
days. Great debility follows, owing to the poverty of blood
and the weakened functions of the various vital organs, and
sometimes to relapses. Some animals never fully recover, and
others take weeks and months to do so. The mild form of
the disease is so mild that it was unknown until the examina-
tion of the blood showed the presence of the micro-parasite.
The fever temperature is low, rarely rising above 105° F. in the
evening, the period of highest temperatures.

Texas fever is essentially a blood disease, although many
of the important organs of the body become functionally
deranged, and everything points to it being due to the mul-
tiplication of a micro-organism, Pyrosonia Ingeiniuuni, 11. sp.,
which lives in and devours the red corpuscles of the blood.
It has been proved that it is always present when Texas fever
develops, and that where it exists Texas fever is also present.
It may be argued hypothetically that the organism may not be
the cause, but only an associate of the real cause, which may
be an invisible poison, but that does not detract from the
importance of the experiments which have led to our know-
ledge of the organism.

Blood newly drawn from an animal suffering from the
acute form of the disease shows under a high-power micro-
scope (500 to 1,000 diameters, Zeiss apochrom., 2 mm., oculars
4 and 8) that some red corpuscles contain two pale pear-shaped

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 299

bodies, with the tapering ends directed towards each other,
and usually in juxtaposition. The rounded thick ends may or
may not be close together. The size varies somewhat, but the
two bodies in the same corpuscle are generally similar in size.
When well developed, each possesses a minute spherical body,
which appears like a dark speck near to the thick-rounded end,
and shows in marked contrast to the homogeneous material
composing the enclosing pyriform body. " In the largest of
these pear-shaped bodies there was seen in the centre of the
enlarged end a somewhat larger, round, or oval body, which
seems to take the place of the smaller body, or else to associate
with it. At a low position of the objective, the parasite
appeared dark, with a light round spot in the enlarged end.

The parasitic micro-organism found in the corpuscles of the blood of an animal which died
of Texas fever. Fig. i shows an intra-globular parasite in subcutanecus blood taken a few hours
before death— one of a group of organisms which show very marked changes of outline. The
remaining sketches of magnified lilood-corpuscles contain individually a nuclear (?) body, the
lower row being taken from fresh cutaneous blood shortly after death.

From the U.S.A. Report on Texas Fever, 1S93.

At a higher position of the objective, the inner body appeared
dark, enclosed in the lighter pyriform outline. One or both of
these bodies were observed in some of those forms undergoing
amcjeboid changes." The larger pear-shaped bodies are be-
lieved to be the mature form of the organism, the smaller
bodies and others of irregular appearance and changing form
to belong to younger stages of its development. Only a
limited number of infected corpuscles circulate in the blood
during high fever, probably from \ to i per cent. Within
a few hours of death there may be 5 to 10 per cent, of the
corpuscles with the pear-shaped parasite present. Large num-
bers of parasites are found within corpuscles in the capillary
blood of congested areas of the internal organs, and it is
probably there, and not in the circulating fluid, that the enor-

300 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

mous loss of blood-corpuscles takes place during the acute
stage of the fever.

In the mild type of Texas fever the appearance of the
parasite is rounded, and quite different from that just de-
scribed, and from 5 to 50 per cent, of the red corpuscles of
the circulating blood are infected for a period of from one
to five weeks. In size it is smaller, and it is believed to
belong to an immature stage or stages of the parasite. It
appears like a single rounded coccus-like body, resting usually
within the corpuscle on its border. The subdivision of the
coccus-like body into two has been distinctly observed. This
rounded form of the parasite has been identified in fever
occurring late in the season in animals which have suffered
from a relapse, and also in cases which appear before the
usual time. Instances have been recorded in which the mild
form has developed into the acute and fatal form. The
theory which now holds the field is that the organism present
in the mild form is in a state of retarded development, the
period of which may vary considerably, according to surround-
ing conditions. Though much preliminary work has been
carried through, and a direct connection established between
the organism and the disease, the amount of ground which
yet remains to be covered may be realised from the fact that
" no distinctly reproductive phase has been seen during four
years of observation of a great variety of cases." With
regard to the connection of the tick with the disease, it was
shown " that the disease can be produced by ticks hatched
artificially in the laboratory without the intervention of
southern cattle or the infected ground on which these had
been placed." The eggs were kept in a warm place, in a little
soil, and hatched out in from three to four weeks. The tick
in its first or larval stage had only three pairs of legs. When
put on a calf for a week it moulted, and two more legs ap-
peared ; after another week a second moulting took place, and
the sexual parts were developed.

The form in which the parasitic organism is conveyed from
the tick to the ox is yet to be determined. That it is the
tick and not the south country cattle that convey the disease
was demonstrated by mixing North Carolina cattle with
susceptible animals after the ticks had been carefully removed,

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 3OI

and no disease appeared ; and also by keeping susceptible
cattle with those suffering from the disease, but with no ticks
on them. That the tick must bite before the poison can be
communicated was demonstrated by the failure to produce the
disease by experiments in which ticks were ground up and fed
to animals, and also when hypodermic injections were given,
containing juices from the tick's body.

The coast districts of the Colony are infested with the true
eight-legged tick to such an extent that calves die in large
numbers, and older animals are prevented from thriving by
the irritation produced by the lancet suckers driven deeply
into the skin. Keeping calves in the house for the first season
tides them over the dangerous period.

Great Cattle Tick, Amblyomma hei!R.1£um.
Male, life-size, and magnified ; outline figure .-.howing size of inflated female.

The accompanying illustration of the Great Cattle Tick,
Aviblyomnia liebr(Eiuii, Koch, is taken from Miss Ormerod's
" South African Insects," where a full description is given.
It would appear that the male, which does not swell by
gorging with blood, has been mistaken for another species,
and is known in the Port Elizabeth district as the " Shell
Tick."

Ostriches are not so much troubled with ticks as the more
common stock of the farm, and do well in the tick-infested
districts if the climate be not too wet. Ticks swarm in vast
numbers in the bush and on the tall grass, and as the animals
brush past they take hold and finally fix themselves to the
skin, usually in some protected place where they are not
liable to be rubbed off They often appear while very

302 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OK CAI'K COLONY.

ininutc in large numbers on the tender hairless parts of the
body, and subsequently spread to suitable places, where they
remain permanently, and do not move about like lice and
^various other skin parasites. The female gorges herself
with blood, and after the posterior has swelled to large
dimensions, and assumed the size and colour of a sloe, prob-
ably in twenty- one to twenty-three days, she falls off. The
hatching of the eggs she produces takes place among the
grass or near the surface of the ground, and the early life of
the creatures, during which they receive no food, is spent away
from the bovine host. How long the eggs may remain fertile,
in a state of nature, during conditions adverse to hatching, and
how long the young ticks can live without food, are points
which still call for settlement. A female tick continues to lay
from twelve to sixteen days, and produces over 2,000 eggs,
which appear as "dark-brownish red masses of oval bodies."
In warm weather the eggs hatch out in fifteen days, while
with a lower temperature six or seven weeks may be required ;
and if the weather be very cold, no development takes place
probably until the warm weather of spring arrives. Young
ticks have been kept alive for four and a half months after
hatching. The mature male is much smaller than the
corresponding female, but he does his share in producing
irritation. One misfortune is that ticks, with all the immediate
inconvenience of the loss of blood and consequent weakness,
of the irritation produced, and of the secondary injurious
influences, are spreading to parts in w^hich they were unknown
a few years ago. They have been carried by transport cattle
from their natural habitat near the coast into the Free State
and the Transvaal, and they are steadily extending farther
up-country.

The connection between red-water and the tick has been
fully established in America, as has already been explained,
although much remains to be done in the Colony to determine
what species of ticks are injurious and what are only trouble-
some. Apart from the evil influence of inducing red-water,
the bites of various ticks affect animals in different ways.
The " bont poot ' or " bont pooten " (to use the classical Dutch
equivalent), the speckled foot tick, by biting causes a piece
of the skin and even of the flesh beneath to slough and

DISEASES OF CATTLE. 303

fall out. One small species adhering" to lambs or young
sheep induces paralysis. If a careful and successful search
be made, and the offender, which may be only one, discovered,
probably about the root of the ear, the inner part of the fore-^
leg, or even between the digits of the foot, and removed, a
lamb which w^as helpless in the morning wull regain its feet by
the evening, and be all right again the next day.

Principal Williams, of the New Veterinary College, Edin-
burgh, has traced the paralysis present in the disease known
as " trembling " or " louping-ill " in Scotland to the presence
of an organism which, when the disease occurs, exists in the
bodies of the ticks living on, and also in the fluid surrounding
the spinal column of, affected sheep. This is of the nature of
a parasite within a parasite, and it remains to be seen to what
extent ticks are liable to contain this and other parasites, and
whether some are not free from them altogether. The writer
has also described in his Australian work the injury done
by ticks on the east coast of Australia, living under conditions
not very dissimilar to those in Cape Colony, where ticks are
most numerous. There horses, dogs, all the common farm
animals, and even children, are at times paralysed by a limited
number of ticks adhering to some susceptible part, and if they
are not found and removed, death will supervene within a few
days. The fact has been noticed and repeatedly confirmed
by reliable scientific experiments, but the actual cause in the
Australian instances has not yet been determined. In South
Africa, Dr Hutcheon believes it possible that the cause may be
traced to nerve irritation produced by the tick bite. We
incline to the belief that in Australia, and probably at the
Cape, the cause may yet be shown to be similar to that asso-
ciated with " louping-ill " in Scotland — viz., the poison in the
system produced by the development within the fluids of the
animal body of some organism or organisms introduced
through the bite of the tick. The same high authority has
also traced in some instances the white spots, so numerous on
the backs and loins of African horses, to sudden falls of sleet
or hail when the skin is in a susceptible condition. The vast
majority of the spotted backs in the Colony are undoubtedly
due to the biting of ticks, which often hang in little clusters,
and leave raw places on the skin when the animals are young.

304 FARMING INDUSTRIES OI" CAPE COLONY.

As these heal, and hair springs, it grows white, owing to
defective nutrition, resulting from the injury sustained by its
roots.

The irritation caused must be intense, and to some
extent at least animals must become accustomed to it before
they are full grown, else they would fret so that they could
not thrive. If horses are liberally supplied with sulphur
internally, it has a marvellous power of protection against the
attacks of ticks. In the coast districts cattle do not care
much for salt, the usual medium in which sulphur is given,
but it can be mixed with bone-flour and consum.ed therewith.
Animals in small numbers may be protected to a considerable
extent b\' smearing a strip of three inches broad down the
back with sulphur and grease. The sulphur, owing to its
searching nature, finds its wa)' to different parts of the
animal's bod>'. The tick known in South America as the
"garrapata" has been dislodged by sprinkling the skin with
a dressing containing carbolic acid. Up-countr\-, near Kim-
berley, for example, one variety, known as the " tampan-tick,"
takes shelter under the larger mimosa trees in the open veld,
so that travellers are forced to deny themselves the benefit of
shade from the sun rather than encounter the army of ticks
that would assail them. Others again spread over the grass
of the veld, and the only means of keeping them in check is
to burn off the grass at a time when a large proportion of the
ticks is resting in it. In the neighbourhood of Pretoria (where
it chanced this question was most minutely investigated),
experience shows that the right time to burn is in September,
just before rains usually come. If a portion of the land be
burnt too earl)' in the season, ticks find their way on to it
from the unburnt land, and probably come up from their
shelter in the ground as the weather becomes hot, and the
cattle are subjected to an undue amount of irritation and
annoyance. Owing to the way the veld has to be annually
burnt as a protection against ticks, it has become less valuable
for cattle grazing, and not only are the numbers of cattle less,
but their quality is inferior, as compared with what it was
before the ticks got into the country. In the Kafrarian
districts large tracts of grass land have to be annually burnt,
as a means by which to minimise the injur}' done by ticks.

DISEASES OE CATTLE. 305

The rinderpest, which has during the present year done
so much mischief among the cattle of Mashonaland and Mata-
beleland, has existed from remote periods in Central Asia, but
has spread repeatedly through all European countries between
which traffic in live cattle existed. Towards the end of last
century it is believed to have destroyed two hundred millions
of cattle in Europe. As recently as 1870-71 France lost by it
100,000 oxen, and it was only in 1872 that the last outbreak
of the disease was stamped out in Great Britain through the
slaughter of all diseased and in-contact cattle. It is one of the
most infectious and at the same time one of the most virulent
of bovine disorders, especially on its first appearance among
healthy cattle, as many as 95 per cent, succumbing to it. In
Russia, where it is enzootic, many recover, and it is not so
deadly when it appears among goats and sheep. It is trans-
missible to many wild animals — deer, antelope, buffalo, and
wild pigs. In the indiscriminating nature of its attack and
its deadly consequences it strongly resembles the cattle
disease in Masailand mentioned but imperfectly described
by Thomson, and it may yet be proved to be identical. If
so, it seems to be spreading like a great and destructive
prairie fire in a southern direction over the centre of the
African continent, and Cape Colony ought to make prepara-
tions to resist it. It is a blood disorder in which three
very different micro-organisms have been identified, viz., a
Streptococcus, a Lepfothrix, and a Bacillus ; but although un-
doubtedly due to germs, the parts these play have not yet
been determined.

The infection very probably occurs by inhalation, the con-
tagion being subsequently transmitted to other parts of the
body by the blood circulation. The contagion exists not only
in the animal's breath but in the solids and fluids of its body,
its excreta and discharges generalh', and may therefore not
only be communicated by contact, but be carried by men,
dogs, and other animals, insects, &c. The virus is easily
destroyed b}' the common disinfectants and b}^ exposure to
dry air, but moist animal discharges remain virulent for
months.

After infection there is a period of incubation of a few
days. The initial symptoms arc dulness and a rise of

306 I ARMINC; INDUSTKIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

temperature— 1 06' to 107' F. being commonly registered —
trembling, weakness, and a staring coat. The appetite,
rumination, and milk are gone or diminished. The more
pronounced symptoms which soon appear are intermittent
rigors, accelerated respiration, red spots on the visible mucous
membrane, vesicles in the mouth like those present in foot-
and-mouth disease, excrement dry or absent, pain, salivation,
a drooping head and hanging ears, mucous discharges from
eyes, nose, and vagina. These symptoms are followed by
a bloody diarrhoea, great straining, colic, and rapid emaciation
and staggering. At times the animal becomes excited and
seems mad, at other times it suffers from shortness of breath
and a cough as if it had inflammation of the lungs. The
haemorrhagic spots on the visible mucous membrane slough
and leave ulcers, the thickened epithelium being shed in a
form resembling bran.

In the British outbreaks EinpJiysema or gases collected
underneath the skin, and eruptions often occurred. The
animal lies continuously at full stretch, trembles, and grinds
its teeth, and the anus and vulva remain open allowing of the
involuntary escape of fetid fluids.

Death supervenes in four to seven days, usually in about
a week.

Until a post-morteni is made, the disease may readily be
mistaken for anthrax or pleuro-pneumonia, especially if the
time of its duration be unknown. Nearly all the important
internal organs are abnormal in colour and in a diseased
condition. The blood is dark and tarry, and does not co-
agulate properly on cooling.

Inoculation has been practised with the fluid from the
nose, caught by placing a sponge in the nostril, a single drop
being injected under the skin of the neck. The operation in
this direct form is attended with so much fatality that it has
been abandoned even in Russia, where establishments for the
purpose used to exist; but the attenuation of the virus, and the
successful vaccination of animals against the malignant form
of the disease will no doubt be an achievement of the future.
It is one of those matters of such vast importance to
Cape Colony that it is well worth}- of the immediate attention
of the Bacteriolocrical Institute.

DISEASES OF CATTLE.

307

The prophylaxis, viz., to kill all affected animals, and all
those which have been in contact with them, is of the most
simple kind, but far reaching and serious in its consequences,
as has recently been demonstrated when applied to the cattle
of natives, who do not understand or appreciate European
methods of dealing with outbreaks of deadly epizootic diseases.

Head of the True or Mountain Zeura, Equus zebka.
Photographed by the Author on board ship on his return voyage

CHAJ^TER XV.

HORSES AND MULES.

Not Indigenous to South Africa — The Zebra — Horses Imported by
Dutch East India Company— Other Early Importations — English
Thoroughbreds brought by Lord Charles Somerset — South African
Turf Club— Horses Shipped to India— Weedy Thoroughbreds Im-
ported — The Jockey Club of South Africa — Hackneys sent by
Hutcheon and Southey from England — Barber's, Southey's, and
Mellish's Studs — Hackneys — Cleveland Bays — Suffolk Punches —
Typical Stallion — Basuto Ponies— De Beers Company Horse-Breed-
ing Farm — Horse-Sickness Beneficial — Number of Horses ;n the
Colony — Mules and Asses — The Poitou Mule and Jackass — The
Maltese Ass — Horse-Sickness.

The horse is not indigenous to South Africa, the natives
having no knowledge of the existence of such an animal at
the time the Cape was discovered by Europeans. The natural
order Equidx, to which the horse belongs, was nevertheless
well represented by three species of zebra — the ■ " wildc
paard " of the Dutch, the common zebra, Eqitiis zebra ; the
clauw%or Burchell's zebra, E. Inirchelli ; and the quagga, E.
chapinani. The absence of the true horse was most probably
due to the destroying power of horse-sickness, because it is
hardly conceivable that, unless some excluding influence had
existed, the horse would not have found his way from the
northern portion of the continent, where he has existed from
the earliest historical times. Big game occupied the inter-
vening country in vast herds in which horses migrating to the
south could have taken shelter. Another significant fact is
that the zebra, being almost immune from the ravages of
horse-sickness, maintained its position in the Colony in large
numbers.

The date at which the first horses were imported into
Cape Colony is not precisely known, but they were brought
soon after 1650 b}- the Dutch East India Company from Java,

HORSES AND MULES. 309

and belons^ed to the Barb or North African breed, and the
variety of the Arab known as the Gulf Arab. The first speci-
mens had evidently not been of very good quality, and the
numbers were so limited that in-and-in-breeding was followed
with unsatisfactory results in both character and appearance
until a number of Persian Arabs were introduced by the Com-
pany about 1688. This was followed by the importation of
eight stud horses from England in 1792, They were neither
heavy draught horses nor thoroughbreds, but probably
roadsters. Boston at the same time contributed five stud
horses, and the New^ England States of America a number of
horses and mares of Spanish extraction. The blue and red
roans, which are in high favour in the Colony for their power
of endurance, are said to be descended from a shipment of
Spanish breeding horses that were captured in 1807 on board
two French ships bound for Buenos Ayres. These various
animals may be said to have formed the foundation stock
from which the South African horse of the present day has
been bred, and if the unique mixture of blood be considered
for a moment, it need not be wondered at that the progeny
were conspicuously deficient in symmetry and defective in
size and substance. They were, however, strong and hardy,
and possessed of great powers of endurance.

The next great step in the history of the breed was the
introduction by Lord Charles Somerset, soon after his appoint-
ment as Governor in 1813, of a large number of English
thoroughbreds of first-class quality. Other importers fol-
lowed his example, and for thirty years the good work begun
in this direction was carried on, until the Cape possessed a
creditable blood stock which was kept for racing purposes,
and the ordinary Cape horse had been immensely improved in
appearance and in general character by the use of thorough-
bred stallions on the common mares.

The South African Turf Club, formed in 1840, is credited
with exercising a powerful beneficial influence on horse-
breeding, and the period 1840 to i860, but particularly the
latter half of it, may be regarded as the one in which the
Cape horse gained the highest point of his career. During
this time ninety thoroughbred stud horses were imported into
the Western Province. Limited numbers of Cape horses were

310 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

from time to time shipped to India after the improvements
introduced by the Eny;li.sh thoroughbred were recognised,
but the most numerous sliipments were selected by Colonel
Apperly, a special commissioner of the Indian Government,
on the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, 1857. During this
time 5,482 horses and J 08 mules were sent to Bombay and
Calcutta, and the Colony was enriched by the sum of
^215,645. There w^ere constant complaints against the ap-
pearance of the animals and their being undersized, but the
universal consensus of opinion expressed by Indian officers
was that the Cape horse was surpassed by none for endurance
under trying climatic circumstances. Cape horses gave an
equally good account of themselves in the Crimean War, when
several regiments were sent from India a short time before the
Mutiny.

A period of indifference in the matter of horse-breeding
succeeded the period of progression. Merino sheep and
Angora goat farming, and subsequently ostrich farming, ab-
sorbed attention, and were more remunerative than horse-
breeding. At the same time a depraved taste for flashy
weeds seems to have sprung up among those who did continue
to breed horses. Strength of bone and substance were lost
sight of, and unscrupulous speculators were able to introduce
what have been described as the "sweepings of Tattersall's,"
which they picked up at a kw pounds and sold for hundreds.
It has been estimated that of 500 English thoroughbreds im-
ported into South Africa, one-half at least would do infinitely
more harm than good to the colonial breed. While every one
appreciates the influence for good that a powerful, big-boned,
thoroughbred possesses when put to under-bred mares, it is as
freely admitted that there is no way animals of the latter
description can be more quickly or effectually degraded than
by the use of weedy thoroughbred stallions. To attempt to
counteract the weedy tendency a number of Dutch stallions
were brought in, but the result has been far from satisfactory.
For about twenty years the industry of horse-breeding passed
through an epoch of neglect and depression. The Jockey
Club of South Africa, established in 1882, along with the
prosperity of the gold and diamond diggers up-country, has
increased the interest in racing and horse-breeding, and con-

HORSES AND MULES. 311

sequently led to the t^eneral improvement of colonial horses.
It is the universal belief that the Cape horse, thoutjh pos.sessed
of many admirable qualities, is too small — wanting both in
bone and substance. Common horses are also particularly
defective in the fore-legs and shoulders, as well as restricted
in their movements, and the practice of knee haltering or
hobbling them, by tying down the head close to the knee,
so that they can feed but cannot travel far, does not tend to
minimi.se the defects. But this method of fastening is so
simple and so effective and well adapted to colonial conditions,
that there is little chance of any alternative means being
adopted. The Cape Government, in view of the defects men-
tioned, commissioned Dr Hutcheon to go to England in 1889
to send out strong-boned hackney stallions, which, when
used on colonial mares, would throw fillies likely to breed
by strong-boned thoroughbreds the kind of animals wanted.
Twenty-eight entire horses were sent out,* all over 15:2 hands,
and possessed of the requisite strong bone and substance. In
1893 Charles Southey went on a similar mission, and thirteen
hackneys were shipped to the Colony. The average price
paid for each in the two lots was about ^0240, and nearly all
were sold by auction at Port Elizabeth. The first consignment
made an average profit of ;^20 to the Government, but the
second lot came at a time when the demand had slackened,
and a loss of ^^125 each was experienced. The arrival of new
blood gave an impetus to horse-breeding, and the results have
been so far satisfactory. Where the mares showed good
quality, not far removed from blood stock, the results have
been best. The stallions were bought by men living widely
apart, and are now dotted all over the Colony. The fee at
which they usually stand is £2 per mare — not an exorbitant
charge for the use of an animal worth ^^^250. Several other
importers have introduced useful hackneys with satisfactory
results, and the influence for good ought to begin to show
itself on the breeding stock of the country in the immediate
future. No elementary experiments by way of testing the
principles of breeding need to be tried. For example, uni-

* Beatus, a thoroughbred by Ethus out of Gladness, was the only
horse which was not a hackney.

312 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

form results need not be expected if the foals by the hackney
stallion and common country mares are kept and used as
entire horses.

It is as good as a holiday treat to visit and examine such
studs of thoroughbreds as those of Hilton Barber, at
Halesowen, Cradock, and of Charles Southey, at Culmstock,
in the Middelburg district ; but establishments of this kind,
which could compare favourably with similar establishments
in Great Britain, are not for the ordinary farmer, except in so
far as he may now and then go to such a fountain-head for
. blood for the improvement of the breed of his own work-a-
day horses.

More interesting from the farmer's point of view would
be a visit to E. H. F. Mellish's mixed stud of hackney,
Cleveland, and Suffolk punch horses, good typical specimens
of the three breeds, and all suitable, when properly mated
with colonial horses, for raising the size of colonial breeding
mares. The breeds are here mentioned in order of merit, so
far as the general purpose horse is concerned. The high
action of the hackney is objected to by some owing to the
periodical- hard dry condition of colonial roads, but the action
of the colonial horse errs in the other direction, and the use
of the blood stallion on the cross-bred hackney mares will
still further modify the high movement. Though possessed
of good bone and substance, the Cleveland bay horse, mainly
on account of the lowness of his action, but also because
he. is not so nearly related to the thoroughbred, is to our
thinking not quite equal to the hackney for the purpose.
Nevertheless the success which has attended the use of
Cleveland bay stallions in Australia, with a similar object in
view, is sufficient reason for giving them a trial in the Cape.
In the production of heavy draught horses, for work in
towns, the Suffolk punch will no doubt be useful, not only
in breeding pure stock, but also in crossing with large-framed
native mares. To secure the best results in fast work some-
thing more solid and compact in structure is necessary than
the bone of a work or draught horse of any breed.

The type to be sought for is a good-sized, compact, sym-
metrical horse, carrying his height well in the depth-measure-
ment of his body; with good free action, which implies a well

1.^

.m'rm

Y/. :

«i'i

HORSES AND MULES. 313

formed but muscular and substantial shoulder ; with tight,
well shaped legs, with plenty of hard flinty bone, adorned with
large joints, but without other enlargements. In disposition
he must be free from vice and from nervousness, both being
defects which are likely to be transmitted to the progeny, and
to cause inconvenience and anxiety, if not positive danger.
And last but not least in importance, all imported stallions at
least should have a pedigree which will warrant a belief that
they will breed true to type. Individual horses possess greater
potency than others in this respect^but this requires to be
demonstrated by results. No reliance can be placed upon a
mongrel, although it is possible for certain animals of the kind
to "get" excellent stock when they chance to inherit strongly
the prepotent influence of some well-bred ancestor.

Basuto ponies stand about 14 to 14I hands at the withers,
and are extremely hardy, active, and sure-footed. They are
reared in a hilly rugged country which gives them every
opportunity of freely using their feet and limbs from the first.
The small size is partially due to the starvation they suffer at
the end of winter — the latter end of August and September —
when the grass becomes dried up and gets blown away.
Adverse circumstances, if they are not too severe, develop
hardiness in constitution in those which survive, and weed
out the weaklings. How far nature and the care of the
Basuto people combined had succeeded in producing a pony
war-horse capable of great physical endurance and marvellous
feats of activity, the British troops well knew during the last
Basuto War. These excellent ponies are descended from
horses brought from Batavia by the Dutch, in the last century,
and stolen by the Basutos from the Boer farmers. Fresh
blood has been taken into the country from time to time by
the same means. About fifty years ago there was a chief
called Sikonyella, who was famous for his feats of horse-lifting.
Recently the breed has been improved by crossing with
Arab stallions. Young things ready to go to work are
brought into the Colony, and can be bought for about £4
each. When trained and proved, a pony of substantial build
and good looks is worth about i,"i2. In their natural state
they live much with the people, and are extremely gentle,
docile, and easily handled, and being accustomed to native

314 FARMING INDUSTRIES ()V CAl'i; COUJNV.

blankets flopping, are trained ladies' ponies from the first.
The particular upbringing to which they are subjected makes
them more at home in foraging for themselves during the
course of a campaign than horses reared in an ordinary way,
and every now and then an animal performs some actions which
induce one to think that the exceptional reasoning powers of
the Basuto pony are no myth but a reality. If a breed of 16 to
17 hand horses of the same quality as a Basuto pony could be
produced, they would be worth well nigh their weight in gold.
On the De Beers Company stock farm, near Kimberley,
which may be regarded as a good typical example of what
a horse-breeding farm ought to be, a stud of 500 brood
mares has recently been selected by the purchase of suitable
animals from various parts of the Colony. Eight thorough-
bred stallions and a Jack donkey are kept. Forty of the
mares are cross-bred hackneys, and the others, with a few
exceptions, are high grade cross-breds by well-bred stallions.
A good number of the most suitable specimens for the pur-
pose of breeding Indian remounts — the object which the
Company has in view — stand 15:3 and 16 hands, and many
have strong serviceable bone. Those which are under size for
the special purpose in view are put to the Jack to breed
mules. The brood mares begin to drop their foals in Sep-
tember, and every precaution is taken to prevent the- loss of
condition, either from exposure to cold winds or from de-
ficiency of food during winter. The natural grass, mostly of
the strong-growing species known as '' rooi-gra.s" A 71 t/n'stiria
ciliata, Retz. (which grows so freely on the red sand of the
district that it is not well adapted for sheep), is cut for hay,
and as much as 30 acres of veld are allowed for grazing each
animal throughout the year. The land is being fenced off
into camps large enough to accommodate eighty mares,
the number allotted to each stallion. Pure water is being
supplied from wells which are made 50 to 60 feet deep, at an
initial outlay of 15s. per foot for sinking and facing with stone.
Much natural shelter is to be found in the thick bush, but in
those parts of the Colony which lie exposed and are void of
trees, artificial shelters in the form of inexpensive iron-roofed
open sheds, stone or " mist " walls (see page 482), and hedges
of American aloe must be provided.

HORSES AND MULKS. 315

The precaution of fumigating all the animals twice each
month is taken during the horse-sickness period, by burning-
fires of horse dung in a small kraal, and throwing tar and
sulphur on as it smoulders. This is directed not only against
the disease, but also against skin parasites. For the latter
purpose, no doubt, the practice is a good one, but when an
epizootic attack of horse-sickness appears it will be necessary
to confine the animals under co\er of a close house, or to
adopt the arsenic treatment, or, let us hope, the anti-toxine
method of prevention, shortly to be issued from the Bac-
teriological Institute.

In the dry spring, for two months, from the latter part of
August till into October, each horse camp has a heap, con-
sisting of 10 bags salt, 10 bags wood ashes from the kitchen,
and 10 lbs. of sulphur, with water thrown over to induce a
crusty condition, made for the horses to lick. This serves
the double purpose of preventing disease and of encouraging
the development of a glossy condition of coat.

When the De Beers stud is got into good working order,
as will probably be accomplished within a year or two, the
class of animal bred should be too good to dispose of to the
Indian Government, including expenses of delivery, at ;^40
each for four-year-olds. De Beers Company ought to hold
an annual sale of colts rising two years old. Many should
be fit to use as stallions on common stock, and would no
doubt average at least £T)0, and thus pay better than keeping
them till they are twice the age for an additional i^io. This
would enable the Company to keep a larger number of mares,
and to confer a considerable benefit on the Colony by distri-
buting annually a number of well-bred animals. The ulti-
mate aim would of course be the Indian trade, but the first
claim upon enterprising breeders is the improvement by every
possible means of the breeding stock of the Colony.

There are so many inferior and worthless animals about
that it has been claimed for horse-sickness that it is a
blessing in disguise for the purpose of clearing them off.
Another benefit accredited to this disease is the destruction
of Kaffir horses, which have become so numerous in some
parts that the idle Kaffirs cantering about on horseback have
become a public nuisance. The last available returns of

3i6

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the numbers of horses in the Colony show that the loss
sustained by the last great outbreak of horse-sickness in
1891-92 has not yet been made up, and that the Colony is
now about 100,000 horses short of the numbers that were
recorded during the census in 1891.

Year.

Horses.

Mules.

Asses.

1891 Census .

354,133

50,634

45,267

1892-93, Estimated .

267,738

49,9 '5

39,642

1893-94, Do.

252,508

52,598

42,175

1894-95, I^o-

254,198

53,508

48,235

Mules and asses are used to a considerable extent for
transport purposes in the drier parts of the Colony — the
Western Karoo country — and much of the ploughing and
farm work in the Western Province is done by mules in place
of oxen. In some of the free-working soils it is not an
uncommon sight to see, attended by two Cape boys, four
stout active mules, worth £1^ each, clothed in the common
white " brayed " leather harness of the country, at work in
one of Ransome's wooden - beamed wheel ploughs, and
turning over about two acres a day, in a rough and ready
but on the whole a serviceable fashion. In the " Ruggens,"
again, eight or ten horses or mules may be found yoked
together, and not going deeper than three or four inches,
or turning over much more than half the above amount.
Mules are much used up-country for coaching work, on
account of their staying power and their ability to accom-
plish better results on inferior food than horses, but they
require a lot of driving, and they are obstinate and tricky
at outspanning. Probably the latter defect arises from a
want of care in breaking, as neither mules nor asses get at
that time, as a rule, as much attention as horses. The mule
is more delicate when quite young than the pure-bred off-
spring of either the horse or the ass, and it takes longer to
come to maturity. It is, however, healthy and less liable to
equine disorders after it grows up. It unfortunately suffers

'M^^'^^^Al^^M^

HORSES AND MULES. 317

quite as readily as the horse from horse-sickness, and is
credited with succumbing even more rapidly than the horse
after the active stage of the malady is reached. Condition
powders, containing a good proportion of sulphur, given twice
a week, have been known or believed to prevent the disease.
Donkeys are generally thought to possess immunity from its
attack, but probably, like the zebra, it is only less liable to
the most serious consequences of the disease than the other
members of the family group. A young three-year-old mule
of good substance and 13 hands high will readily sell for ;^20
in most parts of the Colony, and animals a shade larger often
run up to £t,o each. One method of improvement in mule
breeding would be the importation of large Spanish or United
States Jack donkeys, animals about 13:3, and costing say
^120 in America. The De Beers jackass was nearly this
height and of a favourite colour, viz., dark hair over the body,
light-grey about the mouth and belly, tan round the eyes,
above the muzzle, and on the ears. ^^25 each had been
offered for all the "he" progeny of this Jack on selected ass
mares.

No imported stock could endure the starvation which
native stock do endure, and consequently it should always be
borne in mind that even imported donkeys and their de-
scendants will require better food and greater care than the
patient, long-suffering common small donkey, which strongly
corresponds to its Irish prototype. As many as twenty or
more of these slow but sure creatures may regularl)' be seen
quietly wending their way with a waggon in the dry Karoo
districts. The donkey has been aptly termed 'the most
economical motor force in the Colony."

A recent case of a mule stallion breeding with a mare
was reported in the Free State on what was declared to be
reliable authority, but, although this is admitted as possible
by the scientific world, minute inquiry and satisfactory
evidence must be adduced before the circumstances can be
accepted as beyond a doubt.*

C. L. Sutherland, of Coombe, Surrey, one of the first
authorities on mule-breeding in England, fully describes the

* The Agricultural Journal^ Cape Town, for 1894, vol. vii., page 205,
makes reference to various instances of fertility in mules.

3l8 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPF: COLONY.

Poitou mule, used in France for heavy farm work, in a report
submitted to the Richmond Commission on Agriculture. He
points out that, being bred from strong-boned farm horses by
the large Poitevin jackass, they arc often as large as farm
horses, 15 to 16:2 hands, big-jointed and short-legged, with
plenty of bone below the knee, and large rounded feet, more
like those of the horse than the contracted feet of the ass. In
most of their prominent features they strongly resemble the
paternal parent, the heaviest and strongest, but also the least
symmetrical of the various asses. The price of one of the
improved kind when quite young ranges from ;^8o to i^i20,
and if of good size and a proved foal-getter, up to ^200 and
£2,20. The measurements of a good specimen are given as
follows : — " Height, 14:1 hands; forearm, 19J inches ; knee, 15
inches ; below knee, 8| inches ; hock, 17J inches ; below hock,
12 inches; greatest girth, yy inches; girth behind shoulder,
66 inches ; length of head, 25 inches ; length of ear, 15 inches ;
ears, tip to tip across, 32 inches." The Poitou breeders do not
care for greys, but select black or brown-bay donkey-stallions
with white bellies. The tip of the nose is greyish-white, and
covered with a fine down. If Cape farmers would go in for
breeding from these animals, mating them with the largest in
place of the smallest boned mares, they would secure mules
worth .;^50 or £60 each when ready to go to work at three
years old. The size would not be so large as the biggest
Poitou specimens, but this would be all the better for Cape
Colony. Although it is generally admitted that both horses
and mules are at present too small, it would be a great mistake
in such a climate to attempt to breed the largest animals for
general use. What is wanted is an animal with good strength
and substance, but in dimensions not too large. For a lighter
class of work on the road, in which the pace is quicker, the
Maltese ass might be used to cross with well-bred mares.
This variety has given excellent results in crossing with
thoroughbred mares in the East and in the West Indies. A
pure Maltese ass has a black body, neck, and legs, and white
or light-grey under the belly and inside the legs. His head
is light, his ears full of motion, and his eyes and muzzle
fringed with tan and white. The height is about 13:2, and
the girth 5 feet 3 inches.

/^^B^^^mm^^

/|h

IW^Bn^^H

l^jPS

\i\mfM\ iiiiiii

«M^^P^ ^' 'mS^H

f If ' 1

i . '

Is*""*

Plate 6oA. — Maltese Jack Donkey, 14 Hands, i Inch.

Plate 6ob. — Poitou Mule, 17 Hands. /"ncf/rt^^ 319.

riORSKS AND MULES. 319

There is little doubt but that mule-breeding, as well as
horse - breeding, if conducted on scientific principles and
managed skilfully, has a great future before it in South Africa,
the animals bred being not only for use in the Colony and up-
country, but for export to India and to various other parts of
the world for army purposes. Should a war break out any-
where, the Cape ought to be ready to meet the demand in all
branches of the service, and reap a full share of the abundant
harvests which occur at such times.

Horse -sickness or " paard-ziekte," CEdevia mycosis, is
a deadly epizootic disease which has been known in Cape
Colony since 17 19. It is annually in evidence in some places,
and every now and then it breaks out extensively and sweeps
the Colony. Seven serious epizootic outbreaks have occurred
in South Africa — Cape Colony, or the Free State, or Natal —
since the first historical one in 1763. On one occasion 70,000
horses and mules, worth ^^525,000, died. In the last great
outbreak, that of 1891-92, the casualties among horses and
mules numbered 14,128. The disease is by no means confined
to Cape Colony and the adjoining territories, but it extends into
the Transvaal, and a considerable amount of evidence is forth-
coming to show that it exists in Central Africa, both to the
north and to the south of the Equator. Summer is the season
in which horse-sickness is most prevalent, from January till
early May in a great many places, but it sometimes arrives in
November or December. It acquires its full force about the
beginning of February, and disappears for the season on the
advent of frosty weather. Heavy rain has also been known to
check it. Low-lying districts are most subject to it, but even
on high veld, which is generally so free from' the disease that
horses are sent -during the dangerous months from the low
country for safety, if a kloof or valley exists, and the animals
are permitted to enter it, the disease may appear even thousands
of feet above the sea.

A Government inquiry was made in 1854-55 i'^to the
nature of the disease. It was then shown not to be contagious ;
that horses exposed to the night air, especially if a mist rose
from the ground, were most subject to it ; that horses stabled
at sunset and kept in till the dew lifted next morning were
comparatively safe, and so were horses shu-t up at night in

320 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

small cattle kraals, with manure sexeral feet deep to act as an
artificial warmer, on the principle of the garden hot-bed.- It
has been reserved to Dr Edington, Director of the recently
established Bacteriological Institute,* to carry forward on
scientific lines the in\estigation into the nature of the disease,
x^s far back as 1886, in instructions given to a veterinary
expert sent by the British Government to study an outbreak
in Natal, it is declared that the disease must be due to a micro-
organism. This organism has been distinguished and separated
from a host of nameless organisms present in horse-sick blood.
It is, according to Dr Edington, "one of the filamentous fungi,
which, under suitable conditions of heat and moisture, grows
ia the veld, but whether in water, in the soil itself, or as a
parasite, must be left for future obserxation to ascertain."
The vegetative spores of this fungus are larger than micro-
cocci, and under the microscope appear oval in shape and
flattened or slightly concave at the ends — like so many little

.Mick'i)-()i«;anism cii' Hiii;sk-Sici-:ness.

After Dr Ediiigton.

barrels. When stained, a solid dark nucleus leaves a trans-
parent space at each end and along each side. They are
invariably present in the blood during the latter part of the
time a horse suffers, and can be readily distinguished under
the microscope. The mycelium on which they had grown can
also be seen after a careful search, and Dr Edington believes
he has found the resting spores, the presence of which accounts
for the unique fact that " horse-sick blood kept fluid and mixed
with pure carbolic acid to the strength of 3 per cent., has
proved to be virulent to healthy horses even after being kept
for nine months." The same high authority finishes an inter-
esting chapter on " Post-mortem Examinations," in his Report
for 1 894, by sa)'ing, " The one chief feature of horse-sickness
is the remarkable exudation into subcutaneous and subserous
tissues."

* See his Report for 1894, to wliicli imlcbtedness is freely acknow-
ledged by the author.

HORSES AND MULES. 32 1

There are at least two varieties of the disease, (i.) The
paard-ziekte, the common form in which the lungs are most
seriously affected, a circumstance which is regarded as an in-
dication that the disease has been contracted through germs
inhaled in breathing. (2.) The dikkop, in which swelling
of the subcutaneous tissue of the head and neck forms
the most prominent symptom, the swelling being at times
confined to the tongue, and giving rise to the variety known
as blue-tongue or " blaauwtong." In both forms the period
of incubation, the time elapsing between the reception of the
organisms in the system and the first sudden rise of tempera-
ture, is about eight days ; but while the former usually
terminates fatally in about twelve days from the onset of
the initial rigor, death in the latter is generally delayed for a
few days longer. In the common form of the disease the end
comes very rapidly. The animal is suffocated or drowned by
an exudation of blood serum into the air passages, these
becoming gorged with a dense white froth, which docs not
collapse on a portion being blown from the mouth and
nostrils in the death struggle. The lungs appear solid,
gorged with the exudation, and the edges are streaked by
clear lines.

In all forms of the disease a considerable quantity of
serum is found in the pericardial sac or envelope which
surrounds the heart, in the pleural cavity, and in the sub-
cutaneous tissue of the neck, and at times in the abdominal
cavity and other parts of the body which lend themselves
to the collection of the serous fluid escaping through the
tissues. The action is practically equivalent to that of a filter,
and, as one would naturally expect, few, and in some instances
no barrel-like vegetative spores can be found, owing to their
having been kept back by the tissue which admitted of the
escape of the serum. This accounts for the uncertainty
attached to inoculation with any other fluid found in the
system, except with the blood in which the organisms live
and reproduce their kind.

By venous inoculation both forms of the disease, in no
way differing from those spontaneously acquired, can be in-
duced in healthy horses. Another form locally situated in
the abdomen has been produced by ingestion, and it would

322 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAI'K COLONY.

appear from an ingestion experiment on sheep that they may
also contract the disease in Hke manner, but this trial demands
repetition and confirmation, as the results are contrary to the
generally accepted fact that no animal outside the family
Eqiiidce is liable to suffer from the disease. From the Report
of the Director of the Colonial Bacteriological Institute for
1894, it appears that his hope of a remedy against the disease
lies in the direction of the comparatively recent advances of
proph\'lactic medicine in which an anti-toxin is used to
combat the toxin, which is a poison in the system developed
by the disease germs. Twenty horses salted by this means
have recently been sent up to Matabeleland to test the sound-
ness of the theory. Repeated failures to cultivate an anti-
toxin by aid of the horse-sickness fungus make it necessary
to try as a remedy anti-toxin produced through the attenua-
tion of some other virus, such as that of diphtheria.

Marked success has attended preventive treatment by the
daily administration of small doses of arsenic and sulphur.*
The practice may be carried on during the whole period of
danger without injuriously affecting the animal's health. The
great drawback to this remedy is the difficulty of getting the
operation of administering the dose carried out regularly, so
that the action may be steadily maintained in the system.
Otherwise satisfactory results cannot be attained. Large doses
of alcohol (Cape brandy) are reported to have proved bene-
ficial in Natal, and Dr Hutcheon recommends (pending the
publication of the expected results from the Bacteriological
Institute) the use of common salt, and Glauber or Epsom
salts, or even of copious bleeding early in the acute stage of
the disease, also carbonate of ammonia and oil of turpentine
to replace a portion of the alcoholic stimulant.

Cures are claimed for the treatment of keeping the animal
warm, and giving a teaspoonful of tartar-emetic every hour
during the critical stage. A salted horse is spiritless, and
looks unthrifty in the coat, and thick about the neck and
head. Although this confers immunity from the disease so
far as the district in question is concerned, if a horse be
removed to another district he is liable to suffer.

* Four to five grains of arsenic and a teaspoonful of flowers of
sulphur.

CHAPTER XVI.
GOATS AND GOAT FARMING.

The Boer Goat — Habits of the Coat — Goat Flesh — The Angora Goat —
DifficuUies of Goat Farming — Contagious Lung Disease — Trade
Position of Mohair — Influence of Fashion on Prices — Prospects of the
Mohair Industry.

The Boer goat, which is termed the native goat to
distinguish it from the recently imported Angora, is a strong,
coarse, hardy, energetic animal, strongly resembling the
English goat. So tractable is it that it is sometimes yoked
into a light garden wheel-hoe and made to work like an
ox. A common colour of its hair is black and white, but
black, brown, and mixtures of these colours, also grey of
different shades, and e\'en pure white, are well in evidence.
A few are hornless, but as a rule dark-coloured horns are
well developed, and rise antelope fashion from the crest of
the frontal bone. Goats are herded in flocks by themselves,
or run with sheep to act as leaders, which, in trekking from
place to place or even moving over the veld in search of
food, they do in an independent and even majestic fashion.
In driving a mixed flock into kraal, the native boldness of
the goat acts like a charm in overcoming the natural timidity
of the sheep. No one can for a moment doubt that the goat
is the more intelligent of the two animals, and that the goat
will liv^e and even thrive under conditions not favourable to
sheep. A natural habit of the goat is to climb, and in mixed
grass and bush veld this gives the goat an immense advantage
over animals like the sheep, which crop only the growth close
to the ground. A goat, by standing on its hind legs and
supporting itself by resting its fore-feet on the branches,
can immensely extend its food supply, and bring within its
reach the leaves of trees, which are of special ^•alue in times of
drought. The restless and enterprising habit of the goat

324 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

is liable to lead to injury to the feeding power of the veld.
It is generally acknowledged that goats are more destructive
than sheep to the best varieties of bushes and other food
plants, and that if a full stock of goats is regularly kept, year
after year, on a certain area, it will degenerate in feeding
capacity. The changing of varieties of stock in succeeding
years, or the running of mixed stock together, which is
discussed in another place, is indispensable in successful goat
farming. The excessive energy of the goat is liable, under
South African conditions, to lead to injury to the veld in yet
another direction. Goats not only travel more than sheep,
but they more frequently walk one after the other when in
search of food. In so doing they trample the surface into
tracks, which readily deepen into sluits by the action of the
rain-water from heavy thunder-showers. These tend to lower
the quality of the vegetation by running off the natural water
supply which ought to sink into the ground. Moreover, there
is the uneven surface left, and the loss sustained by the
washing away of soil.

The flesh of the goat, after cooking, is not readily
distinguishable from the thin dark-coloured mutton derived
from Merino sheep, and consequently much of it is consumed
as mutton. In many districts it forms the chief meat supply
for the general purposes of the farm.

The Angora goat was first imported about 1840 from the
village of Angora, in Asia Minor, situated in a mountainous
district 220 miles east-south-east of Constantinople, by Colonel
Henderson, an Indian officer. He put an Angora ram to
pure white "blink-haar" Boer goat ewes, and the female
progeny were as they came forward crossed by the father
ram as long as he lived. At a later date several importers
brought in large numbers of pure Angora goats, which, by
crossing, established many of the flocks in the Eastern Pro-
vince, the original centre being Caledon in the west. The
last and perhaps the finest of the early imported Turkish
Angoras were secured in 1880 by J. B. Evans. When
selecting and purchasing the finest specimens of the breed,
he spent about six months travelling through the country on
horseback, in company with the British Consul in Angora — a
Scotsman, and agent to Thomas Crabtree, the oldest mohair

GOATS AND GOAT FARMING. 325

merchant and importer in Bradford. So highly were the
goats prized by the people of the country that they parted
with them as reluctantly as if they had been their own children.
The goats were sold soon after their arrival at Port Elizabeth
at from i^ioo up to ^400 each.

The exportation of Angora goats from Turkey was soon
afterwards prohibited for a time, but in the end of 1894 the
Prime Minister (the Right Hon. Cecil Rhodes) personally
conducted negotiations with the powers at Constantinople,
which resulted in a relaxation of the prohibition, and in the
appointment by the Cape Government, on his return to the
Colony, of two experts to select and purchase a number of
very superior animals. Some thoughtful men disapproved of
the new departure, mainly owing to the risk of re-importing
the deadly lung disease, which had before so nearly wrecked
the goat industry of the Colony, and because, they argued, the
large number of first-rate animals already in the country made
it unnecessary to import fresh blood, and questionable whether
new blood would improve the standard of quality. A ship-
ment of about 200 goats was accordingly landed early in
December 1895, and placed in quarantine until 5th February
1896, when 150 of them, belonging to the Mosenthals, mer-
chants of Port Elizabeth, were sold by auction at prices ranging
from £6 up to i^330, or an average of ^50 each.

It is freely admitted that there is only a limited number
of pure-bred goats amongst the best Angora flocks of the
Colony, though the repeated use of pure-bred bucks has to all
intents and purposes established what is practically equivalent
to pure blood. Between the finest of these high-grade Angoras
and the Boer goat there are numberless varieties showing
different degrees of impurity, and producing mohair of various
grades of quality between the hair of the common goat and
the lustrous, silky product of the Angora.* The great de-
sideratum in the matter of eliminating impure blood as much
as possible is a strong Angora Goat Society for the whole
Colony, with a well-managed flock-book, and progress in this
direction is already under way.

Bastard goats are liable to retain the natural tendency to

* See page 353 for table giving numbers of goats in the Colony.

326 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

periodically shed the hair, which is a characteristic of the
Boer goats, so that the excuse for the adoption of the objec-
tionable practice of shearing twice a year is the preservation
of mohair which would drop off and be lost. The repeated
use of good rams in the flock will gradually modify this
tendency, and permit of the operation of shearing being
carried out at the best season, as a rule June or July. The
second shearing is generally accomplished in October or
November, when the hair has had only four months to grow.
The second clip is consequently short in the staple, and worth
little more than half the value of the first clip. It suits a
certain branch of the Bradford trade, and it is nearly all used
up in that district. To secure the full market prices there
should be but one shearing in the year, and not only should
the mohair be baled in a clean condition, but the rams, ewes,
kids, and " kapaters " or wethers should be shorn separately,
and the hair, after being sorted on the spot into at least four
different qualities, also packed separately. Goats in ordinary
flocks clip 2i lbs. to 3 lbs. each on an average, but a good stud
flock of ewes should yield 5 lbs. to 6 lbs. each, and rams more
than double this weight. Certain varieties of goats, like
different varieties of Merino sheep, produce more yolk than
others, giving origin to a classification of oily and non-oily
goats. A ram of the first class will at a year old sometimes
clip 16 lbs. of hair, while the yield from the other may not
exceed 8 lbs. to 10 lbs. The oily goat is a larger and more
vigorous animal than its rival, but shows less quality, and is
liable to become coarse as it grows old, and to lose its hair on
the under surfaces of the body.

A well-bred Angora should be closely covered on all parts
of its symmetrical, rounded, substantial, and well-balanced body,
with single locks or ringlets of long, white, wavy, silky, and
lustrous hair. It must be free from kemp, an indication of the
Boer goat relationship, and as far as possible of fine quality
throughout, although it need not be expected that the hair of
the breeches, which naturally tends to coarseness, will be as
fine as that growing from the neck and shoulder, or as short
and soft as that grown on the belly and between the thighs.
In addition to the long valuable hair, there is an inferior under-
coat of fine hair, like the second coat of a collie dog, which is

/F. /\(7i\ f.iraaff Reiiict. Plate 63A. — Axgora Goat, Young Ewe.

Plate 6311. — Angoka Goats, Young Rams, Property of Dr S.martt, Britstown. /'.iti /■!.

GOATS AND GOAT FARMING. 327

removed as " noils " in the process of manufacture. Mohair*
of good growth may naturally vary on the same animal from
9 inches in its longest parts to 6 inches and less. A fleece
hanging from the side of the animal ready for shearing should
fill the hand when grasped, and feel dense but soft and downy
to touch ; and as the goat stands its coat should appear to
touch the ground. Indications of good breeding are exhibited
in a neat, well-proportioned head, a broad forehead, with pro-
minent eyes, and a narrow and finely cut nose. The ears are
broad, thin, flat, and pendent, their outside surface along with
the face and legs covered with fine silky white hair. The
flattish horns should be light in colour, much larger in the
case of the ram than in that of the ewe, becoming twisted and
spreading outwards with an inclination backwards. Thick,
erect, dark horns indicate an excess of Boer goat blood.

In the case of any marked departure from the tcue
Angora type, either in colour or in symmetry, it is best not
only to remove the kid but also the mother from the stud
flock. The Angora is among goats a delicate animal, liable
to suffer from pulmonary weakness when exposed to cold and
wet, and particularly so if kept on low-lying ground. The
high and dry altitudes of Cape Colony (exclusive of bleak
mountains) seem admirably suited not only to the health
requirements of the goat, but to the production of the finer
qualities of mohair. So great and so rapid has been the suc-
cess of the goat industry that it is a question whether, after a
little more care has been devoted to breeding from the best
stock. Cape Colony will not, as regards quality as well as
quantity, become the most important centre of mohair pro-
duction in the world.

" Cape mohair has not yet reached the perfection of
Turkish grown mohair, neither being so bright, nor having
the spinning property to make it of equal value by 2d. to 3d.
per lb." This statement, which is made on the highest British
authority already alluded to, ought to be a beacon to guide the
South African farmer in the course of his attempt at improve-
ment. Bright lustre and fine silky quality of hair are the
main objects to strive after, and this can be ultimately attained

* The name given to the hair of the Angora goat.

328 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

in the climate of Cape Colony by breeding from the best rams
that can be found in the Colony, and from importations from
time to time of the finest blood from Bei Basar — the best
district in Turkey for growing the most valuable mohair.
Ample precautions must, of course, be taken by lengthened
quarantine against the introduction of disease, and it should
be made clear to importers that no cross-bred or inferior stock
can receive a first-class certificate as breeding animals from
the Government inspector. If goats were subject to inspection,
and liable to be branded first, second, or third class, according
to quality, attempts to introduce inferior blood, with the object
of making an unfair profit from unsuspecting purchasers,
would not occur. It might be argued that such a regulation
is unnecessary, because the farmers are quite able to protect
their own interests, as was demonstrated in the case of a ship-
ment of Angora bucks brought from California last year.
The importer lost heavily, as the animals, not being good
enough for breeding purposes, were sold at butchers' prices.
This safeguard may be all very well in the case of distinctly
inferior specimens, but good-looking goats of impure blood
might be introduced which farmers might buy, and most
likely seriously injure a good flock by using them. The safe-
guard of Government inspection would come in usefully in
such an instance. The industry is now such an important one
that it warrants special attention.

It was not till 1862 that mohair was returned separately
in the exports, when it weighed 1,036 lbs.

In 1878 it weighed 1,300,585 lbs., value ^^105,3 13.

„ 1885 „ 5,251,301 lbs., „ i;204,oi8.

„ 1895 „ 11,090,449 lbs., „ ^^710,867.

Though the returns from goats are good, and particularly
so after the smart rise of 40 per cent, in the value of mohair
which occurred in 1895, the life of the goat farmer is not
always a happy one, as goats are altogether more difficult to
manage than sheep in a healthy district. There is trouble
from abortion, which ought, although the immediate cause
may have been an accident or injury, to be treated as a catch-
ing or contagious disease, affected animals being separated
without delay. The tendency to this and to pulmonary
weakness, and also the difficulty experienced in getting

GOATS AND GOAT FARMING. 329

female Angoras to recognise and care for their kids when
young, may possibly be due to some extent at least to the
in-and-in-breeding" to which they have been subjected.

During the period of kidding the practice is to examine
the flock carefully every morning before leaving the kraal, and
all ewes that show signs of approaching parturition are kept
back. This is necessary in order to reduce the number of
kids that are dropped on the veld as much as possible, because
after a kid has been carried home on the back of the Kaffir
herd, the mother very frequently refuses to take it, and may
require to be tied up for two or more days before she will
permit it to suck. In order further to obviate the difficulties
arising from this tendency to desertion, each kid and its
mother are marked with a distinguishing mark, so that they
may be readily brought together. The kids are not allowed
to run with their mothers on the veld, but are kept in the
kraal during the day, until they are old enough to feed in the
open, when they are herded by themselves near the homestead.
Kids begin to appear early in August, and they are castrated
when about eight days old, and weaned at the age of six
months.

The scab insect which infests the Angora goat belongs
to the symbiotic group, and differs from the scab insect of
the sheep and that of the Boer goat, as may be seen by
referring to page 370. Scab or brandziekte of the Angora
goat is not nearly so difficult to cure as that of the Boer goat,
neither does it spread so rapidly as that of the sheep. The
most deadly scourge to which Angoras are liable is a con-
tagious lung disease, which happily does not now exist in
the Colony. It was introduced in 1880 in one of the last
flocks of goats imported, and broke out early in 1881, but
was stamped out before gaining a permanent footing by the
energetic means employed by Dr Hutcheon, the Colonial
Veterinary Surgeon. The disease is as deadly as pleuro-
pneumonia in cattle, and is more rapid in its progress.
Nodules appear in the parenchyma of the lung, and extend
in a spherical manner until the surrounding parts become
involved, and the naturally light and cellular lung substance
assumes the solid consistency and dark colour of liver. In-
oculation with the clear lymph which exudes from a diseased

330 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

lung was proved by experiment to be satisfactory as a pre-
ventive, and 44,000 goats were inoculated within a few months.
In October authority was given by Government to supplement
inoculation by slaughter where necessary — compensation to
the extent of about los. each, or two-thirds of the value, being
paid to the owners. A number of flocks which had not been
inoculated were slaughtered outright, and individual members
of inoculated flocks not having secured immunity from the
disease were also killed. A second outbreak occurred a few
months later, and 20,000 animals were re-inoculated, but
eventually the disease was eradicated ; and belonging to that
class technically termed " specific," the disease cannot reappear
unless..brought to the country by a goat suffering from it.

Mohair is now used in the manufacture of a great variety
of articles, the chief being women's dress goods, mantles, &c.
It is also employed in producing plush for the furnishing
trade ; material for the upholstering of railway carriages ;
braids for military trimmings and for ordinary wear; astra-
chan cloths for jackets, dresses, caps, and muffs ; imitation
furs of various sorts ; carriage rugs and boot and shoe laces.
The cause of the recent great demand and rise in price has
been the changing of fashion in ladies' dress. Fine dull
goods made from soft wool are no longer in fashion, and
mohair being the article next to silk in brightness of lustre,
and less costly by far, a great demand has resulted. The
increased prosperity of the Angora goat farmer does not
rest on any very stable or reliable basis, as fashion is well
known to be as fickle as fortune, but he can do something to
encourage its stability by improving the quality of the hair,
and thereby offering a more attractive article. Another
point in his favour is that female fancy is decidedly more
inclined to the bright than to the dull when both experiences
are familiar. The chances are, now that mohair has at last
gained its due position in ladies' favour, it will continue for
a lengthened period not only to maintain but to strengthen
and extend that position.

CHAPTER XVII.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING.

Fat-tailed Sheep — Beginning of Merino Sheep Farming — Characteristic
Points of the Merino — Varieties of the Merino Breed — Unsatisfactory
State of Sheep Farming — Kraahng Sheep at Night — Fencing —
Predatory Animals — Jackals — Main Features of Sheep Farming —
Shearing — Ground Plan of Wool Shed — Dipping — Lambing —
Castration — Branding and Marking — Sheep Folds — Old System of
Management — Numbers of Sheep and Goats — Turnips Grown for
Sheep in New England — Value of Ensilage — Mutton-Producing
Sheep — The Cheviot Breed.

The sheep which the European discoverers of Cape Colony
found in the possession of the natives was the parti-coloured,
hairy, lop-eared, fat-tailed sheep, which strongly resembles a
well-known Persian variety. The broad, flat tail usually weighs
from 6 lbs. to 15 lbs.,* and consists mostly of a soft, sweet fat,
used in out-of-the-way places and during times of drought as a
substitute for butter. Although leggy when alive, and yield-
ing but a light carcase when dressed, the native sheep is in
high favour with the butcher, who will buy a mixed flock of
Cape sheep (or their crosses, which are still more numerous
than pure-breds) and Merinos when he would not look at a
flock of the latter by themselves. Hairy sheep are better
adapted than Merinos to very light Karoo pasture, where
stock have to travel over large areas to obtain sufficient food.
Some farmers prefer them on account of their comparative
freedom from scab, and in districts in which " steek-grass " is
abundant. The spicules which by working into the wool of
fleeced sheep produce so much irritation do not readily adhere
to the hair.

In laying the foundation of many of the existing flocks of
wool-producing sheep in the Colony, selected white-haired
ewes were crossed about the year 1793 by imported Spanish

* Some tails weigh 20 lbs., and a few as much as 30 lbs. each.

332

FARMING INDUSTKIP:S OF CAPE COLONY.

Merino rams, some being from the Royal Flock of George III.,
and the female progeny again with pure-bred Merinos, until
the Merino characteristics became tolerably well fixed. About
this time Colonel Gordon, an officer in the Dutch East India
Company's service, imported a number of ewes as well as
rams — also of Spanish blood — and it was from this flock that
twenty-nine sheep were taken in 1797 to establish the fine-
woolled Merino of New South Wales.

Curious cases of atavism, or reversion to the Cape sheep
ancestor, occur at times among animals which possess what
appear to be pure Merino characteristics. As an example
of such a case, a photograph (here reproduced) was taken of

A Lamb of a Merino Ewe, showing marked indications of reversion to a
hairy-sheep ancestor.

a lamb a month old, at Spitzkop, Barkly West, which was
thought by the natives to have been sired by a steenbok.
The form of the body, the slender legs and very small feet,
the shape of the head, and particularly the prominence and
brightness of the eyes, together with the bare coat of a russet
brown colour, were all pointed to as strong evidence in favour
of the theory. Besides all these undoubted peculiarities and
differences from all other lambs in the flock, it was wild and
decidedly more active than they were, and jumped about in
the kraal very much like a buck.

Merino sheep farming extended slowly in the Western
districts from 18 12 to 1830, but it developed rapidly and
became general throughout the Colony after the Boers, dis-

Mse 333-

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING. 333

fisted with British law and British interference, began to
trek north on the abohtion of slavery in 1834. The very
moderate share of compensation for the loss of their property,
amounting to about two-fifths of the appraised value of the
slaves, was to be paid in stock after each claim had been
proved before commissioners in London. These illiterate
people could not comprehend the meaning of this treatment,
or estimate the value of the proposal in money, and numerous
petty agents coming round relieved them for an old song of
their rights to compensation. This and the decision of the
British Government in the end of 1835, during the sixth
Kaffir War, to give back to the natives much of the land fought
for and won by the Boers after all the losses in men and
means which the Boer population had sustained, practically
left the latter no alternative but that of flight from the sphere
of British influence at whatever sacrifice. Many sold their
farms for a span of bullocks or a pair of " veldschoons " (home-
made shoes of untanned leather), and departed. As British
farmers came in, chiefly in the Eastern Province, Merino
sheep spread and increased rapidly.

The change of fashion in woollen fabrics has from time to
time during the last hundred years led to the introduction of
rams of different strains of Merino blood possessing different
degrees of fineness or quality of wool. At one time the large
and somewhat coarse Rambouillet or French Merino was the
favourite ; but the closely-bred and dense-coated Vermont or
American sheep, the fine-woolled Saxon or German variety,
the hardy and active Negretti, and also the Australian and
close-woolled Tasmanian, have each had their share of atten-
tion. Probably the last are the best suited to the present
requirements of the Colony.

The following description of the characteristic points of
the Merino breed, and the distinctions noticeable between its
well-marked varieties, is extracted from the author's work on
" The Agriculture and Rural Economy of Australia and New
Zealand." *

The Merino is white in hair, hoof, horn, and wool ; the bare portion
of the muzzle is of an orange-fleshy colour (white being objectionable) ;
the eyes are light-grey ; the horns in the male well developed, spirally

* Published by Sampson Low, Marston, & Co., London.

334 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

coiled inwards, and not placed too wide nor yet close enough to touch the
cheek. In the case of ewes the great majority are without horns : when
horns do appear they are comparatively insignificant.

To the touch, the back is thin-fleshed, and slightly elevated at the
withers ; the back-bone is rather sharp. The skin of some breeds,
notably the German and the Vermont, is more or less full and wrinkled,
more particularly about the neck, but the great majority of the Cape and
Australian Merinos are plain-skinned, with the exception perhaps of a
few wrinkles at the neck. The looseness of skin and the folds were
objected to by the shearers, who were greatly retarded in their work
owing to the care it was necessary to exercise to prevent cutting the skin ;
but in these days of shearing by machinery, wrinkles do not offer such
an impediment or source of danger.

Irrespective of the difficulty of shearing, wrinkles are not liked except
as an indication of purity of breed. If it were not the case that the
Australasian progeny of Vermont and other wrinkled sheep lose the
wrinkles, the infusion of fresh blood of this kind would be in less favour.
There is a tendency to the production of coarse wool-fibre, especially on
the crowns of the wrinkles when these are large and numerous. Wool
should be abundant on the belly and extend down the legs to the feet and
well on to the head and face, so that at shearing-time little but the nose
and hoofs is to be seen projecting from a flouncing ball of white wool. The
part of the face not clad with wool should be covered with soft silky hair.

In well-bred sheep the wool is close, dense, and fine ; though it varies
in these characteristics as well as in length and profusion in the different
varieties of the breed, and even within these varieties, according to the
locality in which they are reared and kept, or, in other words, to the
nature of the country, food, and climate.

Sheep generally produce finer wool after they are once shorn.
Uniformity in the quality of the wool on the different parts of the body is
striven for — the wool of the hindquarter or thigh should not be hairy or
strong in staple, but should resemble the wool of the side and forequarter
as much as possible. On being parted for inspection, down the side,
thigh, shoulder, or back, it should divide freely without any sign of
adhesion or matting, as this would stamp it as inferior for the purposes
of combing wool. A fine, wavy, bright staple should be presented down
the sides of the opening (a condition usually more pronounced near the
forequarter than on the thigh), and at the bottom of it a bright flesh-
coloured streak of skin.

A real Merino fleece as it g'^rows on the sheep should be firm as a
board and packed like a cauliflower — the tips of the wool being even,
neither fuzzy nor straight, nor standing up in places. With great length
of staple, which is not a natural characteristic of the breed, the density
which is of so much importance is lost.

Metis-merinos from France produce long loose wool. They were
originally formed by crossing the Merino with the English Cotswold
breed, to increase the amount of mutton, and are in consequence not so
hardy as pure Merinos for the drier parts of the country.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING. 335

Saxon Merinos have veiy fine bright, close, soft wool, forming an
ample and fully extended covering to all parts which grow wool. The
Tasmanian Merinos, which now, as a rule, bring the largest prices at ram
sales, belong to this latter breed. The Tasmanian flock-owners have
but small flocks, and they bring their animals out to show better than
their competitors in the other colonies, but in addition to " tittivations," to
housing, feeding, and protection from wet weather, there is no doubt that
the soil and cHmate of Tasmania is peculiarly well suited to the develop-
ment of the best qualities of the breed. The north and middle of the
island produce better sheep than the south. The lambs are much
wrinkled in the skin, particularly when they are well fed and fat, but this
condition is lost, except on the neck, as they grow up to maturity.

In the case of the Negretti, the skin of the imported sheep is much
wrinkled all over, and the staples are not free. The wool does not part
readily in shedding, which causes loss in combing, and necessitates the
transfer of the wool from the "combing" to the " clothing" class, for
which there is not so much demand. The climate and soil of Australia
have in a few years altered the defective condition and lengthened the
staple.

The Spanish Merino is a sheep of large size, producing a superior
quality of strong combing wool.

The Rambouillet or French Merino, descended from the Imperial
Flock, is larger than the German or Spanish Merino, and produces fine
wool, though not quite so fine as that of the Saxon Merino.

The Vermont Merino, from the State of Vermont,* is one of the most
perfect as regards good covering and density of fleece. It is one of the
most highly bred varieties of Merino, having been kept pure since 1803.
Although it is refined in appearance, and grows a very heavy fleece of wool,
it is not a universal favourite with breeders. It is thought by some to be
soft in constitution, the result of close breeding ; and the wool, which is
lacking in softness, brightness, and fineness, contains an exceptionally
large proportion of yellow yolk which washes away when the fleece is
scoured.

Although the numerous conditions of climate and
varieties of soil represented in that large stretch of country
known as Cape Colony have, with insignificant exceptions,
been proved admirably suited to the propagation of Merino
sheep and the production of excellent samples of Merino
wool, the sheep and wool industries are far from being in a
satisfactory condition. Certain animal parasites and diseases
— some well known in other parts of the world, and others
local in their character — act as obstacles to progress, and
will be discussed later, but probably one of the greatest

* One of the five New England States of North America located on
the eastern border of the State of New York.

336 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

hindrances to advancement has been the system of herding
sheep closely together during the day and shutting them
up in kraals or small enclosures over night. It may be
admitted that the practice was absolutely necessary for the
safety of the sheep in the early days, but until the custom is
as completely banished from Cape Colony as it has been
years ago from the Australian colonies, the best results need
not be expected from the sheep stock of the country. The
want of fences, the natural propensity of the Kaffir population
to steal, and the large number of predatory animals, such as
jackals, wild cats, and also the larger of the feline family,
which are steadily disappearing, were excuses for the practice,
and in certain districts even now can be brought forward.

Fencing was encouraged, with immense benefit to the
country, by the success of ostrich farming, which for a
number of years brought very large sums of money into the
pockets of those who developed it, and which still forms
one of the most profitable pastoral industries of the Colony.
By far the most common fence ih the Colony is made of
five to seven wires (the top one generally barbed), supported
on wooden standard posts, 15 to 25 feet apart, and the wire
bound together by a single, or better, a double wire lacing
every 5 or 6 feet. The cost per mile may be roughly stated at
£4^ to ^55, depending to some extent upon the initial cost
and the outlays on carriage of the posts, as well as upon the
strength and numbers of wires used. Wire of German manu-
facture, owing to its good quality and cheapness, is rapidly
gaining ground in the colonial market. In the Eastern
Province standard posts cost 2s., and straining posts, put in
240 yards apart, 5s. each. The plain wires are not fastened
by staples — the common practice in this country — but passed
through holes bored in the posts by an auger after they are
fixed in position. Sneezewood is the favourite fencing timber,
but there are several colonial trees which provide good hard
and lasting posts for the purpose. The power of wood to
resist decay and the attacks of insects is increased by placing
the newly cut posts for six months in a water dam to dissolve
out the sweet and easily degraded sap-residue. The wood
becomes harder for the treatment, and less attractive to wood-
eating insects. On the Karoo, where wooden straining posts

SHEEP AND SIIEEl' FARMING. 337

are expensive, and not easily got, clay strainers, 6 feet long
by 5 feet high and 2 feet wide, are erected 400 feet apart, at a
cost of about 4s. each. The wires are simply laid at the
proper heights into the well-puddled clay as it is being built
up, and require no further fastening. The total cost of a
7-wire fence, 4 feet 6 inches high, in these parts is about
IS. I id. per yard. Fences are sometimes made entirely of
clay, which is puddled after wetting by mules driven round
and round on a pile of it, but they are more expensive than
wire fences, costing 2s. to 2s. 6d. per yard, and are seen
more as ornamental than as farm fences. Kraal fences are
often made of thorny branches, and cost little at first, but
require to be frequently added to, and must be regarded as
unsatisfactory.

Fences not only confine stock to the owner's land, but
make it more difficult to steal sheep without detection. The
police regulations are now more perfect than formerly,
although the natural instinct of the black to steal from
the white man cannot be said to have changed. The wild
animals are decreasing, although in some parts, especially
near thick bush country and other natural shelter, con-
siderable trouble is experienced from jackals. In some
districts the Boer population is either careless or indifferent
to the use of means for the destruction of jackals, so that
a united effort has never been made to destroy the pest
wholesale, and breeding centres are thus left, from which re-
distribution takes place. Government has proved its interest
in jackal destruction by offering first 5s. and latterly 2s. 6d.
for every tail of the animal brought in.* This has not yet led
to the desired result, and stories are afloat of tails of jackals
as well as those of other animals having been brought from
regions north of the Colony, and the reward dishonestly
secured. Hunting by terrier dogs and trapping are methods
of destruction far preferable to the common and dangerous
practice of poisoning, though the wide areas to be hunted
over make it impossible to employ dogs with effect in certain
parts, and the jackal becomes extremely wary of traps, so
that great skill in baiting is essential. Poisoning, usually

* See page 251 for the last issued scale of compensation.
Y

33^

FAKMINC INDUSTRIKS OF CAFF COLONY.

with arsenic or str3'chnine placed on raw flesh, is not only a
danger to dogs and other animals of the farm, but the practice
is credited to a large extent with the reduction in recent
years of the numbers of aasvogels (vultures), the great carrion
scavengers of the country.* This has upset the balance of
nature to some extent by increasing the number of blue-
bottle flies, the maggots of which now do the scavenger work.
Had the climate been humid, these flies, which also lay their

Head of a Baboon.

Photo, by P. Ashenden, C.E.

eggs or larvae on the wool of living sheep when moist, and
give rise to the destructive and troublesome pest known as
'' fly-blowing " or maggots, might have proved disastrous, but
as it is this danger is confined mainly to the humid districts
of the east coast and to a few centres in the Eastern Province.
The Maanhaar (maned) jackal, or aard-wolf, Proteles
cristatus, Gray, an animal intermediate in appearance between

* South African Griffon vulture, Gyps kollni.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING. 339

the hyena and the common jackal, has recently been the
subject of discussion as to whether it attacked sheep or not.
It is generally supposed to live mostly on carrion, and on
white ants or termites, locusts, grubs, beetles, &c. Its molar
teeth are so small and irregular that the idea of its chewing
bones as the common red jackal does may be given up, but
there is a strong presumption that in some parts, and some
only, it has recently acquired the habit of killing lambs with
the same object as have the baboons, which are known to
destroy lambs in certain localities for the curdled milk found
in their stomach, whereas in other districts they are harmless.
Baboons are becoming more and more troublesome to the
farmers. They attack full-grown goats and sheep, as well as
lambs, and tear open the udders of the breeding ewes in
search of the milk. They also destroy pumpkins, mealies,
and potatoes in the fields. Even the red jackal is not
always as destructive as it might be, as may be seen from
the serious losses sustained at times when one or more
jackals acquire the habit of attacking a flock of sheep ; never-
theless the mischief worked is so general and so serious
that it is a question whether Government should not give
liberty to the officers of properly constituted societies for the
destruction of vermin to go on the lands of any one in the
performance of their duty without being regarded as tres-
passers. Had it been in any other country than Cape
Colony, where feeling runs unusually high with regard to
interfering with v/hat is claimed as the private right to do as
one pleases with his own, there would have been no question
as to the expediency of granting such liberty in the interest
of the common good ; but the further question arises here,
Might not such opposition be created that in this as well as
in other directions more injury than good would result ?
Jackals are most destructive among ewes and lambs, but
safety can be secured for the breeding flock by enclosing
them in a camp protected by a jackal-proof fence, viz., an
ordinary barbed-wire fence, with a wire net — 3 or 4 inch mesh
— about 2h to 3 feet high, and sunk six inches into the ground,
substituted for some of the lower wires. The price of 14-strand
netting per mile is about ;^20, but the extra outlay over the
cost of a common wire fence would not amount to so much if

340 KARMINC INDUSTRIES OP^ GATE COLONY.

the fence had to be erected. Some enterprising farmers have
adopted the jackal-proof fence over the whole of their property,
but the additional outlay, which is greater when the netting
has to be added to an existing fence, is more than the average
colonial farmer can afford under existing circumstances.

Without attempting to describe in detail any one of the
many systems of management of sheep practised in the
Colony, a few of the main considerations involved may
with advantage be stated. The Egyptian method (ancient
and modern) of shearing twice in one year is far too pre-
valent. The only really good excuse for it, viz., that treat-
ment for scab is made more easy and effective, is one of which
the Colony ought to be heartily ashamed. No doubt rather
more wool may be got from two shearings than from one, but
the expense is doubled, and the sheep are injured by an
additional unnecessary " handling." Progressive farmers who
pay attention to the quality of their wool aim at shearing only
once. In the lower and warmer districts shearing begins as
early as September, but October and November are the most
busy months, while the work is done as late as December in the
higher, colder, and more exposed districts. The golden rule
in this matter is not to shear in cold or stormy weather. The
second operation is done in March or April, and it is argued
by some that ewes shorn at that time take better care of their
lambs, by finding shelter for them when going into places
which afford protection for themselves. This is a hollow
excuse, because a ewe giving milk cannot do so to the best
advantage when suffering from cold, and spending the time
which ought to be devoted to feeding in search of external
warmth. The accompanying ground plan of an Australian
wool-shed will serve to show the kind of accommodation
which is much wanted in the Colony.

Dipping is not an annual custom as in Great Britain, nor
is it necessary in the Colony, any more than it is on the
plains of Texas, in flocks which are free from scab. Clean
flocks which have never passed through a dipping-tank are to
be found in both countries. The sheep louse, Trichodectes
sphcBrocephalus, N., and the kade, Melophagus ovmus, Linn.,
have only within the last five or six years been introduced
into Cape flocks by imported sheep, and they have not yet

SHEEP AND SIIEEl' EARMING.
i

W
X

H
<

fan
O

0-(
Q

342 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

had time to spread, as they are likely to do within a few
years. Goats suffer much more from the attacks of lice than
do sheep. The operation of dipping is carried out at from
two to four weeks after shearing, when all wounds made by

The Sheep Kade, Melophagus ovinus, Linn. Figs, opposite.*
Fig. I. Female 6-legged sheep-tick or kade ; la, larva case, each natural

size.
Fig. 2. Male, dorsal view, x8: «, head; d, thorax; c, abdomen; rt?, limbs;

e, oval bristle-covered discs, which correspond to the points of

attachment of wings in other flies ; /, rudimentary halteres or

poisers.
Fig. 3. Male, ventral view, x 8 : _j^, /i, and /, the three segments of the

thorax ; k, the external genitals.
Fig. 4. Female, dorsal view, x 8.
Fig. 5. Larva case, x 8 : a, cephalic end ; d, two rows each of seven

shallow indentations.
Fig. 6. Foot : a, the two claws between which hangs d, the pinniform pre-
hensile organ ; c, the tarsi, whose last joint d supports the

prehensile organ ; e, distal end of the tibia.
Fig. 6a. Prehensile organ, x 60 : a, the segmented muscular portion

included within the tarsus ; d, the flexible grasping portion.
Fig. 7. Front view of head : a, the compound eyes ; d, the antennii; sunk

in cuplike cavities ; c, the labrum which protects the sucking

organ.
Fig. 8. The sucking apparatus : a, the labrum ; d, the orifice from which

the tube protrudes ; c, the sucking tube.
Fig. 9. End of the sucking tube, x 120 : a, teeth by which the tube cuts

its way through the skin ; fi, rod upon which the teeth are set ;

c, tube which has lateral orifice in it. Other details not shown.
Fig. 10. External genital apparatus of female : a, spine-covered cap which

fits over i>, the genital orifice above ; c, two clusters of spines

which seem to be for clasping ; d, the terminal of the seven

pair of stigmata or breathing pores ; c, anus.
Fig. II. External genital apparatus of male: a, the two lateral of the

three chitinous styles which surround the projecting intromittent

organ ; d, two clusters of spines which seem to be claspers ;

c, stigmata.

Fig. 12. Larva case, x6: a, case with the broken operculum inside;

d, cephalic end, showing line where the operculum splits ofif, and
the remains of a central orifice through which nourishment was
obtained by the embryo from the parent ; c, caudal end showing
the two dots corresponding to the two terminal stigmata.

Fig. 13. Larva case with larva, x6 : a, ventral view ; d, dorsal view.

* This and the Figs, on pages 345 and 347 were taken from " Animal Parasites of
Sheep," by Cooper Curtice, D.V.S. , M.D., Washington, i8go.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING.

343

The Sheep Kade or Louse-fly, Melophagl's ovinus.

344 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

careless shearing have healed, and when the wool has grown
sufficiently to retain enough dip material to complete the pro-
cess of destruction of the parasites, as the new brood hatches
from the eggs, which are not injured by contact with dip.

Lambing begins in September — the spring month which
corresponds to March in Great Britain — or in October at high
altitudes, among those flocks which depend entirely upon
what the veld in its natural state provides, and for which
no artificial feeding is supplied. It is a general experience
that lambs born earlier or during winter — from the middle of
May till the general lambing season in September, with a lull
extending from late in June till early in August — are more
healthy than lambs dropped in spring or summer — more free
from internal parasites, and ready to take full advantage of

The Sheep Louse, Trichodectes sph^rocephalus, N.
Figs, opposite.
On page 345, Figs, i, 2, 3, 6, and 7, and on page 347, Figs, i, 2, 3, 5, 11,

12, 13, and 15 are equally enlarged, and present relative differences in

size and form. Other parts are also enlarged similarly for the sake of

comparison.

Fig. I. Male, natural length indicated by line.

Fig. 2. F'emale, natural length indicated by line : a, head ; b, antennte ;
(T, face ; d, cheeks ; e, e, dorsal sutures ; /■,/-,/■, legs ; g, pro-
thorax ; /^, metathorax ; z, abdomen ; k, dark transverse bands ;
/, line of hairs on each segment ; w, w, stigmata or breathing
pores ; n (fig. i), male genital orifice ; c?, female genital orifice ;
p^ female claspers.

Fig. 3. Young specimen just emerged from shell.

Fig. 4. Male antenna.

Fig. 5. Female antenna.

Fig. 6. Egg soon after being laid : a, cap with peculiar rod-like structure ;
b, line at which the cap is to cleave off.

Fig. 7. Egg shell which has lost its embryo and cap : b^ b, wool fibres.

Fig. 8. Anterior leg : a, coxa ; b, trochanter ; c, femur ; d, tibia ; e, tarsi
and claws.

Fig. 9. Posterior leg.

Fig. 10. Head, ventral side : a, n, antennas ; b, b, ventral continuation of
dorsal suture ; c, c, ventral suture ; d, d, mandibles ; e, maxilht
showing through the chitinous gular plate ; /, the labrum.

Fig. II. Tail end of male, dorsal view: a, the last segment; <^, the
genital orifice ; c, chitinous, hook-like appendages of the genital
apparatus.

Fig. 12. Tail end of female, ventral view : a, the last segment ; b, the
genital and anal orifice ; r, the claspers.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING.

345

The Sheet Louse, Trichodectes sth.-ekocei-halus.

346 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the first flush of spring grass. Such early lambs require to be
supplied with green forage, such as barley, oats, or rye usually
grown under a system of irrigation. Autumn lambs in the
low country, below the second range of mountains, arrive in
April and May. There is a limit to the periods of lambing,
as ewes do not usually come in season until about the middle
of December.

Double lambs are not numerous on the veld. Ram lambs
are not often sold, but " sorted " to make wethers or hamels,
and kept till they are four or five years old, although lambs
under favourable circumstances are in good condition for
killing up till Christmas, when the best of the grass season
may be regarded as past.

Male lambs are castrated when about a month old, and
the tails of both sexes are usually cut quite short at the same
time. Death from these operations is of rare occurrence. It
is a matter for regret that the branding act of the Colony
is optional, and consequently of little or no value. Sheep
farmers, although indifferent and inactive, are in favour of a
compulsory system of marking, but those who deal, in cattle
more particularly, object, and there the matter rests.

Marking sheep with paint on the wool — a practice more
or less injurious to its market value, according to the nature

Louse of the Angora Goat, Trichodectes limbatus, Gervais,

Figs, opposite.

Fig. I. Male, natural length indicated by line.

Fig. 2. Female, natural length indicated by line : a, head ; b, antennas ;
c, clypeus ; d, cheeks ; e, e, dorsal sutures ;/-,/,/, legs ; g; pro-
thorax ; h, metathorax ; /, abdomen ; k, k^ dark transverse
bands ; /, /, lines of hairs ; Jit, in, breathing pores ; ;/, male
genital orifice ; o, female genital orifice ; /, female claspers ;
q, male genital hooks.

Fig. 3. Head, ventral view : a, antennte ; d, mandibles.

Fig. 4. Posterior end of female, ventral view : cz, genital and anal orifice
b, claspers.

Fig. 5. Egg : a, the cap ; b, the line where it splits ofif.

Fig. 6. Antenna of female.

Fig. 7. Anterior leg : a, coxa ; b, trochanter ; c, femur ; d, tibia ; e, tarsi
and claws.

Fig. 8. Posterior leg.

Louse of the Common Goat, Trichodectes climax, N.
Figs. 11-18. Numbered and lettered for the same parts as Figs. 1-8.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING.

347

Angora Goat Louse, Tkichodectes limbatus, Gervais ; and Common Goat Louse,
Trichodectes climax N.

348

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

of the material used and to the method of execution — has to]
a large extent been discontinued in the Eastern Provincel
since the introduction of fencincf.

Ground Plan of a Sheep Fold, Sheudek, and Swimming Bath.
Scale, I inch to 20 feet.

Stone and Brick Walls, Double Lines. Post and Rail Fences, Black Lines. Swinging Gates,

Dotted Lines.

The length of the bath (b, b) is 24 feet, and of the dripper (d, d)
24 feet. The dripper (d, d) has a concrete floor, with small channels,
4 inches wide,^ on each side of the central partition. It has a fall of
3 inches from each side towards the centre, and of 6 inches from the e.xit
end to the bath. The bath (b, b) is 18 inches wide, and when filled it
contains at the deep end 4I feet of dipping material. The side walls at
this end are perpendicular rather than converging as they go down, as
although more dipping solution is required than when the sides contract,
less splashing and loss in that direction occur when the sheep take the
plunge suddenly. The sides towards the exit end converge near the
bottom, which springs from a point 6 feet distant from the plunge end.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FAR^HNG. 349

Perhaps the most glaring deficiency in the sheep farming
of South Africa is the want of properly constructed sheep-
folds, fitted with the Australian sheep-shedder and other
available conveniences, to permit of a flock being handled
without receiving widespread and severe injury. No animal
on the farm is more easily injured physically and constitu-
tionally than the sheep, and the present method of driving a
flock into a confined kraal, where Kaffirs are directed to rush
at the animals to be removed while standing in a mob to-
gether, cannot fail to lead to far-reaching and serious con-
sequences, not only to the animals but to their owner's pocket.
Sheep when gently treated can be trained to run in properly
constructed folds, so that they can be separated into different
lots without ever being caught, and nearly all the minor
operations of the fold can be accomplished without seiz-
ing or lifting the sheep off their feet. The saving in the
matter of death-rate, together with that resulting from the
improved condition of sheep, which become poor through the
injuries received from rough handling, would amount to a
considerable sum annually, and would speedily compensate a
farmer for his outlay in constructing folds.

The accompanying ground plans, drawn to scale, of sheep-
folds will supply data by which any sheep farmer who takes a
proper interest in his business should be able to construct a
fold suitable to his requirements.

and ascends at a uniform angle till the level of the dripping floor is
reached. The sheep are driven along the roadway in the direction of the
arrows, a lo' gate opening across the roadway and closing it. The sheep
are penned in No. i, passed into No. 2, and hand sorted into 3 and 4, or
they may be passed through the shedder (.S, s) into 3 and 5. For dip-
ping, the sheep pass into No. 6, and are then driven up passage H.
A shepherd standing on the left of the passage, and leaning over the
boarding, pushes each sheep into the bath B. No. 7 is a decoy pen, in
which four or five sheep may be placed to induce the flock to go forward
more freely. The swinging gate at H is of service in pressing the sheep
into the passage. The same applies to the gate at the entrance to the
shedder. Four men can dip 200 sheep per hour, giving each sheep a
minute in the solution. One of the men with a crutch attends to the
sheep in the bath, and puts any down that have not gone properly under
with head and back. He also prevents the sheep passing too quickly,
and attends to the gates at the entrance and the exits of the dripper. —
Scottish Fanner,

350 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Wire being unsuitable, the best fences for sheep-folds

in most districts of Cape Colony would be walls built of cakes
of " mist," cut from the bottoms of old sheep kraals, shown in
Plate 64. The proper site for a fold is a level piece of dry-
hard land free from natural obstructions which would pre-
vent the approach of a flock of sheep from any direction.
Should there be a slight inclination of the surface, which is
admissible and even advantageous in a climate where rain
falls in sufficient amount to make the ground muddy if surface
drainage be not provided, the fold should be so placed that the
sheep run uphill until the " sorting " fold is reached. The
dimensions and forms of the most of the minor folds may be
varied indefinitely according to the number of sheep to be
accommodated, and the locality of the fold as a whole. The
"hand-sorting" or "catching" fold should never be more
than 9 feet wide, the floor must be level and paved with cobble
stones, or formed of some hard, dry material. Its natural
position is in the centre, so that numerous folds to hold
different classes of sheep connect with it. Posts and rails form
the best fence for a hand-sorting fold in a hot country, as
fresh air is freely admitted, a matter of importance when
sheep are packed so closely together, as they intentionally
are to keep them from rushing about and injuring them-
selves when being caught in this fold. If built of "mist,"
ventilation spaces should be left at the bases of the walls
to permit a current of air to pass under the bellies of the
sheep.

If the separation can be done without handling, the sheep
in that case pass to the shedder, where they can be separated
into two or more lots without being seized. The shedder, which
is 18 to 24 feet long, consists of two boarded walls about 3 feet 6
inches high placed parallel to each other, 12 inches wide at the
bottom and 20 inches at the top, to provide sufficient space and
no more to admit one sheep to pass at a time. A swing door,
3 feet beyond the exit end, is hinged to a post put in line with
the centre of the shedder, so that the door commands the
entrance to two folds — one on each side. This door is used
by the man in charge to close the entrance of one of the folds
while a sheep passes into the other, and thus a combined flock,
say of hairy and of wool-producing sheep, can be separated

SHORN SHEEP

. loa'

WIDE FOLD

PLAN OF SCOTCH SHEEP FOLDS,

Including a Dipper and Shedder or Race,

Conveniently arranged for the purposes of dividing, sorting, and marking 2,000 sheep
at one time. The sorting and catching folds, the shedder, and the dipper, are placed
in central positions, and are connected with the necessary fold accommodation. Two
large folds might at little cost be added to the right, if a greater number of sheep
required to be taken in at once. The arrows show the direction taken by the sheep
on entering at the left. The dotted lines represent swing gates, the widths of which in
feet are indicated in figures. The lengths and breadths of the folds are also similarly
marked. A general description, including details of the measurements of the dipper and
dripper in feet and inches, is given in the letterpress.

SHORN SHEEP

.^JJl

Scale of 1 Inch to 24 Feet.

PLAN OF A NEW ZEALAND SHEEP YARD

On Wiiakaki, toe 1'ropertv of John Hunter Brown, near Napier, in the North Island.
Planned and Constructed by FarqUHAR M'Rae, the late Maneger.

Explanatokv Note. f

The Whakaki sheep yards are large afough
to accommodate 4,000 sheep at a time, andtthree
men arc sufficient to handle that number. "Here
the use of the race or shedder has been 1wbu<,'ht
to the greatest state of perfection. By the em-
ployment of three swing gates or doors noarked
on the plan one man can separate a flock, while
passing once through the race, into four divisions.
He uses the third or central door to divide the
two smallest lots of sheep, so that it is not necessary
for him to move his hands very frequently.' The
two alleyways, 4 feet wide, beside the tree to the
left of the plan, are employed when handling fat
sheep, when mouthing, or branding requires' to be
done, but in all other cases the sheep pass through
the yards without being caught or touched by hand.
All the gates (marked with a double line on the
plan) open, with the exception of the three swing
doors, by sliding to one side, so that they can
be opened without crushing the sheep, and are in
most cases, whether open or shut, well out of the
way, being in line with the abutting fences.

I'ARD

[E North Island.

er.

SHEEP AND SHEEP P^ARMING. 35 I

into different flocks without a single animal being touched or
injured. For the separation of three different classes of sheep
a second swing door can be introduced midway in one side of
the shedder, which should then be the maximum length, and
an additional fence requires to be erected to make two divisions
in the fold on the side referred to. A similar arrangement
may be carried out on the other side of the shedder if it be
necessary to divide a flock into four classes at one opera-
tion. One smart man can work the doors in the sides of the
shedder and shed out two classes of sheep, leaving to the
man in charge of the door at the end the easier work of
separating into two divisions those permitted to pass the
side doors. Sheep are a little shy at first, but with goats as
leaders the initial difficulty would be easily overcome. After
they have been through a few times they run freely and even
anxiously.

Apart from the saving of labour, the benefit to the sheep is
so immense that no one who gains experience of a shedder
ever goes back to the old practice of separation by handling.

Sectional Side View of a Dipping Tank and Dripper.

The dipping tank or bath ought to be long to give the
sheep a good swim to let them get thoroughly wetted. The
tank should also be narrow so that sheep have not room to turn,
and that there be no unnecessary space which would require a
large amount of dipping material to fill it. The length should
not be less than 24 to 30 feet, and the width 18 to 20 inches.
The water in the well or deep end, into which the sheep are
plunged, should be 4 feet 6 inches deep for a distance of 6 to
10 feet, and the bottom of the exit end might shelve out from
this point to the surface.

The dripper (with a concrete floor falling 3 inches from
each side to the centre, and 6 inches from the exit end to the
tank, so that the dip material which runs off the sheep must
drain back into the tank) may be divided in two equal parts,
either up the long axes by a permanent fence or across the

352 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

narrow way by means of a fence and slip door. One-half
being filled with sheep direct from the bath, it is closed, and
the sheep stand to drip until the second half is similarly
filled ; then they are allowed to escape. See page 376 for
further details.

Something of the older system of management, which
was at one time general in the Colony before the introduction
of fences, may still be seen in the Caledon district, a part of
the country which has long had a reputation as a sheep
country, although it barely maintains its old position. Taking
one of the largest flocks, numbering 10,000 to 12,000 Me-
rinos, the following conditions may be expected to exist.
The ordinary flock receives no artificial food, but when a stud
flock is kept it requires liberal treatment. The soil of the
district being very deficient in lime, and internal parasites
being numerous, there is a great craving by the animals for
bone and salt. Both ought to be supplied in liberal quan-
tities mixed together, the bone being ground into fine flour.
As flocks are closely shepherded and put into kraals at night,
there is no difficulty in bringing the sheep daily within reach
of the mixture. Ewes culled by the teeth, the culling
■beginning at four years of age, are kept, if the teeth be good
enough, till they are six to eight years old. On Karoo veld
the teeth wear down rapidly, and on sour veld, where the
grass is wiry, they wear on the sides and become open, but
on the sweet veld, where the vegetation is of finer quality, the
teeth wear better and last longer. Old ewes — as many as
600 or 700 yearly — are largely consumed by the Kaffirs living
on tlie farm. Hamels, weighing from about 40 lbs. to 50 lbs.,
are sold at five years old for los. to 12s. each.

The average fleece weighs about 3 lbs. of wool, washed
about a week before shearing, which is done by hand, in
October. Two rams are set aside for every 100 ewes, and
they are let into the flock 145 to 150 days before the lambing
season is expected. It is as essential here as in other parts of
the Colony that the rams be not shorn immediately before
they go to the ewes. If put out newly shorn, they suffer
from cold and neglect their duty. Angora goat bucks act in
the same way. Lambs begin to come with June, and when
weaned they are separated and kept in flocks of similar age.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING.

353

One man take.s charge of 500 or 600 .sheep, and he receives as
wages from los. to 20s. and food — five pecks of meal and
two .sheep — per month.

Owing to Cape Colony being what may be termed a
mon.soon country, with alternating seasons of heavy rains
and droug-ht, which make the natural food supply very
irregular, the condition of stock is periodically lowered, and
progress retarded. When the drought is unduly prolonged, as
it frequently is in one district or another, stock suffer seriously
and die in large numbers. Although the Colony is rich in the
elements of means for preventing this serious and steady drain
of its caj^ital resources, it is only recently that farmers have
begun to wake up to the importance of self-help in the matter.
The reward offered by Nature is tempting, because not only
can a farmer prevent loss, but he can at the same time increa.se
his profit by utilising much of the valuable natural food, which
at present goes to waste, to be found during the abundant
season. The Colony is face to face with the facts that, with
a growing demand for mutton for Johannesburg and other
great mining centres to the north, the numbers of sheep are
decreasing in place of increasing, and that the price of wool
has reached a ruinously low point, in a great measure justified
by the inferior condition, due to scab and other causes which
affect market values.

Comparative Niinibcrs of Goats and SIiccp in tlic Colony Proper
since Statistics have been taken.

Year.

Sheep.*

Angora
Goats.

3,092,639

2,732,724
2,532,842

2,533,634

Other
Goats.

2,880,348
2,317,605
1,807,293
1,780,703

Wool,
lbs.

51,407,914
47,272,102
41,440,932
65,632,613

Mohair,
lbs.

Initial census, 1891
Estimate, 1892-93
Do., 1893-94
I)..., 1894-95

15,194,636
15,164,943
13,354,748
13,726,841!

6,638,422
6,435,600

7,425,443
11,090 449

Something had to be done to get out of antiquated
grooves, and to meet the exigencies of times that rapidly
chanee.

* Includes laml)s reared each season.
t Of these 1,761,383 are hairy Cape sheep.
A

354 P\\RMIN(; INDUSTRIKS OK CAPE COLONY.

One of the most interesting developments was met

with in the New England district, in the neighbourhood of
Barkly East, where for the last two years turnips had been
successfully grown and fed to sheep during the annual season
of scarcity. Few varieties had been tried, but of these the
common white turnip probably did best, although in some
cases swedes gave marvellous results.* As swedes when not
thriving well are liable to suffer from fungoid attacks near the
crown of the bulb, and as something possessing better feeding-
qualities than a white turnip is wanted, it is probable that
yellow turnips, or some of the well-known hybrid.s — the Fos-
terton, for example — would prove satisfactory. It was found
that thirty acres of roots sown broadcast — swedes put in early in
January, and whites following as late as 15th February — were
sufficient to supply a flock of 2,000 sheep with the additional
food required to tide them over the barren season, one acre
being sufficient to provide for 500 sheep during one week.
The method adopted was as follows : — A turnip flock is
made up by drawing out from time to time the thinnest and
most needy members of the total flock from some time in June
on till 25th July, when the final .selection is made. These eat
turnips daily for an hour in the morning, and again for an hour
in the afternoon, the Kaffir boys herding the sheep to one side--
of the turnip field to prevent the waste which would result if
the turnips were all broken at one time. It is so planned that
the turnips are grown in a corner of each camp for the sheep
belonging to it, and after the morning feed they are turned
out to the veld to pick up as much of their natural food as
possible. In this way the animals are stimulated to exertion,
and not permitted to become too dependent upon the arti-
ficial supply. For the first few days after going on the
turni[)s the sheep tuck up in the bellies as they neglect the
grass, but they soon fall into the way of resting a while and
then spreading over the veld to feed. The cost of growing
the turnip could be reckoned at little more than the outlay
on seed (at 2s. per lb.), and the extra fencing required, as
no additional Kaffirs were engaged, and the ploughing of the

* Three selected purple-top swedes grown on Holbrook, G. G.
Wallace's farm, weighed collectively 75 lbs.

SHEEP AND SHEEP FARMING. 355

land was thrown in with the work done b}' " bij-woners "
working on the share principle.

It is found that when the condition of the sheep is main-
tained throughout the year they do not so readily fall a prey
to parasites, arid the death-rate is consequently lessened, and
only slightly exceeds i per cent, per annum. The tendency to
weakness or breaks in the wool is also overcome. But perhaps
the two most important benefits to be derived from the new-
departure are — (i) The increase in the number of sheep that
may be kept — in many instances at least 50 per cent, more
than under the old system ; and (2) the additional power to
adapt one's management to the requirements of the market
for the time being — the production of fat lamb or the breeding
for either mutton or wool, as may be found expedient.

New England is favourably situated, in comparison with
certain other parts of the Colony at lower elevations, owing
to the abundance of summer rains. In such a district as
Cathcart, for example, turnips grow very well in certain
seasons, but rains are at times so long delayed at seed-time
that turnips could not be depended upon as the sole additional
support of the sheep stocks. The system of ensilaging
green food during summer when growth is luxuriant might
be employed as a stand-by when turnips fail. There is an
immense amount of valuable grass, particularly in the coast
districts of the Colony, allowed to go to waste annually. If
cut when still growing and succulent, and before running to
seed, it would make excellent silage, which would keep for
years if not required, and form a substantial insurance against
the evil results of drought.

Merino sheep do not produce mutton to suit the English
taste, but it must be admitted that, when killed on its native
pasture and not injured by driving or railroad travelling, the
mutton possesses an excellent flavour, resembling that of
some of our finest British mountain breeds, while the thin
condition is rather an advantage than a drawback to its
keeping qualities during the hot weather. Nevertheless,
where early maturity is an important object, it will be
necessary to obtain rams from one or other of the well-known
short-woolled Downs or the long-woolled breeds. As little is
)'et known in the Colony of the respective merits of man}' of

356 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the most prominent British breeds, mistakes are sure to be
made for a time.*

Various important points have to be taken into considera-
tion in selecting the breed to use. With the comparatively
small Merino ewe a ram of a breed with a large head would
lead to difficulties, and entail a considerable loss in both ewes
and offspring at lambing time. Again, for a high, cold, and
exposed district a ram which will "get" a lamb with a rough
coat of wool at birth is decidedly preferable. This is a
distinct and regrettable drawback to the best of the so-called
black-faced or Down breeds of England as compared wnth
the rival longwools. Their wool is short at birth, and,
although it grows rapidly, it is deficient at the time of all
others when it is most wanted. For crossing purposes,
in breeding fat lambs for the butcher, it will probably be
difficult to find the equal of the Shropshire Down or the
Suffolk Down ram for a warm or sheltered district; and the
combination of essential qualities in a ram suitable for the
colder uplands will be found in the Border Leicester — hardi-
ness, activity, early maturity, and an abundance of the woolly
covering at any age. For a number of years crosses between
the Suffolk Down ram and Merino ewe have been successfully
bred on the borders of the Free State and Griqualand West.
It is found that the lambs at six months old, worth los. each,
pay better than hamels sold at 20s. at three or four years old.
By disposing of them at an early age a loss by death of lo to
15 per cent, is prevented. The wool is of finer quality than
that of the longwool cross, and the lambs are not too fat for
the South African taste.

In departing from the original custom of breeding Merino
sheep chiefly for the wool, and attempting the production of
mutton as well, mistakes are sure to be made and money lost

* The author found on one occasion an excellent flock of Hampshire
Down sheep whicli had iDcen sent out as Southdowns, and rams had been
sold for years, and at good prices, as Southdowns. No one need regret
the mistake, as the Hampshire is unquestionably a better general purpose
sheep for the Colony than the Southdown would have been. For details
of the different breeds the reader is referred to "The Farm Live Stock
of Great Britain," published at 12s. Ad. by Crosby Lockwood & Son,
7 Stationers' Hall Court, London.

Plate 67A. — A Cheviot Ram.
From the Mountains on the Scottish and English Border.

Plate 67B. — Border Leicester Ram.

Face page 356.

SHEEP AND SIIEEP FARMING. 357

by those who rush deeply into new ventures of which they
have no experience. It should never be lost sight of that
even the hardiest native cattle and Merino sheep get very
lean during winter, owing to the withered state of the food,
the sudden changes of temperature, and the great extremes of
heat and cold. It may be taken for granted that the natural
condition of colonial pastures is not good enough during
winter to support any of the earl)'-maturit}' British breeds, cjr
their crosses, without liberal artificial feeding, and that in the
most exposed or poorer districts no reasonable amount of
food would supply the deficiency. This being admitted, dis-
poses at once of the idea of keeping as ordinary breeding
ewe stock either pure-bred English longwools, black-faced
Down sheep, or crosses of the same. Whatexer may be done
in the way of introducing rams of early-maturity breeds the
ewes must be Merinos,* which are known to thrive under
existing climatic and other surroundings, and farmers ought
to aim at maintaining both the old and the new system
on the same holding by breeding a pure Merino stock of good
quality from their young ewes, and utilising only the older
ewes to breed cross lambs for the butcher by the imported
early- maturity rams. There are many advantages in such
a practice which do not appear at first sight. By replacing
hamels by breeding ewes the expansive power of the flocks
of the country is greatly increased. An old ewe gives birth
with less difficulty than a young ewe to a lamb sired by a ram
of a larger breed of sheep, and when the offspring, which re-
quires a more liberal supply of milk than a Merino, does arrive,
she has it to give. Again, the ewe flock is bred on the ground,
an advantage as compared with having to buy sheep reared
under circumstances which may not have formed a suitable
preparation for them in their new cjuarters. To breed at
home becomes all the more important owing to the prevalence
of scab in the Colony, and the liability of importing with new
stock such an insidious disease as heart-water.

The spring pastures in the best sheep districts are good
enough to make well-nursed lambs ready for the butcher at

* Certain British mountain breeds — the Cheviot, for example — may
be regarded as exceptional in this connection.

358 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CARE COU^NV.

six or eiijht months old, and a demand for mutton of this
description is that most Hkely to develop in the ever increasing
mining centres. If ever a frozen meat trade were established
with Europe, or let us say with the United States of America
— quite possible eventualities, although the time may be far
off — it would be undoubtedly in young cross-bred mutton or
lamb.

The Cheviot breed, which derives its name from the
Cheviot Hills, forming the border country between England
and Scotland, has proved its cosmopolitan character by
successes achie\ed in the North-West Territory of Canada and
in New Zealand. It would probably do remarkably well in
high districts like New England. The wethers at two or
three years old make the finest of butchers' sheep, and the
ewes would suit admirably when necessary to cross with long-
wool rams. The yield of wool is good, and it belongs to the
class of lustre wools which always remain in fashion.

CHAPTER XVIII

WOOL AND HAIR.

Bowman on the Structure of Hair and Wool — Lustre-Wool Fibre — Good
and Bad Soaps— Hard Spring Waters unsuitable for Washing Wool
— Rules for Washing Wool — Varieties of Wool Fibres — Mohair
resembles Wool — Amount of South African Wool Exported — Posi-
tion of Cape Wool in the British Market.

Valuable and original information, the result of much
careful scientific research, is to be found on the subject of the
Structure and character of wool and hair, in a book by
Dr F. H. Bowman.* The illustrations on page 360, copied
from this work, showing the structure of hair, wool, and
mohair, render elaborate letterpress description tmnecessary.

Hair is composed of fibrous bundles made up of elong-
ated cells. Fig. I shows in cross section the three different
forms of cells represented: — (i) The rounded nucleated cells
forming the central medulla, frequently containing air and
little rounded globules of fat; (2) the angular cells forming
the cortical substance, on which the firmness, elasticity, and
colour of the hair depend ; and (3) elongated cells and
laminated plates forming the cuticle. Fig. 3 is a longi-
tudinal section of a similar structure, showing, in addition to
the cells enumerated, the serrated edges of the flattened scale-
like cells forming the outer sheath, which Bowman describes
as " a firmly adherent, thin membranous layer, consisting of
flat, imbricated, epithelial scales." He says also that these
" flattened inspissated cells are very similar in character to
those which form the outer cuticle of the epidermis of the
skin, and have with them a common origin."

The cells are all very densely packed together when a hair

'" " The Structure of the Wool Fibre, and its Relation to the Use of
Wool for Technical Purposes," by F. H. Bowman, D.Sc, F.R.S.E.,
F.L.S., &c. (Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., London, 1895), to which the
author is much indebted.

360 lARMFNC; INnUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY

Wool, Haik, and Mohair.

Fig. I, Cross section of Hair. Fig. 2, Do. of Wool. Fig. 3, Longitudinal section of Hair. Fig. 4,
Typical Wool Fibre treated with Caustic Soda. Fig. 5, Hair similarly treated. Fig. 6, Kemp or
Dead Hair. Fig. 7, Kemp and Wool in one Fibre. Fig. 8, Wool Fibre with a weak part. Fig. 9,
Coarse Mohair Fibre. Fig. 10, Fine Mohair Fibre. All greatly magnified.

WOOL AND ILVIR.

\6l

is examined in its natural state. The fibres are as a rule
straii^ht and the surface smooth, so that only transverse lines,
not individual cells, are distinguishable. By treatment with an
alkali the edges forming the serrations above mentioned stand
out distinctly, overlap each other like the scales on a fir-cone,
and point invariably towards the unattached end of the hair.
The parts ma}- be still further separated into fibrous bundles,
and into their constituent cells, by treatment with a strong
acid such as sulphuric acid.

The great distinction between wool and hair, which is
more a matter of degree than of kind, is the extent to which
the serrations jjroject. In wo(j1 the scaly outer covering is
much looser than that of hair, a characteristic which enables
wool fibres to adhere to one another, /.t'., to felt or mat when
the fibres do not lie all in one direction, apart altogether from
the adhesive power given by twisting. The reason why wool
does not mat on the back of a healthy sheep is because the

Dia(;kamma-|'ic Illustraiion showing how Wool Felts.

serrations, like tho.se of hair, point all in the same direction.
Fig. 4 represents a typical wool fibre greatly magnified,
and shows " the pointed and serrated edges of the epidermal
scales when treated with caustic soda." Fig. 5 shows hair
which has undergone similar treatment.

Although some hair, like that of the woolly-headed negro,
is curly, hair is generally straight ; but in the case of wool
there is a strong tendency in the fibres, especially in the finer
sorts, to become curly or wavy, characteristics which add to
the holding power when spun into yarn or made into fabrics.
The following figures indicate the relative diameters and
twisting tendencies of wools from different well-known
breeds of sheep : —

Curves per Inch. Diameter of Filire.

(I.) English Merino . . 241030 j-^Vo of an inch.

(2.) Southdown . . . 13 to i8 t^V? "

(3.) Lincohi . . . . 3 ^o 5 lih "

It must be remembered that on the same sheep very

362 FARMING INDUSTRIKS UK CAPE COLONY.

different qualities of wool <rrow on different parts of the
body, and that hair and wool may be seen on the same animal.
Kemp in the wool of a sheep is a familiar illustration, and the
downy covering- at the root of the hair of the collie dog is
merely an example of a condition of things which is not
uncommon in the animal kingdom.

Fig". 6 represents kemp or dead hair found in some
fleeces, shown by reflected light ; and Fig. 7 one fibre con-
sisting partly of kemp and partly of wool.

Fig. 2 shows a transverse section of wool fibre (Lincoln
hogg), illustrating the arrangement of the " closely packed
transparent cells, smaller and less marked than in the hair
section, with outer sheath of epidermal scales. The free
serrated margins of the scales slide over each other and secure
the greatest amount of liberty to the surface of the fibre with-
out any rupture of the covering which would undoubtedly be
caused by any more rigid arrangement of the epidermal part."
Wool fibre po.ssesses greater softness and pliability than hair,
and consequently the more prominent margins are not so
easily injured as they might have been had they belonged to
a more rigid structure.

A fine lustre-wool fibre examined as an opaque object
under the microscope presents a beautiful appearance, " like a
laminated surface of silver," when the surface has been cleaned
and the light is properly thrown upon it. " The scales have
an almost transparent look, and a smooth, lustrous brightness,
which well accounts for their excellent reflecting properties."
Too much washing, washing with water at a high temperature
or with hot alkali, injures the lustre of wool.

The surface scales when covered with the natural oily
secretion from the sheep's skin adhere pretty closely to the
shaft of the fibre. " The action of soap and hot water upon
the surface of these fine scales destroys the continuity of the
reflecting surfaces, and causes it like any rough surface to
disperse the light instead of reflecting it in solid sheets."
Dispersion of light also occurs to a greater degree in the case
of coarse than in that of fine wools, the larger surfaces of
the scales being associated with increased roughness in their
texture. Scales differ much also in thickness and tranparency.
The scales of some wools are dense and like ivory, others

WOOL AND HAIR. 363

resemble opal glass, and reflect light both from the upper and
the under surface, and some which are very thin and transparent
assume the appearance of mother-of-pearl.

The lustrous character is also due to some extent to the
" structure of the cortical part of the wool " and to pigment
cells contained in it. These generally aid in reflecting light,
and thereby increase the brilliancy of the wool.

" Borax soaps of good quality, and as neutral as possible,
carbonate of ammonia and caustic ammonia, and stale urine,
which contains carbonate of ammonia, are the substances
which act upon the wool fibre the least, and can therefore be
best used as detergents; but both soda and potash, especially
the latter, can also be used without injury if the quantities and
temperature are properly regulated.

" Di-sulphide of carbon dissolves the suint and fat of wool
very easily and completely, without injuring the fibre. The
di-sulphide may then, when removed from the wool, be driven
off at a steam heat, leaving the unchanged fats behind as a
residue." The difficulties associated with the carrying out of
the process have not yet been fully surmounted.

Inferior soaps containing an excess of alkali or such im-
purities as resin, silicate of soda, china-clay, &c., are to be
avoided.

Hard spring water containing carbonate and sulphate of
lime is unsuitable for washing purposes, as chemical action
takes place, and results in the formation of an insoluble lime
soap, which adheres to the fibre and interferes with the action
of the dye stuffs employed in colouring the yarn.

The Rules recommended by Bowman to be followed in washing wool
are —

I. Never permit the temperature of the washing liquor to exceed 100" F.

The practice of turning steam directly into the vessels which contain
the wool is most reprehensible, because when the steam, in the act of con-
densation, comes into contact with the fibres of the wool they may be
subjected to a much higher temperature than they can stand without
injury, since the mass of wool in the water prevents the free formation of
currents, and one part of the liquid remains at a higher temperature than
another. The best way is to have the water heated in a separate tank or
cistern, and draw the water into the washing machines from this cistern
where the temperature can be kept comparatively constant.

•J. Nothing but perfectly neutral soaps should be used, at any rate
when the wool is in any degree clean, and potash in preference to soda as

364 " 1<'AR]\]IN(; INDUSTRIES OF CAI'K COLONY.

the base of the soap. When the wool is very dirty and the y tease hard
and stiff, it may sometimes be necessary to use a slightly alkaline soap,
and thus remove the adhering grease more rapidly, but the greatest care
should be exercised to prevent the surface of the fibre from being injured.
The suint or yolk — the natural grease of the wool — is composed largely
of sudorate of potash, which being soluble assists in the washing of the
wool without deteriorating it. The higher lustred fibres, such as alpaca
and mohair, are even more sensitive to temperature and free alkali than
wool, and hence in washing all fibres where lustre is important, the
lowest temperature above 60° F. and the perfect neutrality of the soaps
are most important.

3. The less agitation and mechanical action in the form of squeezing
or pressing which can be used, the better. When wool fibres are exposed
to the action of hot water, they are more liable to felt than when in a dry
state ; and especially when the wool is intended for worsted rather than
woollen spinning, ought the greatest care to be exercised in the mani-
pulation of the wool so as to cause the least felting action.

4. The greatest care should be exercised in the drying of wool after
washing, so as to prevent tot) high a temperature, which should not
exceed 100' F. at the most, but the lower the better.

If the wool is too much dried it becomes desiccated, and loses its
natural kindness and suppleness, and tends to become brittle. When
unduly dry, the wool fibre becomes electrified, and the fibres then are
mutually repellent, so that they resist the natural order in which they
should be placed by the action of the machinery, and the yarn becomes
uneven and rough.

The operation of wool washing", as carried out at Uiten-
hay;e, the great centre of the industry in the Eastern Province,
was witnessed at the Union Works, under the guidance of
J. Every, the manager. About 50 bales of 100 lbs. each can
there be washed daily, and in good weather this amount can
be finished each day. The operation is extremely simple. The
wool goes first through a duster placed on the first floor, which
teases it, and blows much of the sand and dust out of it.
Some Karoo wool is very greasy, and large quantities of dust
settle in and adhere to it. For this reason close-coated sheep
are best suited to the Karoo districts. A common defect in
the wool of the very dry country is that it grows with a break
or weak part in the staple, save in exceptionally favourable
seasons.

The wool leaving the duster drops through a shoot into
the first of two warm-water baths placed on the ground floor,
in which it is washed with soap manufactured on the premises.
It floats from the receiving end of the bath to the delivery

WOOL AND HAIR. 365

end, being stirred up and passed on by sets of tines revolving
in the water. It next passes between a pair of flat rollers or
squeezers into the second hot bath, which is simply a duplicate
of the first. From this it goes into a cold-water box with
revolving arms or stirrers, and then through a cold-water
rinser. When removed it is placed in a centrifugal "whizzer"
constructed on the same principle as the centrifugal butter-
drier, and the bulk of the moisture is mechanically ejected
by the centrifugal action of the machine before the wool is
spread out on the gravel floors to dry. The cost of the complete
operation is 5s. per 100 lbs., weighed in the grease; and the
average loss of weight by the washing of the wool brought to
this centre is about 60 per cent.

There is great variety in the characters of wool fibres
occurring (i) on different parts of the same animal at the same
time ; (2) in the growth of different years and of different ages
of the animals ; (3) under different conditions of climate and
nourishment ; (4) in different breeds of sheep belonging to
different countries ; as well as (5) in different members of the
same breed, of similar ages, and kept in the same flock.
Certain countries and certain districts are famous for wool
production ; and good management, which implies healthy
surroundings and excludes the supplying of either too little or
too much food, encourages the development of wool of good
quality, whereas an unhealthy habit of life and bad manage-
ment reduce the normal quantity and lower the normal
quality of wool.

Fig". 8, page 360, shows a fibre with a weak part, which may
be the result of one of a number of causes, viz., a period of
disease, of scarcity of food, or the presence of scab insects.
The fibre becomes brittle and easily broken, and the yarn and
woven material made from it inferior in quality and deficient
in wearing properties.

Mohair from the Angora goat much more closely resembles
wool than hair, as may be seen from a reference to Fig. 9,
representing a coarse fibre with large irregular scales ; and
Fig. 10, fibre taken from the finest part of the fleece of a
])ure-brcd buck.

The following information was courteously supplied by
Buxton, Ronald, & Co., 24 Basinghall Street, London, E.C, : —

366 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The yearly export of wool (mostly Merino) from Cape Town and
Mossel Bay, in the Western Province ; Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern
Districts ; East London, in Kafraria ; and Durban, in Natal, consists of
about 256,900 bales : —

From Eastern Provinces . . 173, 166 bales.
„ Western „ . . 28,085 »

„ Port Natal . . . 55,652 „

There is very great variety in quality and characteristics of wools
grown in these different districts, the results partly of climate and partly
of the presence or the absence of enterprise on the part of the growers.
The most important difference in South African wools, and one which
divides them into two distinct classes, is the custom still prevalent of
shearing twice in the year. At one time the whole African clip was shorn
twice in the year, but during the past twenty years the more progressive
farmers have recognised the greater commercial value of wool of twelve
months' growth, and only about three-eighths of the total production now
consists of that of six months' growth. Of the latter, about equal propor-
tions are used by English and German mills in the manufacture of many
descriptions of clothing fabrics. The Cape exports a little wool of six
months' growth to America, but it is worthy of note that American manu-
facturers pay more attention to the longer wools than they formerly did.
A considerable share of the longer-stapled wools is absorbed by German
manufacturers ; but by far the largest consumers are the Yorkshire mills,
where about one-fifth of all the Cape clip is converted into "top," the
semi-manufactured article between the raw material and the spun yarn,
and which forms the leading medium of buying and selling. About
122,000 bales were dealt with in the London public auctions of colonial
wools during 1895, and the prices ruling at these sales determine the
basis of values for the trade at large. The coarse mixture of hair and
wool derived from first crosses of Merino with the fat-tailed sheep, forms
only an insignificant part of the South African clip ; but while of limited
proportions and small value, it is nevertheless in favour for the manu-
facture of "homespun tweeds" and soldiers' uniforms, and the pelt makes
excellent leather for Cape tan gloves. Even more valuable are the pelts
of the pure fat-tailed sheep, as the hair is carefully removed by a chemical
process, and there are none of those cuts which are so often made in the
skins of sheep while wool is being shorn. The fat-tailed sheep only
produces hair, which is of so little value that it is never shorn. When the
sheep are killed the hair is left on the pelts and shipped to this country.
When removed from the skin it is only fit to mix with lime used for wall
plaster.

CHAPTER XIX.

SCAB OR BRAND-ZIEKTE IN SHEEP.

Scab Detrimental to Progress — Estimate of Loss to the Colony — Boer
Farmers' Objections to Scab Act— Injury done by Scab— Symptoms
of Scab — .Administration of the Scab Act — Benefits of Central
Control — .Simultaneous Dipping — Dipping not Understood —
Different Species of Scab Insects — Propagation of Sheep Scab —
Popular Dipping Materials — Sulphur and Lime — Hot versus Cold
Dipping — Value of Tobacco — Dipping Tanks — Poisoning by Dip —
Winter Dipping — Cooper's Proposal to Eradicate Scab.

The greatest deterrent to the progress of the stock in-
dustry of the Colony is the prevalence among sheep more
particularly, but also among Angora and Boer goats, of the
" disease " commonly known as scab — the result of an
abnormal and unhealthy condition of the skin due to irrita-
tion created by myriads of microscopic mite-like insects or
acari. During the time of the author's visit no farming ques-
tion attracted so much public attention as the subject of
scab and the Scab Act. And marvellous to relate, although
it is estimated that the annual loss to the Colony from scab
alone amounts to a million pounds sterling, the energy dis-
played was not expended in trying to find the simplest, most
expeditious, and most effective cure, but in opposing the
legislative means directed against scab infestation.

The Boer population of the old type entertain very
strong and even obstinate objections to Government inter-
fering in any way with the management of their farms, and
consequently to the periodical visits of the scab inspectors.
Some, with faith which would have done credit to a Scottish
Covenanter, believe that art outbreak of scab is as much a
judgment of God as the seven plagues of Egypt were, and
being sent for some gracious object, it would be wicked to
appear to strive against the Almighty by attempting to
destro)' it — forgetful that the Author of all good may some-

368 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

times permit evil so that His creatures may be ennobled by
overcomin^^ the same. Another, and perhaps a larger school,
made it a political question, and although it was impossible
to imagine that many of them could have sympathy with
the divine interposition theory, they used the dissatisfaction
which prevailed to weld together a somewhat disunited party
for the attainment of other political ends. Probably much
of the opposition which has been experienced would have
been obviated had Government organised in different dis-
tricts a proper system of instruction and explanation before
attempting to introduce compulsory regulations.

Dissatisfaction was not confined to those who for one
reason or another sympathised with the existence of scab,
or rather the cessation of efforts for its destruction, but many
who were sincerely anxious to see the country cleared of the
scourge became disheartened and despondent at the imperfect
character of the Scab Act, and at the vacillating and dilatory
policy of the Government in the administration of it. It is
impossible for an impartial observer who has studied the
nature of scab not to sympathise with the last-mentioned
malcontents. It has been abundantly demonstrated that
scab is due to certain well-known insects which cannot
develop spontaneously, but like any of the animals of the
farm must descend from parents. The possibility of spon-
taneous generation in even the lower forms of animal life is
not in these latter days entertained by men of science.

It is well known that scab prevents a flock thriving ;
increases the death-rate ; lowers the quality and value of
wool through developing weak places in the fibre ; leads to
the objectionable practice of shearing twice annually, and
increases the anxiety of management while it lessens the
return for invested capital and expended energy. Further, it
has been shown that by united and strenuous effort not onl)-
a country, but a continent — Australia for example * — can be
absolutely cleared of the pest, and that by the use of simple
means the insect can be prevented from reappearing.

Of the easily distinguished symptoms of scab the first to

* A few places in Western Australia must be mentioned as e.vcep-
tions, but this does not affect the argument, wliich holds good in the
case of all the other .Australian colonies.

SCA15 UK liKAND-ZIKKTl-: IN SlIKKP. 369

appear is itchiness — the animal bitinij, scratching, and rubbing
itself. Stains are made on the wool by the hind feet used in
scratching, and small tufts of wool, detached by the action of
biting at the irritated parts, adhere to the surface of the fleece.
The skin of the affected parts if pinched is thick and hard to
grip, and on shedding the wool purplish-yellow pustules may
be seen on the skin discharging serous matter ; or at a later
stage hard crusts or scabs may be felt at the base of the wool.

Animals which are in poor condition from any cause
afford the most favourable conditions for the rapid increase of
the insect. This interesting fact has been proved conversely
through the difficulty which has been experienced in estab-
lishing artificially colonies of insects on sheep in high con-
dition with abundance of yolk in the wool.

A Scab Act, to do any really permanent good, must of
necessity lead to inconvenience among stock-owners, and
those possessed of a proper sense of duty to their neighbours
as well as to themselves, are prepared to submit and to encour-
age others to follow their example ; but it would be contrary
to human nature to expect such men to endure without mur-
muring practically all the inconveniences necessary to do the
work thoroughly, while aware of the fact that their efforts
would be in vain, and that failure must be the inevitable result.

The whole community has suffered for a number of years
from the injurious consequences of repeated defective efforts
to cope with the disease, and although some good has been
done in certain localities, the Colony seems no nearer a
final solution of the question. The last report of the Super-
intendents of Scab Inspectors is full of complaints of gross
neglect of duty on the part of a large number of their sub-
ordinates. While the Chief Scab Inspector is nominally in
control of the working of the Scab Act, each locality is
entrusted with the election of its own Sub-Inspector, with
the result that the districts which require the most efficient
officer is often very badly provided for, and the work neglected
or carelessly executed. Desultory and disjointed action under
local and frequently uninterested or inexperienced control, can
only be vexatious and ineffective. The overpowering benefits
of paramount central control in coping with disease have
been recently demonstrated beyond all question of doubt by

2 A

FEMALE -Ventral Surface

ScAB-JMiTEs OF Sheep and Goats.
Sheep ]\rites ; Boer Goat Mites ; A)igora Goat Mites. All greatly magnified.

DiaivH/rom Nature hy J\hs D. Huic

SCAIi OR BRAND-ZIKKTE IN SIIEEP. 371

tlie successful action of the British Board of At^riculture in
stampini;- out plcuro-pneumonia in cattle ; and, let there be
no shirking- the fact, not without much strenuous opposition
and healthy criticism during the process.

It is to be feared that if individuals exist who seriously
believe in the possible efficacy of the present Scab Act, they
are doomed to disappointment. It will be a hard, if not an
impossible, task to find any effective measure short of those
recommended by the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, viz., repeated
simultaneous dippings, associated with the destruction of the
old infected kraals. To accomplish the work inexpensively
and systematically the country would require to be divided into
four areas, each of which would be operated upon in turn.
All the sheep in the earliest district would be first dipped, and
while the others remained undipped all importation of sheep
into the dipped area would be prohibited. There would be
no objection, however, to sheep from the dipped area going
freely into the undipped districts. The first area having been
completed, the second would be undertaken as expeditiously
as possible, and on the sheep there being dipped it would in
the matter of export and import of sheep be put on the same
footing as the first area, and so on until all four divisions had
been undertaken — the universal rule being that dipped sheep
may go anywhere, but undipped sheep must not enter the
dipped area until they also have been operated upon. The
area in which restriction on movements existed would thus
rapidly decrease, as dipping went on, and finally disappear.
The work should be done by a staff of trained experts who
would ])ass on from division to division, and be a guarantee that
the dipping was properly executed. Dipping has been so little
practised that many farmers do not understand the method
of preparing the dip-material, or how to put the sheep into the
bath when ready — quite a natural consequence in a country
where dipping is little known and rarely required except when
scab ai)pears. This is a sufficient explanation of the oft-told
tale that farmers have dipped, or more correctly gone through
the form of dipping, and obtained no beneficial results.

A study of the accompanying figure will show that the
sheep, the Angora goat, and the common Boer goat have each
a species of Acarus peculiar to kself. Psoroptes ovis is the

372 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

common scab -mite of sheep ; Symbiotes capne that of the
Angora goat ; and Sarcoptes capne of the Boer goat. Though
one genus is more common to each animal named than others,
yet some animals become infected with three distinct genera
of Acarus. The symbiotes (the mite which congregates in
famiHes) infesting the Angora goat, breeds freely on the
Boer goat ; while the sarcoptic Boer goat scab-mite (which
burrows deeper, and pierces the epidermis, the others only
irritating its surface) will also affect horses and cattle —
more particularly while they are young. It is not easily
distinguished from the itch insect, Acarus scabies, and it
has been known to establish itself on the legs of human
beings whose clothes had been brought into close contact
with infected animals, though probably it could not breed
there. Repeated washing with carbolic soap for a week
proved an effective remedy. While this is so, there exists
no direct proof that the common sheep scab can be com-
municated to any other of the domestic animals. There
is no solid foundation to the objection of farmers to clean
their sheep while wild animals (antelopes) remain scabby,
as the mites in these cases belong to the sarcoptic groups,
found only on animals covered with short hair.

Flocks of .sheep have been known to take scab through
being shut in a kraal, into which no sheep had been ad-
mitted for a period of years. Even twenty years have been
mentioned in this connection ; but caution is necessary in
accepting reports from people who are not accustomed to
observe such matters with scientific accuracy. An illustra-
tion may be found in a report that living scab insects had
been found in kraal manure at the depth of from one to two
feet from ttie surface in a place from which sheep had been
excluded for years. It is admitted that the acarus eggs will,
under favourable circumstances, remain in the manure for a
considerable period of time, extending to years, and hatch, in
the event of sheep lying down on them, or their being blown
into the wool along with the fine dust from the surface of the
kraal floor. But it has not been scientifically demonstrated
that the scab insect can live more than three weeks, under
the most favourable circumstances, away from the skin of the
sheep, and no credence whatever is given to the implication

SCAB OR RRANn-ZIEKTE IN SHEEP. 373

that it can propagate its species for generations in any other
than its natural habitat — the skin. As the life-history of the
scab insect extends over a comparatively short period, to be
estimated in days or weeks, it follows that if living insects are
found in sheep's dung years after the time when the sheep
were removed from the spot, the insects must not only have
lived and bred, but they must have bred through many genera-
tions. If this were possible, it would raise a very serious
question as to the difficult}', or even the impossibilit}', of
eradicating scab.

The mystery of the so-called " scab insects " existing in
large numbers, and breeding in the stale manure of sheep
kraals, was satisfactorily explained by Dr Hutcheon towards
the end of 1895, when it was shown that a mistake had been
made in identification by the farmers who found the manure
or kraal insects, and that these were mites which live ex- •
clusively upon decaying organic matter and not upon a
living animal. The accompanying figures, drawn by Mrs D.
Hutcheon, showing No. i the male and No. 2 the female of
one species, and No. 3 an immature form and sexuall}- unde-
veloped representative of another species, were submitted b}'
the author to Albert D. Michael.*

After explaining that it is impossible with any ccrtaint)'
to identify species or even genera from outline drawings owing
to the want of structural detail, he says : — ■

Figs. I and 2 are of one of the common so-called cheese-mites {Tyro-
j^Iyp/iidci'). If the drawing be correct they should belong to the genus
Rhizoglyphus, but probably they are really a TyroglypJnis^ present on the
sheep-manure to eat the minute fungi which' grow there, or else to eat the
decaying vegetable or animal matter. No. 3 is one of the Gamasidcr^
probably oi \\\(t genus Lcclaps j if the drawing be at all correct it is imma-
ture, and consequently impossible to identify ; it seems a very ordinary
form. It is a predatory form which probably preys upon Nos. i and 2.
Neither of the three would be parasitic ; they might be found in plenty
of other places besides the manure.

One of the most prominent differences, to the ordinary
observer, between the manure-mite and the scab-mite may be
full}' appreciated b}- comparing the hooked terminations of
the limbs of the insects, represented in the three figures, with

* The authority on mites in this country, and author of " British
Oribatiae," Ray Society, London.

>/?>-

^^\^

^-:7

/2\'~^ /"i

'^:\ r

'T-r

Fig 3.

Zig.l.

Fig. 2.

MiTBs (Magnified) FOUND IN the Manuke of Sheet Kkaals and mistaken for Scab Insects.

Dra'ivn by Mrs D. llutcheon.

Common Scah-Mites, Psoi^opies communis, Ta>-s. ovis and eoui.
Kvy on page 3-]6. U.S. A, f\c/<in/ A/nii/a/ Pai-asifcs i'/.S/!cl'/>, 1S90.

3/6 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONV.

the sucker terminations of the true scab-mite shown in detail
in the figures on page 375.

Apart from what has just been explained, it should not be
forgotten that kraals become temporarily infested with scab
insects, and for a much longer period by their eggs, ready to
establish themselves on sheep that are brought within their
reach. The veld also becomes unclean ; and it is a matter of
first importance, when a flock of scabbed sheep has been
dipped, that the pasture should be changed at the same time,
and all the kraals on the original run burned.

There are about twenty varieties of dip used in the
Colony, and when skilfully applied, it is probable that all are
capable of destroying the scab insect, although an insect will
retain life for an hour after being immersed in a solution of
almost any one of them. But in addition to the crop of
mature insects, there are myriads of eggs to cope with, which
will hatch out in a few days. It is the recognised practice to
dip a second time ten days after the first operation ; but in
addition to this, it is necessary to use material which, by
adhering to the wool, will remain for a time, and destroy the
young insects as they escape from the eggs. Sulphur, owing
to its extraordinarily searching nature, and to its being so inimi-
cal to the lower forms of vegetable and animal life, is the most
valuable ingredient to accomplish this end. Applied exter-
nally, or taken internally, it is equally deadly. It is not to be
wondered at that the common lime and sulphur dip should be

The Common Scab-Mite— Psoroptes communis, Ftrst.,
var. Ovis. Key to the figs, on page 375.

Fig. I. Young female before moulting for the last time.

Fig. 2. Egg drawn from a specimen which was inside an adult female.

Fig. 3. Young six-footed larva.

Fig. 4. a open, and b closed sucker of Psoroptes from ears of rabbit ;

r, the rod which connects the membrane on the end with the

muscles which close the sucker.
Fig. 5. Two views of the mandibles. The lateral spurs, c?, c?, point

outward (Megnin).
Fig. 6. Head and anterior limb enlarged ventral view : a, man iiblcs ;

b^ antenn;u ; f, maxilhc ; d^ membrane joining" the antenn;c ;

c, e, e, joints of the limb ; f, the claw ; i^, the ambulacrum or

sucker.
Fig. 7. Male and female of fsorop/cs rflun/it/nis^ war. cqiiis, Megnin.

SCAB OR BRAND-ZIEKTE IN SHEEP,

377

most extensively used, and that Cooper's dip, which is largely
composed of sulphide of arsenic, should come next. The
following table, taken from the Report of the Superintendent of
Scab Inspectors located at Bedford, and relating to his dis-
trict, will show the relative merits as judged by the test of
experience of eight of the most popular dips : —

1 Name of Dip.

Number of
Sheep Dipped.

Number of
Owners.

.Sulphur and lime
Cooper's ....
Little's ....
Austrian arrow tobacro
Hayward's ....
Tobacco extract .
Ouibell's ....
M'DougaH's

2,057,246

f,395,377
595,981
511,347
416,025
290,597
176,072
76,334

2,980

5,593

2,070

708

337

5.8

146

Sulphur-lime dip, which has been pro\-ed so effective
against scab, not only in Cape Colony, but in Great Britain,
America, and Victoria, is naturally condemned by patent dip
agents, whose business would be injuriously affected if the
true merits of the sulphur and lime dip were more widely
understood. It is said to injure the wool, unless used imme-
diately after shearing ; but though injury may at times result,
it is not the fault of the material, but the want of experience
in those who use it. Sulphur and lime, when properly united by
boiling together for a considerable time, until the hyposulphide
of lime is formed, can be used to dip sheep in full wool without
observable injury. The proper proportion of ingredients is 25
lbs. of sulphur and 18 lbs. of slaked lime, made into a thick
cream, and boiled for twenty minutes in 20 gallons of water ;
then the solution assumes an orange colour, and unites to form
sulphide and hyposulphide of calcium. When put into the
tank, the quantity is made up to 100 gallons. The dip is all the
more effective if it be kept up to a temperature of 100° F.,so that
it may more easily penetrate the hard scabs under which the
mites find shelter and protection. The scabs are formed b}-
the serous effusion from the skin (resulting from irritation
]3roduccd b}' the sharp-pointed mandibles of the scab in.sect)
drjing round the base of the wool fibres. In the case of Boer

^yi^ FyVRMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

goats, with the sarcoi^tic insect, which gets under the epi-
dermis, hot dipping up to even i io° F. is absolutely necessary.
Goats should remain one and a half minute in the dip, and
sheep at least one minute. The great advantage patent dips
have over lime and sulphur is, that they can be all mixed with
cold water, which is a saving of trouble. On the other hand,
the lime and sulphur dip costs considerably less, even when
the boiling of the water is reckoned. The Komgha district
was the first district cleared of scab, and this was accomplished
purely through the use of lime and sulphur.

Apart from the possible variation in equality of dipping
material, and the different amounts of energy displayed in
getting rid of scab, some districts yield to treatment more
readily than others ; for example, scab is more easily over-
come in the Karoo than on the moist, grassy lands near the
coast.

Tobacco has long been associated with the most effective
dressings used in outbreaks of scab, and being a colonial
product, its value, especially when used in conjunction with
sulphur, or one of its compounds, should not be forgotten.
As boiling weakens its power to kill, it is prepared like tea,
by infusing 4 or 5 oz. in a gallon of warm water for two
hours. A successful Australian dip consisted of — Tobacco,
25 lbs.; flowers of sulphur, 15 lbs.; water, 100 gallons.

The round dipping tank employed in the Colony is only
to be excused in the case of small flocks. The long bath, 24
to 30 feet in length, and merely wide enough to admit of the
passage of one sheep at a time, should be in universal use
when large numbers are to be dealt with. The proper prac-
tice with such a convenience is to plunge the sheep in one at
a time, nose first, and over the head. Sheep then see what is
going to happen, and close their mouths, so that cases of
poisoning, so frequent with arsenic dips, when sheep are put
in back downwards, arc quite unknown. When a sheep is
swimming slowly througli the tank, as it ought to do, it may
with perfect safety be repeatedly pushed down over the head.
When an arsenic dip is used, the sheep should be thoroughly
dripped or drained before being turned out on the veld, else
arsenic poisoning will occur among the animals grazing over
the part on which the dip has been permitted to drop. Cases

SCAB OR BRAND-ZIEKTE IN SHEEP. 379

of poisoning by arsenical dips have been several times reported,
in some of which the result has been brought about by sheer
ignorance of the nature of the materials. " The solubility of
arsenious acid, coloured by orpiment* to give it a distinctive
and precautionary yellow colour, is but small and slow when
cold water is used. It has happened that the operators, un-
mindful of this fact, have filled their tank with water and then
emptied the tin of arsenical dip upon its surface. The arsenic
holds a superficial film of air very tenaciously, and in virtue
of it floats like a scum. Even persistent beating of the liquor
with rods does not bring about the solution and disappearance
of the floating poison until after a considerable time has
elapsed. The proper method is to mix up the calculated
quantity of dip-powder with boiling water in a tub until it is
perfectly wetted into a smooth creamy paste, and presents no
lumps. So prepared, the material will rapidly and uniformly
mix with the water-content of the tank, and there \\\\\ be no
floating arsenical scum on the surface to give a mouthful of
deadly poison to the first half-dozen sheep if put carelessly
through. It is obvious also that, even if no fatal accident
arises from the sheep swallowing such arsenical floating scum,
they cannot fail to carry it away adhering to their fleece, and
by this means render the proportion of material in the fluid
considerably lower than is intended. Any person can satisfy
himself of the reality of the above reported conditions by
shaking up a pinch of dry arsenic with cold water in a phial.
It will be quite impossible, even by violent agitation, to wet
the whole of it at once and prevent a superficial scum."

Winter dipping has been objected to, more particularly
by those who took up the Anti-Scab Act agitation, but there
can be no valid objection raised if it be practised in mild sunny
weather, and not after mid-day, so that the sheep may get
their skins dried to some extent before the cold of night settles
down. Winter dipping is practised with success in Scotland,
where climatic conditions are much more tr}'ing than in South
Africa, and in Cape Colony also it has been shown that it is
not necessarily injurious. Government has also limited the
]:)ossible loss to the owner by becoming liable to pay for all

* King's yellow, or yellow sulphuret of arsenic.

380 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

deaths over 2 per cent, resulting from compulsory dipping
under the Scab Act.

A businesslike proposal was made to the Cape Government
in April 1893 by William Cooper & Nephews, the well-
known sheep-dip manufacturers, to " completely eradicate
from the Colony the scab disease in sheep and goats " within
a period of three years, for a maximum sum of ^^"73 5,000.
The proposed conditions rightly and naturally embraced
compulsory power to dip in such a manner as would secure
success, and also to destroy old kraals from which the
sheep might have been reinfected. The cost of dip[)ing was
to be borne by Government, and this disarmed the oppo-
sition which would certainly have come from those who
oppose all legislation leading to direct expenditure by them-
selves. The proposal was said to be favoured by many who
are at present acting in opposition to the Scab Act. They
had probably not realised that the destruction of old kraals
imjjlicd an outlay in making new ones. The danger of enter-
ing into a contract necessitating such strict compulsory
regulations was too great for the Government to undertake,
and the proposal was declined. Seeing the alternative efforts
have proved so unsuccessful, it is matter for regret that
the Coopers' proposal was not accepted, as the Colony con-
tinues to lose annually from the evil influences of scab more
than the sum asked for its complete eradication. Of course, it
may be argued that this is not a colonial question, that it is a
]:)urely farmers' question. No doubt it is a farmers' question
in the first instance, but one ruinously affecting such an im-
portant industry that it becomes in its direct as well as in its
secondary bearings a colonial question of the first importance.
About three-fourths of the ex[3ort trade of Cape Colony,
exclusive of diamonds, are the jjroducts of sheep and goats.
Such a loss as we refer to is bad enough in good times, but
when we consider that it comes in addition to reductions in
profits through the influences of bad times, and that it in many
cases transforms a possible moderate profit into a serious loss,
the far-reaching nature of its influences begins to be realised.
Large numbers of those employed in the chief industry of the
Colony cannot get into debt and become bankrupt without
the general interests of the Colony being made to suffer.

CHAPTER XX.

DISEASES OF SHEEP AND SWINE.

Heart-water in Sheep — Autumn Fever in Sheep —Liver Fhilce in Sheep —
Wire-Worm — Tape-Worm — Doses of Arsenic — The Wild Pig — The
Wart Hog — The Common Country Pig — The Tam worth Breed —
Tape-Worm — Measly Pork — Pig-Breeding — Importance of the Pig —
Numbers of Pigs in the Colony.

Heart-water in sheep is another ob.scure di.sea.se of a
specific character, which seems to be unknown in other sheep
countries. No .systematic investigation has ever been made
into its true nature, but from t^eneral observation of its course
it seems to be due to the presence of an organism in the blood,
— a fact which associates it with such diseases as red-water,
anthrax, hver-sickness in calves, horse-sickness, and many
febrile diseases of the same class. It is characterised by high
fever, great depression, and an abundant pale-yellow serous-
albuminous fluid, which rapidly effuses into the thoracic cavity
and pericardium. It is this latter appearance which gave
origin to the name — a designation badly chosen if it were
intended to convey any description of the nature of the
disease. Some sheep die in twenty-four hours after they
have become visibly affected, while some linger a week and
even longer. Very few recover. It appears to have a period
of incubation of from fourteen to sixteen days.

Heart- water was unknown till about thirty years ago,
when it first appeared on the coast in Peddie and Bathurst.
It travelled graduall}^ inward from farm to farm, taking some
farms and missing others that in all respects look similar to
those that were involved. In this way it spread through the
districts of Alexandria, Albany, P'ort Beaufort, Victoria East,
East London, and the lower parts of King William's Town
and Komgha. And in this area to this day there are large
tracts of country which to all appearance look admirably

382 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

adapted for sheep, but upon which they cannot Hve, althougl
they did remarkably well at one time. No evidence exi.sts tc
.su]jport the theory that it was due to overstocking ; and, in^
shcM't, for the present the cause remains a m)^ster)^ This is one
of the diseases which will have to be studied in the 13acteri(j-
loi^ical Institute. A knowledy,"e of its nature, and of some pos-
sible means for its prevention or control, may yet be of special
interest to the Colony. It is not at all certain but that the
disease will spread to other districts not yet invaded by it, or
that, as red-water is likely to do, it will not extend to the
whole Colony. The rate at which it travels is much slower
than in the case of red-water, but it is a siy;nificant fact that
the affected area is still expanding. A mixture of turpentine,
raw linseed oil, sulphate of iron, and sulphur, given in full
doses, at short intervals, has proved very successful as a pre-
ventive of heart-water, and arsenic given in small doses every
second clay has been tried w ith apparent benefit ; but unless
the object can be acccjmplished by the administration of a
limited number of doses, the injury done to sheep by bringing
them together, and by the constant handling required in
giving medicine, makes it impcjssible to regard this as a
satisfactory practice for general adoption. The farmer must
exercise patience until scientific research has shown the true
nature of the disease, and has discovered some preventive or
remedial treatment.

Since the foregvjing was ]:)enned Dr I lutcheon writes that
"experiments conducted by Soga towards the end of 1895
show that the best preventive yet tried is a mixture of one
part of lime to three parts of common salt, finely powdered
and sifted — a teaspcjonful is the dose repeated every eight
days. It is seldom that more than three doses are required to
arrest the further spread of the disease. Among curative
remedies, the best results have been obtained by. giving two
drachms of oil of turpentine in half-an-ounce of raw linseed
<m1, three times a day. Quinine administered in large doses
lowers the temperature, but it does not appear to arrest the
effusion of fluid into the chest, nor aid in its absorption after-
wards, both of which the turpentine appears to accomplish."

Autumn fever, or " blaau'w-tong'," in sheep is a form of
influenza which is thought to be nearly allied to horse-sickness.

DISKASliS UV SHKEl' AND SWINE. 383

if not identical with that local form of it which affects the head
and the tongue more particularly. It occurs about the same
|)eriod of the year, generally from mid-summer throughout
the autumn, and it gives every indication of the sheej) having
during the night inhaled or swallowed, probably both, some
form of malarial poison from mists or exhalations from low-
lying or damp ground. Like horse-sickness it may be pre-
vented by keeping the sheep under cover, or kraaling them
at night on an elevated place. The walls of the kraal keep
back the mists, and the temperature inside is raised by the
sheep themselves and by the heat produced by the fermenta-
tion of the manure, often many feet thick, covering the bottom
of the kraal. When a sheep is affected the feet become
inflamed and tender, the lips become swollen, and the nostrils
sore and raw. In bad cases the tongue becomes purple and
much enlarged. In some .seasons 50 per cent, of a flock will
take the disease if precautions are not instituted, and 10 to 15
or even a greater percentage may die.

Rot or liver-fluke or " slak " in sheep is not a widespread
disease in the Colony. It is due to the presence of flat, fluke-
like worms, Fasciflla Iicpatica, in the biliary ducts. It is confined
chiefly to low, marshy land, and to the higher areas of the
country, where the rainfall is greater than at lower levels,
where salt is deficient, and where vleis have been allowed to
become flooded, or filled, like a sponge, with moisture. It has
recently been ascertained that the minute shell snail, Lii/inceus
truncatulus, in which the parasite spends a considerable portion
of the cycle of its existence, is to be found all the way from
Cape Colony to Egypt. Wherever land becomes wet, the
probability is that sheep grazing on it will contract the disease,
and a few infected spots in a camp might, in a comparatively
short space of time, lead to the infestation of the greater
number of a flock. The remedy is a most simple one — viz.,
to drain the land if it be too wet. This can easily be done by
drawing a plough furrow through the part in cjuestion. By
washing, this furrow speedily deepens into an effective drain.
Salt given to the flock to lick is also beneficial as a preventive
of the most .serious consec^uences, though not alone a sufficient
remedy ; and a little sulphate of iron powder acts as a stomachic,
and stimulates the digestion ; but no actual remedy can be

The Liver-Fluke, Distoma iiei-aticuim (Fascioi.a hefatica).

DISEASES OF SHEEP AND SWINE. 385

said to be a success after an animal exhibits the anaemic con-
dition which marks the development of the disease. Sheep
with only a few flukes may live for the usual period of their
existence, and never show any symptoms of disease ; and if
such sheep lived long enough, they would ultimately get quit
of all the flukes if they were kept on sound land, and away
from renewed infestation, as in course of time the flukes die,
and are ejected. They cannot multiply within the sheep, for
at least two stages of the cycle of their existence are passed
in another host.

Wire-worm or red-worm, Strongylus contortus, in sheep

Liver-Fluke, Distoma hepaticum, Linn. Figs, page opposite.*

Fig. I. Adult fluke, natural size : ice, young fluke, natural size. (Raillet.)
Fig. 2. Eggs : a, o.g'g with developing embryo ; b, ff^^'g with embryo ;

r, egg-shell. (Raillet.)
Fig. 3. Ciliated and free embryo : a^ perforating apparatus ; b, ocular

spot. (Leuckart.)
Fig. 4. Encysted embryo found in snails. (A. P. Thomas.)
Fig. 5. Diagram of digestive apparatus and nervous system : a., mouth

sucker ; /;, pharynx ; t", oesophagus ; d^ branches of intestine ;

c, their branchlets ; /, nerve ganglia ; g^ ventral nerve. (Raillet.)
Fig. 6. LiiiUKcus truncattcliis, the principal snail which is the larval

host of the fluke in Europe : «, natural size. (Raillet.)
Fig. 7. Rcdia of Distoma hcpaticuiii : a., mouth ; b^ pharynx ; c, digestive

tube ; d^ the so-called germinative cells destined to produce

cercarife. (Leuckart.)
Fig. 8. Redia containing cercaria? : a, mouth ; b^ pharynx ; c, digestive

tube ; (f, d^ cercaria;. (Leuckart.)
Fig. 9. Cercaria dissected from its cyst : c?, anterior sucker ; /;, ventral

sucker ; <;, pharynx ; d^ d, branches of the intestine terminating

in c;eca. (Leuckart.)
Fig. 10. Grass stalk with three encysted young flukes, re, a, a. (A. P.

Thomas.)
Fig. II. Free-swimming cercaria just before it is about to encyst. (A. P.

Thomas.)
Fig. 12. A slightly older stage than Fig. 11. (A. P. Thomas.)
Fig. 13. Genital apparatus of the liver-fluke : d, digestive tube ; b, ventral

sucker ; c, anterior testicle ; d, its deferent canal ; l\ posterior

testicle ; f, its deferent canal ; g seminal vesicle ; //, genital

sinus ; /, cirrhus pouch ; j\ ovary ; /-, oviduct ; /, shell-gland ;

w, yolk glands ; ;/, longitudinal, and o, transverse yolk-gland

canals ; p, uterus ; q, vagina. (Raillet.)

* These figures, and those on pages 386 and 389, were taken from ".Animal
Parasites of Sheep," by Cooper Curtice, D.V.S., M.D., Washington, 1890.

2 B

•^

WiRK-woRM, Strongylus contortus— TiiE TwiSTEi) Stomach Worm.

DISEASES OF SHEEP AND SWINE. 387

is one of the most insidious and widespread causes of loss of
stock to the Colony, and is found usually located in consider-
able numbers in the fourth stomach. Like some other parasitic
affections, it tends to increase more particularly where sheep
are the only stock kept from year to year on the land, or when
from any cause they get into poor condition. Even in such a
healthy district for sheep as the Stormberg, it is well in evi-
dence. The wire-worm is most prevalent in or after seasons
of excessive rainfall, when the grass is badly rusted. This is
merely another way of saying that the nutritive qualities of
the grass are inferior. Animals affected with wire-\\-orm suffer
from a depraved appetite, and take to eating earth. The most
effective remedy which has yet been found in the Colony is a
solution of sulphate of copper or bluestone given after the
sheep have fasted for at least twenty hours — i lb. of bluestone
dissolved in 8 gallons, or say 50 quart (beer) bottles, of water,
4 oz. being a full dose for an old sheep, down to i oz. for a
three months old lamb. On occasions when the solution has
been given stronger than this — 42 quart bottles to the i lb.
of bluestone — inflammation of the stomach and intestines has
occurred, and large numbers of sheep thus treated ha\'e died

Wire-worm, Strongylus contortus, Rud. Figs, page opposite.

Fig. I. Adult female, x6: a, head; I?, ovaries wound around the intes-
tines ; r, r, uteri ; d, a large papilla, just in front off and cover-
ing the vulva ; e, anus.

Fig. 2. Adult male, x 6.

Fig. 3. Head : a, two barb-like papilla; ; b, mouth ; c, oesophagus ;
d, intestine.

Fig. 4. Eggs, highly magnified : a, eggs before they have left the ovaries ;
I), eggs showing nuclei ; c, eggs after they have passed through
the oviduct ; d, e.gg with one cell ; e, with two ; f, with four ;
g, with eight ; //, with many ; z, egg as it is laid.

Fig. 5. Skin, showing nine of the eighteen longitudinal lines.

Fig. 6. Portion of female : «, the intestine ; d, b, the ends of the ovaries.

Fig. 7. Caudal end of female : a, the anus ; (5, the vulva ; l\ vagina ;
d, d, uteri filled with eggs ; e, oviduct ; f^f, ovary ; g^ intestine.

Fig. 8. Spicula, enlarged.

Fig. g. Bursa, expanded to show costa; : a, ventral ; b, ventro-lateral ;

c, lateral ; d, dorso-lateral ; e, dorsal ; /, spicula.
Fig. 10. Group of adult males and females, natural size.

Fig. 1 1. Caudal end of male : a, bursa ; b, spicula ; c, seminal reservoir ;

d, intestine.

388 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

in consequence. Goats are not so easily affected in this way,
but in any case it is better to err on the safe side. It has
been demonstrated that it is the strength of the solution, and
not the total amount given, that proves dangerous. If one
dose does not destroy the worms completely, a second may be
administered at the end of a fortnight. Sheep, particularly
when young, frequently die from weakness after the remedy
has been applied, from want of nourishing food to sustain
them in their exhausted condition. A change of veld, and to
better and more abundant food, is a very important part of
the treatment.

The tape-worm, Tania expmisa, Rud., is another parasite
which, like the wire-worm, is becoming increasingly trouble-
some among small stock. Both can be picked up from any
part of the veld on which sheep or goats have within a few
months been grazing. In this they differ from fluke, which
is more localised. The tape-worm does not cause so much
irritation in the mucous lining of the bowels as the wire-worm
does in the stomach, but by drawing nourishment from the
food as the ingesta passes through the bowel, it exhausts the
strength, especially of a young animal, whose tissues are
more tender, and whose constitution is softer, and less able
than a matured animal to cope with either internal or ex-
ternal parasites, or other difficulties. Liberal allowances

Broad Tape-worm, T^nia expansa, Rud. Figs, page opposite.
Figs. I and 2. Young tape-worms, natural size.
Fig. 3. Head end of tape-worm, drawn to show vermicular contractions

when Hving.
Fig. 4. Head, top view : a^ a, the suckers or cups, by which the worm

attaches itself to the intestinal walls.
Fig. 5. Head, side view: a, a, suckers; /', /', folds in the neck ; c, r, the

first segments.
Fig. 6. The large end of a young tape-worm : a, a, segments which are

not mature enough to drop off; b, li, segments ready to pass

away from the worm.
Fig. 7. Segments, or proglottides, found separate from the worm.
Fig. 8. An adult tape-worm, drawn in sections at regular intervals apart :

a, head.
Fig. 9. A fragment of another worm, which is not only slightly larger,

but whose segments are shorter and broader.
The specimen shown in Fig. 8 could have assumed very much the
same form when alive as is seen in Fig. 9.

c e.-::f -:

The Broad Taie-wor.m, T/Knia exi'ansa.

390 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

of salt and lime (i of lime to 5 or 6 of salt) are no doubt
actively detrimental to the establishment of worm parasites
in the digestive system. Change of pasture in alternate
years (as grazing sheep one year on land which carried cattle
the year before, and vice versa) is an excellent preventive. In
Great Britain, it is a well-known fact, that to run lambs on
a pasture soon after old sheep have been grazing on it, is a
most objectionable practice, and one likely to lead to parasitic
attacks. The parasites are not always of the same species as
those now under discussion, as the " hoose " worm, Strongylus
filaria, is much more liable to appear than either tape-worm or
wire-worm. South Africa seems to be highly favoured in the
matter of the attacks of strongylus as compared with certain
parts of the Australian colonies, where it is impossible to
keep sheep without periodically fumigating them for lung-
worms or using the intra-tracheal injection syringe as an
alternative remedy. In certain parts of Australia, too, human
beings as well as animals suffer from the formation of hydatids
(in which the embryo tape-worm of the sheep, Ta;nia expansa*
is found) in many of the internal organs, which frequently
cause death. These are taken into the system in impure
drinking water, and the lesson for Cape Colony to learn is,
that if tape-worms are permitted greatly to increase on the
veld, the chances of their immature forms being found in
drinking water will also increase, and the hydatids appear in
the vitals of the unfortunates who drink it. If the annual
winter starvation, and the famine during periods of drought,
did not occur, parasites would have greater difficulty in estab-
lishing themselves. The vital functions of a healthy well-
nourished body often jDrevent their development, or so reduce
their numbers that the injury done is inappreciable.

The study of the life-history of internal and external
parasites, and the best means for their destruction, is well
worthy of the attention of every stock-farmer in the Colony,
as it is estimated upon the best authority that they are respon-
sible for the death of as many farm animals as all the different
forms of disease put together. A little consideration will show
that the preventive method of treatment is infinitely superior

* See Tape-worm discussed under Pigs at the end of this chapter.

DISEASES OF SHEEP AND SWINE. 39I

to remedial measures, however useful the latter may be when
practised on a small scale and when the evil has become well
established. Nevertheless, the farmer ought to learn every-
thing that can be known relative to remedial treatment, so
that he may be able to employ it when occasion demands.

In giving medicine for the destruction of parasites, the
animal should be fasted for twenty hours before it is adminis-
tered, so that the alimentary canal may be partially emptied,
and thus allow the medicine, which acts as a poison to the
worms, to have full force. After the worms are dislodeed,
they may be cleared out by an aperient dose, or they may
remain and break up under the action of the digestive process.
Should an overdose be given to a fasted animal, it is then
much more liable to produce injury by poisoning than when the
paunch is full. For that reason, when arsenic is given as a
preventive of such diseases as horse-sickness or fever, it is not
expedient to fast the animal, as would be done in the effort to
destroy worms, and it is much more effective when given in
small doses of three or four grains daily, than in large and
somewhat dangerous doses at long intervals. The following
quotation from one of Dr Hutcheon's reports determines the
quantities of arsenic to be given in the most handy and, at the
same time, good and useful form, Cooper's sheep dipping
powder, which is practically within the reach of every one : —

The weight of Cooper's powder contained in an average teaspoonful
is 135 grains, of which about 24 grains are arsenious oxide, and about
5 grains arsenious sulphide, or very nearly 29 grains of white arsenic —
arsenious oxide. A teaspoonful of Cooper's powder contains the dose
generally given to ten sheep — which is practically 3 grains of arsenic each.
A tablespoonful would contain four teaspoonfuls,or roughly, 120 grains, and
enough for forty sheep. Two tablespoonfuls would contain 240 grains
of arsenic, enough for eighty sheep ; and if that amount is dissolved in
one gallon of water, which is 160 ounces, that would make each dose for
a sheep two fluid ounces or a wineglassful, while three wineglassfuls would
be a sufficient dose for a horse. Cooper's powder is usually given mixed
with salt or sulphur, but it may be given dry on the tongue, unmixed with
the salt, without any loss — as it is soft and adhesive. A broad blunt-
pointed knife is generally used. The dose is placed on the point of the
knife ; the boy opens the sheep's mouth, when the knife containing the
dose is introduced, turned over, and the powder left on the back of the
tongue ; for lambs and kids, after fasting for twenty, or more hours, that
is much the simplest plan, and they should go direct to their mothers to
ash it down by sucking and swallowing milk.

392 I'ARMING INnUSTRlES OF CAPE COLONY.

The fasting of sucking lambs for two days is also some-
times tried alone, with the object of inducing a scour in the
lamb through the milk which has collected in the mother's udder
not digesting properly. And again, sheep scour if put suddenly
on the fresh young shoots of grass that come up after land
has been burnt. Though this is said to clear off wire-worm, it
is if anything more likely to be beneficial in the case of tape-
worm. No definite line can be drawn between the treatment
for the one and for the other, as both parasites are frequently
present in the same animal. In short, quite a number of
species may make their attack at one and the same time.

The wild pig of South Africa, the " bosch vark," Pota-
mocluvriis africaniis, is a dark-grey animal, about 2 feet 6
inches high, with a large callous protuberance on each side of
the face, half-way between the nose and eyes, and long sharp-
pointed, tufted ears, which bend over at the tips. It is gre-
garious in habit, and lives mostly on vegetable food.

The wart hog, " valke vark," Phacochcei't4.s cBthiopiais, is
also a native of the southern portions of Africa, being found
in places from Abyssinia to Kafraria. It closely resembles
the true wild hog, except in dentition, and in the number of
its young being limited to four in each litter. It has alto-
gether only four very large molar teeth, and its tusks are
enormous. The head is large, and the muzzle broad. The
common name is derived from two conspicuous excrescences
or warts underneath the eyes. It lives mostly on roots, which
it digs up with its powerful tusks. It is furnished with a
mane, the hair or bristles of which are sometimes lo inches
long, extending from between its widely set ears along the
back. Excellent sport is had by hunting either the wart hog
or the bush hog above mentioned with dogs. Selous says that
" in the opinion of most hunters there are few things more
palatable than the flesh of a fat wild pig."

Domesticated pigs, which are kept in considerable
numbers in Cape Colony, though frequently far from pure,
are descended from European breeds. The common country
pig is a thick-set, well-bodied animal, on short legs, and
frequently grey in colour like the bosch vark. Where
there is abundance of shelter, so that they may escape from
the direct rays of the sun, white pigs do very well ; but

DISEASES OF SHEEP AND SWINE. 393

where they are at all exposed, the black varieties have great
advantages. The Tamworth breed, with its long nose, active
disposition, and hardy constitution, should be admirably
adapted to colonial conditions.

Although healthy on the whole, the pig too has its
ailments. . A stage of the tape-worm of man, Tcsnia solium,
which affects pigs by producing measly pork, is the one
which is of most interest to the general public, as, if the flesh
is eaten without being properly cooked, it will infest the
alimentary canal of the human consumer with tape-worms.
The head attaches itself to the mucous membrane of the
bowels, and the worm continues to grow within the intestines
of its unwilling host, absorbing by its outside surfaces the
juices it requires for its nourishment, and development goes
on at a rapid rate. It is extremely difficult at times to
dislodge the head from the human being, although fragments
of the segmented worm pass frequently. Its presence is not
uncommon among the Kaffir population, and the pig contracts
the infestation while running at large about the Kaffir
quarters, and picking up all sorts of garbage, among which
the segments of the tape-worm dropped by man are swallowed.
The eggs escape the process of digestion and get into the
circulatory system of the pig, and are from this distributed in
the muscular flesh throughout the different parts of the body,
there to become encysted and to produce the diseased
condition known as measly pork, Cysticercus ce/hilosiis, and
continue as embryo worms for a few weeks, on the chance of
the pork being eaten. Then the parasite passes into the
mature stage, which is the tape-worm in the intestines of
the human consumer. If the pig be kept shut up and fed
on clean food for a few months before it is killed, the embryo
worms die, and become absorbed, or remain as nodules,
usually associated with a little calcareous deposit. The pork
may then be eaten with safety.

In a country where oaks grow so rapidly as in Cape
Colony, and mature so many acorns, pig-breeding' and
rearing, which involves little expense or trouble when a
proper S)'stem of management is adopted, ought to be much
more extensively practised than at present; and where such
variety of green food can be grown by irrigation, and where

394 KARiNIING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

mealies or maize is so abundant, the cost of producing pork
should be moderate. It is not generally understood that as
a source of human food the pig is, so far as the whole world
concerned, by far the most important of all our farm is
animals. No doubt beef and mutton occupy a more pro-
minent place on the tables of the rich and the. well-to-do
classes in Great Britain, but pork occupies no inferior posi-
tion even in these high places. It has been often asked,
what would an English breakfast be like if bacon and
ham were entirely excluded from the table ? We only
begin to realise its true position, however, when we take into
consideration the prominent place which the flesh of the pig
occupies in Germany, in China, among the lower classes in
India and the millions of the black population of the
Southern States of America, in which latter locality hardly
any other flesh is consumed. The quality which the Colony
is capable of producing would occupy the first rank. With
abundance of exercise during the period of growth, the lean
and fat become mixed in a way that is unknown in house-
fed pork or bacon, and the animals being more healthy the
carcases produced are altogether more mature, more finished,
and better flavoured. It is to be regretted that the numbers
of pig's in the Colony are far below what they were in the
census of 1891. Then they numbered 208,299. In the
succeeding years the estimated numbers have been 154,103
in 1892-93; 156,570 in 1893-94; and 169,205* in 1894-95.

* This is exclusive of 83,748 which are returned for the Transkeian
Territories and Walfish Bay, making a grand total of 252,953.

CHAPTER XXI.

POPULATION, LABOUR, AND WAGES.

Early Inhabitants of South Africa: Bushmen, Hottentots, and Bantus —
The Census Returns — Malays — Fingos — Mi.xed and Other Races —
The European Population — The Boers and their Characteristics —
Cape-boys — Wages — Quality of Native Labour — Wine as Part Pay-
ment — Surplus Labour — Wages at Kimberley and Johannesburg —
Market Gardeners — Poor Whites.

Theal's History of South Africa, in describing the Bush-
men, who were the aboriginal inhabitant.s, and savages of a
very low type, says : " They were pigmies in size, yellowish-
brown in colour, hollow-backed, and with skins so loose that
in times of famine their bodies were covered with wrinkles and
flaps. On their heads were rows of little tufts of wiry hair
hardly larger than peppercorns, and leaving the greater portion
of the surface bald. Their faces were broad in a line with the
eyes, their cheeks were hollow, and they had flat noses, thick
lips, and receding chins. They anointed their bodies with
grease when any was obtainable, and then painted themselves
with soot or coloured clay. The clothing of the males was the
skin of an animal hung loosely over the shoulders, and often
cast aside ; that of the females was little more than a small
leathern apron. To the eye of the European no people in any
part of the world were more unattractive. They had- no
domestic animal but the dog, and they made no effort to cul-
tivate the soil. They lived by the chase, and upon wild plants,
honey, locusts, and carrion. Their weapon of offence was a
feeble bow, but the arrow-head was coated with poison, so
deadly that the slightest wound was mortal." They built
no houses, but sheltered in caves and among rocks. They
were treacherous to their neighbours, and formed a constant
menace to the early settlers. It is to be feared that to
secure safety they were hunted in their mountain fastnesses

396 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

and desert wastes and shot down more like wild beasts than
human beings. The race is now almost extinct in the Colony,
only a few being scattered in the arid country of the Northern
Border.

In addition to the Bushmen, who at the time of the arrival
of Europeans occupied the greater part of the interior of Cape
Colony, there were two other bodies of people who had much
greater brain development, and were decidedly higher in the
scale of civilisation — (i) The Hottentots, who occupied a
considerable range of country skirting the south and west
coasts of the Colony, and extending along the banks of the
Orange and Vaal rivers; and (2) representatives of "the
great Bantu family, which occupies the whole of Central
Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean," who were en-
croaching from the north-east upon their weaker neighbours,
and had found their way along the coast as far as the mouth
of the great Kei River.

The Hottentots were never very numerous, and they re-
mained in a perpetual state of war with the Bushmen, who
were both physically and intellectually their inferiors. The
resemblance in some respects between the two peoples is so
great that it is generally believed that the 'Hottentots are
descended from Bushman women, and men of a superior race
of people who at some very remote period probably came
from a distance, and after killing or driving off the Bushmen,
settled down upon the best of their country.

Their gaunt and bony cattle and hairy fat-tailed sheep
have already been described. The dog was the only other
domestic animal which they possessed. They were a pastoral,
not an agricultural people, living on milk and flesh, and on
such roots and bulbs as nature supplied during periods of
scarcity. The huts in which they slept were of a very
temporary character, but marked an advance in civilisation on
the Bushman's cave. Both Bushmen and Hottentots have
peculiar clicks in their languages which preface many of their
words, and both have rapidly diminished in numbers, like
the aborigines of Australia under, for them, the exterminating
influences of civilisation.

The Bantu race of dark-skinned Negroids is of a very
different type and character. Its prolific tendencies are so

POPULATION, LABOUR, AND WAGES. 397

great as to threaten, now that war is ahnost at an end, to be
the imminent cause of one of the greatest social difficulties
of the future of South Africa, viz., that of overcrowded popula-
tion.

The name of Kaffir, signifying infidel, was given by the
Mohammedans to the dark-skinned African races generally,
but it has been restricted in South Africa to representatives of
the Bantu race, whose designation was " Ama-Khosa," or sons
of Xosa, their greatest historical chief Tribal groups are also
locally distinguished as Zulus, Makalakas, Basutos, Pondos,
Bcchuanas, and Damaras.

Kaffirs are greatly superior to the Hottentots in both
physical and mental characteristics. They have been described
as " fine, powerful, able-bodied men, reserved and self-possessed
in manner, but courteous and polite, and sensible of kindness
and consideration." The race probably gains something of its
superior vigour from having been formed of mixed blood — a
fact which is supported by the appearance from time to time
of very different types, both physically and intellectually.
Like the Hottentots, Bantus are now believed to have sprung
from males of a superior race, probably highly refined and
civilised, who mated themselves with females no doubt cap-
tured from a tribe much lower in the scale of civilisation.
The Kaffirs in Cape Colony now number over 600,000, and
the great majority of them belong to the country lying
between the great Kei River and Natal, or occupy locations
on what were the Eastern Border districts lying to the west
of that area. At the last census taken in 1891 the pojDulation
of Cape Colony was returned as follows : —

Races.

Persons.

M.Tles.

Females.

European or White .

376,987

195,956

181,031

Malay ....

13,907

6,713

' 7,194

Hottentot ....

50,388

26,248

24,140

Fingo ....

229,680

108,566

121,114

Kaffir and Bcchuanas

608,456

306,635

301,821

Mixed and others

247,806

123,209

124,597

Total .

1,527,224

l(il,3'^l

759,897

The figures shcnv that only one-fourth of the total
population belong to the white or European race. The
returns taken at the previous census in 1S75, when compared

39<^ FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COEONY.

with the above results, indicate that the rate of increase of
Cape-born whites in the sixteen years has been 42.94, and of
coloured people 35.20 per cent. Two influences are at work
which are liable to alter the relative positions of correspond-
ing figures belonging to the next census, viz., the cessation
of wars in which natives were killed in greater proportions
than Europeans, and the decrease of the less prolific section of
the coloured population.

Nearly one-half of the total population, viz., 672,458, were
returned as " engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits."

Only 22.26 per cent, of all races and ages were able to
read and write, but of Europeans about 68 in every lOO can
do so. Next to them come the Malays, but with only
18 per cent, of literates.

The Malays in Cape Town are coachmen, masons, car-
penters, and fishermen. In the suburbs they are generally
woodcutters, but they are not widely distributed.

The Fingos are Bantus descended from the dispersed
Zulu tribes who were in " servitude to the Ama-Khosa Kaffirs,
and were received under the protection of the Colonial
Government in 1835, when they only numbered 16,800."

"The mixed and other races include the descendants of
the former Negro slaves, partly sprung from the intercourse
of these and of white men with the aborigines, and they are
partly foreigners, including Indian, Malagasy, Arabs, Chinese,
Turks, Creoles, and others."

Of the European population, the descendants of the earl}-
foreign — mainly Dutch and French — settlers are greatly in
the majority, although with a very much larger emigration
from Great Britain and Ireland than from all other European
countries, the proportionate British increase is now the greater
of the two.

The word " Boer " is the Dutch for a tiller of the ground,
but its meaning in South Africa has been extended to cattle-
breeders as well as to cultivators, and " it is frequently used
in the plural form to signify the whole rural population of
P^uropean blood speaking the Dutch language." Somewhat
crude ideas have been formed and expressed regarding the
Boer population of South Africa by those who have im-
perfcctl}' grasped the bearings of the case. Some people seem

POPULATION, LABOUR, AND WAGES. 399

to imagine that the Boers are possessed of personal character-
istics which separate them from other Europeans who have
chosen Africa as their adopted country, that they are incapable
of modern civilisation, and that they are inherently the natural
enemies of progress. The differences, whatever they be, are
not due to race but to environment, and what are regarded as
peculiarities and idiosyncrasies are natural results of causes
which have been at work for generations, and are still existent
in part. The early settlers, widely scattered over a vast
country, were deprived of the means for and the benefits of
school education, although all were taught to read the Bible,
and naturally their spheres of knowledge and of interest
became contracted beyond anything in the experience of
educated people. But while losing in this direction they
developed qualities some of which are unfortunately becoming
all too rare among so-called educated communities. They
acquired settled habits and self-reliance, which is a com-
mendable form of independence, and cultivated a wholesome
desire for merely simple fare and simple creature-comforts.
Their limited means, the difficulties of their isolated position,
and the dangers from the chronic state of war with the
native population whose lands they had appropriated, de-
veloped in a marked degree the instinct of self-preservation,
which, so far as the rejection of many recently suggested
European innovations are concerned, has been mistaken for
indifference or even for dogged opposition to modern ways. It
is easy to realise that in dealing with a people accustomed to
wait for developments rather than to work for them, and whose
whole inner life differs so much from that with which the
would-be improvers are familiar, mistakes are most likely to
occur in judging of what would be advantageous, and what
would be detrimental to their position. Much of the Boer
reluctance to change, even when the change is undoubtedly
for the better, is due to the spirit of opposition fostered by
the resistance offered to or the failure of injudicious changes
attempted in times past.

The educated and progressive Boers are as much alive to
the advantages of real progress as the descendants of British
parents, and even the isolated country Boers, who vastly
outnumber the other class, are open to be convinced, although

400 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OK CAPE COLONY.

they frequently assume the manner which clearly implies a
disbelief in the existence of the man capable of bringing con-
viction to their minds. The country Boers possess many of
the homely qualities and ways of the small farmer class in
Scotland of a few generations back, who could not be fairly
described without the prominent use of the word "canny." It
is more than a suspicion that many of the Boer ways and
ideas were derived directly from the Scotch through the
Scottish parsons who have been conspicuous personalities in
the early Dutch Reformed Church since the Cape became
British. The Presbyterian parson has at all times exercised a
powerful influence over the Boer population, which in respect
for devotion to religious beliefs and practices bears a strong
resemblance to the Scottish peasantry described by Burns in
the "Cottar's Saturday Night." It is to be regretted that the
full influence of the parson has not in every case been used to
instil into the people the overwhelming importance of a good
general education as a means for both spiritual and temporal
elevation and advancement. As a rule the Boer population
is strictly- moral, and free from thfe mock modesty and the
restraint from innocent social intercourse between the sexes,
which a disordered moral condition engenders and renders
necessary. This is not due to any inherent quality in the race,
but to the circumstances of their surroundings, their strict re-
ligious teaching, and the custom of early marriage. Where
their morals are subjected to contaminating outside influences,
they are not specially conspicuous for assuming the role of the
saints. Probably the chief difficulty to overcome in the future
of the uneducated Boer population is the erroneous and absurd
idea universal among poor people, even of the lowest classes,
that one man is as good as another. Jack is not only as good
as his master, but no one is good enough to be master to the
other, and they would live in a state of semi-starvation rather
than go to service. A young man \\orks for his parents for
a living till he is t\\ent}'-one years of age. Then he wants
to marry and set up a separate establishment, and he does .so
on monc}^ borrowed on a section of the farm handed over to
him ; and with the existing tendency to lower prices generally,
the payments necessary on the bond keep him in povert}' for
the remainder of his natural existence. The position is not

ii^l

Photo, by W'ilsoti, Aberdeen, N.B.

Plate 68. — Boers Resting at an Outspan.

Face page 401.

rOPULATION, LAUOUR, AND WAGES. 4OI

iinpnjved by the natural disinclination to work of white men
who have inherited the traditions of their slave-owning ances-
tors, and by the possibility of existing in a' South /\frican
climate, although only in a very primitive fashion, at an
almost incredibly small cost.

Easy-going habits of living were introduced by the early
settlers, who — excellent pioneers as they were — with dogged
patience and perseverance, trekked into new country with a
waggon and established themselves where for years nothing-
would be heard of government interference, and little of social
intercourse with neighbours experienced. After getting coffee,
a settler, dressed in a flannel shirt and trousers, would start off
in the morning with his rifle, and come back in the evening
with the products of his day's sport. His food consisted
largely of flesh and milk, and his other wants were few. A
limited number of cattle, goats, and sheep, to fall back upon
when hunting failed, supplied nearly all his actual needs.
Such a one had practically no ready mone>% and small means,
from which to pay taxes. He naturally acquired a habit of
thought which excluded the idea of the necessity for the
existence of government, and when by any chance brought
within its sphere, he doggedly resented the interference of the
law. Restraint of any kind, even under conditions which
have materially changed, is irksome to such people, and a
prevailing belief exists that because a farm may be said to be
a man's property, he has a perfect right to do with it as he
pleases. But unfortunately that very simple principle does
not agree with modern ideas of community government, and
a man may not " do what he likes with his own " if his action
will at the same time injure his neighbour. Accordingly,
the Boer must adapt himself to altered circumstances, and,
although his training may have unsuited him for accom-
plishing the end willingly and readily, the object is none the
less necessary of fulfilment, and none the less likely to be
attained in the long run. If the general interests of the com-
munity of which he forms a part make it necessary for him to
give up some of the privileges he has treasured in the past,
the same influence with which he will come into closer rela-
tion will confer upon him countervailing privileges, so that in
the end he may participate in the full measure of happiness

2 C

402 lARMING INI)U.STKIi;s OF CAl'l-: COLONY.

naturally ]ir(jviclcd for him, which after all is the universal
desideratum.

The " Cape-boys " form a mixed so-called " bastard " class,
descended from a variety of races, including Bushmen, Hot-
tentots, Mozambiques (with short woolly hair), and Malabaries
(with long" smooth hair), the latter having been brought to the
country as slaves in the early days. As is usually the case
with [M-ospcrous cross-bred populations, they are energetic
and active ; and under suj^ervision they make excellent work-
men. The best of them find employment on the railways,
where the labour is hard but well remunerated.

The rate of wages, and the forms in which they are paid,
differ considerably in the different districts of the Colony.
The most common custom in paying the wages of native
farm labourers is to supply food, and give a money wage in
addition, generally amounting to los., but in some districts
to 20s. and even 25s. per month. The food mostly consists
of mealies (partly as meal), 100 lbs. being regarded as an
allowance for one man. If he has a wife and children, he is
given an extra cjuantity, or a few acres of land to cultivate.
It is acknowledged to be best to supply what is actually
required for the family, otherwise the people simply help
themselves. On grazing farms where Kaffirs are steadily
employed tending stock, they are often allowed, as an addi-
tional perquisite, to run a few cattle, sheep, or goats with those
of their master. The practice in the matter of supplying flesh
as part of the food is very various. A single man may get as
much as i lb., and a man with a family 2 lbs. per day. In
some places it is only given once a week. The supply depends
to a large extent upon the available number of goats, old ewes,
or oxen on the farm, and upon whether or not there is an
abundance of milk. A Kaffir is generally contented with
meal and milk, and an occasional gorge of flesh, when a meat-
hunger comes upon him. Hottentots, on the other hand,
expect a regular supply of meat.

In the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth wages are paid
at the rate of £2. 5s. to £2. los. per month, half being distri-
buted in cash and half in rations. It is a custom with large
farmers to keep a general store to supply their work-people
with common necessities, thus rendering it unnecessary for

POPULATION, LAIioUK, AND WAGES. 4O3

them to t^o shoppini,^ at a distance, and probably drinkini^-,
and. preventing outsiders charging them exorbitant prices for
commodities which are to be had at cost prices at tlieir doors
— meal, for example, at lis. per 100 lbs. The modern require-
ments of a workman per week may be stated as 20 lbs. meal,
5 lbs. meat, ^ lb. coffee, 5 lbs. sugar, | lb. South African roll
tobacco, and milk when it is to spare.

Some do not drink brandy, although many are addicted
to it. If a Kaffir takes to drink, it becomes a mania with him,
and he cannot be cured of the evil habit. Upon the whole,
drinking is not so common in the East as in the Western
Province, where vineyards flourish, and where, in consequence,
wine and Cape brandy are more easily and cheaply obtained.

Native labour is not at all bad when supervised by
Europeans, and when a proper system of working is introduced.
When work requires to be done, the day is not restricted to
eight hours, and there are no holidays except Christmas and
New Year's Day and the weekly Sunday rest. The practice
of letting work by the piece is coming in, and, as is usual
everywhere, it works satisfactorily. Kaffir women do not
work in the fields where the men are employed under Euro-
pean masters, which is a misfortune, as it would keep them
out of mischief This is all the more to be wondered at, as
in the original condition of a Kaffir community the women
did practically all the work, and the men devoted them-
selves to fighting and to tending the cattle. Hottentot and
" bastard " women work in the fields throughout the western
districts of the Colony; and in towns and villages everywhere,
native women are employed as domestic servants.

The " Cape-boys " in the Western Province are considered
the best workmen in the Colony. They handle the spade
with the dexterity of an Irishman, being trained in the use of
it as soon as they are able to work. In ploughing they get
over an amazing amount of ground, but in a very rough
fashion. The great difficulty is that they want to work only
four days a week, and to spend the rest of the time in drinking
and frivolity, which would thoroughly unsettle them for doing
satisfactory work during the period set apart for it. This is
largely due to the pernicious custom of giving a daily allow-
ance of wine, a custom similar to that of supplying beer to the

404 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

labourer in the South of Eni^dand, which has been a potent
factor in preventinL( his rising to the level of the workman of
the North of En<4land and Scotland, where alcohoHc stimulants
are only partaken of at rare intervals. Wages in the west
are on the higher end of the scale applicable to the Colony —
2s. per da}' without food, or Qd. to is. with food, a cottage,
and an allowance of one to one and a half, and sometimes
even two bottles (beer-quart size) of wine daily, except Sunday.
The wine is generally of very inferior quality, not worth 3d.
per bottle, and water is frequently added. Nevertheless, many
men look with greater interest upon the wine than on any other
portion of their earnings. A few masters have discontinued
the supply of wine, and given an additional 3d. to 6d. of money
wages per day. This custom will no doubt become popular
and more general, and result in the work being better done,
and in the labourers becoming more contented and more
sober. Such at least has been the English experience where
beer money has been substituted for beer. It would be a
blessing to the labourer and a boon to the country, if it were
made illegal to supply intoxicating liquors of any kind as a
portion of a man's wages.

Cottage accommodation is often very poor, and confined
to one compartment. In s(jme ca.ses is. per week is deducted
from the wages, but as a rule a cottage is a perquisite. A
few progressive farmers, in their own interests, as well as in
those of their people, wisely provide two compartments in
each cottage, and supply a small area of land for cultivation
in addition to the customary allowances.

The ordinary wages are sometimes increased by 6d. to is.
per day during busy seasons, such as shearing and harvest
times, especially in those parts where the farm has to compete
with other sources of demand for labour.

Surplus labour from the mission stations is not so plentiful
as it was a few years ago, as men now go off to Cape Town.
Some are far-seeing enough to remain in the country districts
for a couple of months during the busiest season, and go into
the towns when the period of high wages comes to an end.
Good workers about Cape Town easily command 3s. per day,
and at times even 4s.

On the railway active, able-bodied men earn 3s. to 5s. 6d.

POPULATION, LABOUR, AND WAGES. 405

per day as platelayers, &c., and this tends to draw away the
most active and energetic, and to leave on the farms the lazy
and inferior hands, while with less efficient work the wages tend
to rise. The gold and diamond mines have also proved
powerful centres of competition with the agricultural interests
in the labour market, and as the rates of wages are extremely
high when considered in connection with the cost of living,
the state of things tends to reduce the available supply of
labour, by rendering the workmen too quickly independent,
and as a natural consequence, lazy. In the De Beers diamond
mines at Kimberley, where 8,000 natives are employed at day
work, the wages arc from 3s. to 6s. per clay. In the Rand
gold mines at Johannesburg the black boys (who numbered
70,000 in 1895) receive 2s. 6d. per day or ^3 per month and
their "scoff" (food), which consists of mealie meal and "vamma"
or flesh-meat, the latter limited to 2 lbs. per week.

There the work is in reality paid for by the piece, although
by European contractors who take it from the companies,
the rate is reckoned by the day. Boring the solid rock with
a chisel and hammer in preparation for blasting with dynamite
is the chief operation. When a man finishes a hole 3i feet deep,
he completes his day's work, and is entitled to ascend; but the
natives work to each other's hands, and the stronger and more
cx[)erienced of them help the younger ones, so that a section
of a shift is able to leave in a body.

One of the most prosperous communities in a humble
way in the Cape District is that of the market gardeners —
the descendants of early British and German immigrants
of the poorer classes. Some ultimately became overseers on
large farms, and some landowners. One recently died at
Alphen, at the age of seventy, who had remained in the
employment of the Cloete family for thirty-five years. A
number took to the occupation of market-gardening, and their
descendants, many of whom have a distinct mark of the tar-
brush, occupy 2-morgen (4-acre) garden lots, which they rent,
with unpretentious though neatly kept cottages, at about £\
per rnonth. The soil being rich, and the cultivation practised
excellent, they grow in abundance for the Cape Town
market all the commoner vegetables, which they deliver by
means. of one-horse carts, each grower taking his produce to

406 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

town two or three times a week, and bringing back a
load of horse manure. These market gardeneis work hard,
but they do not neglect the education of their children,
though they also teach them to work with their hands.
A small but at the same time a most prosperous and useful
section of the community is thus being reared, which
stands out in marked contrast to the class of people next
referred to.

The so-called " poor whites " are chiefly the descendants
of French Protestant refugees, and, in some districts, of early
Dutch settlers. The initial cause at work in reducing them to
poverty, was the excessive subdivision of the land among the
members of a fam.ily — one of the chief hindrances to successful
colonisation by Frenchmen living under French law in any
part of the world. During the latter part of the seventies the
law was altered, and freedom of testamentary disposition intro-
duced into the Colony, but the old law still remains in force
in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The practice of
borrowing money, as the difficulties resulting from bad seasons
and the limited amount of land increased, still further de-
graded them. The very general impression that a white
man, however poor, was not born to work in a black man's
country, was not only a contributing cause to the existing
position, but it remains one of the chief difficulties in the
way of the introduction of means for the improvement of
the poor white population. A foolish and meaningless pride
of a hereditary nature — for certainly no quality now remains
to justify the development of it in the present generation —
prevents the female portion of the community from entering
service of any kind. Although many of the men do not
work on account of laziness, this is not the case with the
majority of the women, who, after they are married, slave at
every sort of household or home drudgery.

The daughters of the poor German settlers possessed
till recently the same sort of mistaken independence of service,
but during recent years, since home difficulties, including
rcj:)eated visitations of locusts, have become more acute, a
number of girls have entered the employment of prosperous
farmers and residents in towns as domestic servants. The
difference in creature-comforts must show such a contrast in

POPULATION, LABOUR, AND WAGES. 407

favour of the new development that the practice cannot fail to
become general and popular.

It is to be hoped that the poor white communit}- is not
yet so completely degraded that improvement is impossible,
although the difficulties are great, owing to the resistance
offered by the people themselves, and to the fact that the
jjosition of poor whites has, unfortunately, been made a political
question in a manner which tends more to pauperise, than
to elevate them. At one time men were as independent
of service as women. Now, married men engage freely as
shepherds or labourers, and will undertake any menial work.
Some of the young men go out as shepherds, but they are
more independent. Few can read or write, and even these
cannot do so any better than a British child of seven years
of age, while they look upon compulsory education as a
grievance of first importance. The pinch of adversity during
recent bad times may have forced a few to find relief in
honest labour, but it has driven many from the country
districts to take shelter in villages and towns without any
visible means of subsistence, there to maintain a precarious
existence and to swell the list of cases of petty theft of
such property as linen and poultry, which in small village
communities in other parts of the world is usually safe.

Young" women who refuse to work are there, by poverty
and the increase of opportunity, as well as a desire for fine
clothes, driven to the streets. The step is frequently not a
downward one, as the standard of morality of many of the class
is too often of a low type, incestuous intercourse in families
living indecently huddled together in insufficient house accom-
modation being not uncommon. Forty years ago the poor
white communities, which are scattered pretty widely through
the older settled portions of the Colony, were conspicuous for
sobriety, but many have lately fallen victims to the brandy
demon, which the Government of Cape Colony has been in
the habit of fostering in its bosom like a cold -benumbed
viper.

The poor whites of Cape Colony are no exception to the
general rule, that when the white man becomes demoralised
and degraded in a mixed black and white community, he is
capable of descending to greater depths of degradation than

4o8

FARMING INDUSTRIP:S OF CAPE COLONY

the mc'in with the black skin. The position of the poor whites
now so nearl}- approaches desperation that the usual govern-
mental means, which cannot be dissociated from pauperising
influences, are insufficient. A South African Lady Dufferin
is wanted to organise a society of female workers \\ ho would
be willing to take the task of reclamation in hand. There are
many gentlewomen with Florence Nightingale instincts and
determination, both in Cape Colony and in Great Britain, whose
upbringing has admirably qualified them for such work, who
would be delighted to engage in it if they were made aware
of the necessity for it, and shown means by which it could be
accompli.shed. The difficulties are no doubt great, owing to
the wide distribution of this unfortunate class, but the prospect
from the humanitarian standpoint is also great, and the work
could not fail to be interesting — all the more interesting that
it would lie to a large extent among the young and rising
generation, who \\'ould in their turn influence more effectively
their parents and elders than any outside society of enthusiastic
workers in well-doin<r.

Anv Work, Baas?

CHAPTER XXII.

IRRIGATION.

General Principles of Irrigation mainly deduced from Experiences in
British India and America — The Steynsburg Scheme — The Slag-
tersnek Scheme — -The Oudtshoorn Scheme — Previous Government
Experience — Irrigation Dam, Beaufort West — Irrigation, Van Wyk's
Vlei — Object- Lessons from previous Experience — Prominent Defects
in the System of Irrigation— The Egyptian Method of Washing Salt
Land — The Californian Check and Levee System — Conclusions
relating to Einance — Irrigation Law in Cape Colony.

Irrigation is one of the oldest of agricultural practices,
and has been continued and handed down to us from a period
prior to any written history. We may infer this from the
fact that some of the richest land under culti\ation, where
the most ancient peoples dwelt, cannot be made to produce
anything without the artificial application of water. Irriga-
tion is, on account of the variety of objects for which it is
practised, the diversity of conditions under which it is em-
ployed, and the complicated nature of the scientific principles
involved, one of the most varied of all the numerous branches
of agriculture which now call for investigation. Although in
some instances the practice of irrigation has been carried to
great perfection, yet there has been upon the whole a distinct
lack of scientific investigation and explanation of the reasons
of success and the causes of failure.

The application of water to land seems to the uninitiated
to be a most simple operation, and the rapidity of growth
after a warm and refreshing shower of rain blinds the casual
observer to the fact that water applied in an artificial way
is associated with disadvantages and difficulties to the cul-
tivator which are frequently more or less permanent, and
also at times accumulative. No doubt a vast amount of
useful practical knowledge is possessed by those who have

4IO FARMINC. INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY. i

been engaged in irrigation as a life occupation, and who at
the same time have benefited by the instruction of those who
have preceded them in former generations, but there is a
want of a collation of scientific facts, and of explanation of
systems and principles. The literature is meagre, new, and
unsifted, and the subject not sufficiently studied. The great
opportunity which Great Britain has had in India of perform-
ing her part in this connection has been lost. Although the
engineering works of the great irrigation systems of the coun-
tr}' have been executed and maintained with admirable skill,
yet the distribution of the water provided by those works has
never been under any responsible expert authority. The con-
sequence is that in many places irrigation proved more of a
curse than a blessing, and no reliable record of the facts of
interest which have occurred has been made.

The improved methods of irrigation now being extended
in the fruit-growing regions of Western America may be said
to be merely in their infancy. Crops have no doubt been
successfully grown for years, and, on the application of water,
this may be called the first result, but there are after-effects
upon the land which are accumulative, and which have not yet
been fully investigated Experience has reached far enough
to show that it will not do to jump to the conclusion that,
if fruit grows well for the few years after water is first applied,
it will continue to do so. This being settled, it is then neces-
sary to determine what waters are unsuitable, and how to
apply good waters, so that they may do the minimum amount
of injury to the soil. These are questions that are now of
special interest in the Irrigation States of America. They
are c|ucstions which will be foremost in the development of
irrigation in the colonies. The new and improved methods of
American irrigation are clearly more suitable than those of
any other country to Cape Colony, in so far at least as the con-
ditions of the two countries are similar. The climate is one
point in which the regions requiring irrigation in Cape Colony
and the arid Western States of America are in a great measure
alike, and naturally the crops to be grown will be practically
the same. In connection with the cultivation of small areas
under investigation, fruit of various kinds may be held as
ranking high in importance ; not because fruit is better suited

IRRIGATION. 411

to irrigation than some ,of the forage crops, but because it
returns a more valuable yield per acre.

According to present information, it will not pay in Ame-
rica to grow grain crops on land under a great irrigation
system. At the current prices for grain, and with the millions
of acres of land in the various wheat-growing regions of the
world that will produce grain at a niiniminn cost, irrigated
land cannot compete with the land mentioned, unless in such
an exceptional country as Egypt, where two and three crf)ps
a year can be secured, and where corn-land is worth a rental
of ;^5 per acre.

It must not be imagined that the application of water
alone without manure will keep up the fertility of soil, and
guarantee greatly increased annual returns. Virgin land of
good quality when first broken in, with or without irrigation,
will yield heavy crops ; but if cultivation be continued
without manuring, in a very few years the yield is greatly
and quite naturally reduced, whether water be applied or
not. Where there are facilities for employing the American
.system of gravitation to advantage (and this is so in many
places in Cape Colony), the cost may be considerably less
than where pumping is necessary. So different were the ex-
periences of Western America, with her gravitation system of
application, as compared with those to be encountered in
Australia, when by the irrigation scheme of Mildura and
Renmark, the greater part of the supply was proposed to be
got by pumping from the river Murray, that it was at first
felt by many that the venture was in a great measure a new
and untried experiment. The recent financial difficulties of
Chaffey Brothers Lim. have entirely justified the doubts and
fears expressed at the time, and ought to be a salutary warn-
ing to over-confident irrigation enthusiasts in Cape Colony.

It may be of interest to those who are connected with irri-
gation works in the colonies, or who, like the author, look
upon irrigation as an important factor in the development of
the arid regions of South xA.frica, to know what have been the
experiences in Western America, and to hear of the diffi-
culties that have been met with, as well as of the rich rewards
that have fallen to those who have been successful.

The most experienced irrigators under the new methods

412 KARMINO INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

are still only learners. It is therefore not to be wondered at
that the details of the systems employed in various parts not
particularly dissimilar in character, are yet widely different,
and, moreover, that the full effects of the injuries sustained by
those who have most seriously erred are not yet fully realised.
It seems that one of the most natural mistakes to commit is
to apply too much water. It is led up to by a very simple
process of reasoning to the effect that, if a little water is good,
more water ought to be better. Some favoured spots do
for years escape serious or in fact any appreciable injury
from the application of infinitely more water than the amount
required ; but in other places the injury is immediate and
easily perceived. Common-sense ought to teach the observant
that owing to the irregular distribution of rainfall, which
comes in season and out of season, much of the moisture the
earth actually receives is of no value to the annual crop, if
indeed it does not injure it. It may readily be inferred
that, if applied at the proper time when the crop stands in
need of it, a greatly reduced allowance per acre would
suffice. This is the first striking advantage which a com-
plete system of irrigation has over the natural rainfall method
of water supply — it can be turned on or off as circumstances
require.

There are various methods of measuring" and estimating
the amount of water applied to land. In the Irrigation De-
partment at Washington the " acre-foot " (e.^., the amount of
water which, if permitted to cover an acre, would measure
I foot in depth) is the standard measurement adopted. The
oldest, simplest, and the best standard unit for water measure-
ment is the flow of a cubic foot per second ; but the unit in
almost universal use in the Western States is the miners' inch,
a relic of the early California gold- mining days. It may be
defined as the amount of water passing through an opening
an inch square, under a pressure of a specified number of
inches of water measured from the surface of the body of
water to the centre of the exit opening. In Colorado the
legal pressure is 6 inches of water, and in California that in
common use is 4 inches. Under the latter circumstances
50 miners' inches are equivalent to about i cubic foot ; or the
value of the miners' inch may be stated as follows : —

IRRIGATION.

413

1 miners' inch . 0.02 cubic ft. = 0. 149G gals, per sec.

1-2 „ = 8.976 (or 9) gals, per min.

„ „ • 72.0 , =538.56 gals, per hour.

„ ' „ • 1728.0 „ = I2,925.44(ori3,ooo)gal.s.

per twenty-four hours.

The amount of water allowed in terms of the miners' inch
measurement varies considerably. A continuous flow of a
I -inch stream on the 4-inch pressure is considered sufficient
for 10 acres at Ontario, and for 3 acres at Riverside. No
doubt the unit of a cubic foot per second, being altogether
more satisfactory and more simple,- will ultimately be adopted
both in Cape Colony and America.

The surface flooding of land is followed by the com-
pacting of the particles of the soil, and the hardening and
solidifying of its surface. One and all of these effects are
against the perfect growth of crop plants, and the injury
resulting is accumulative in soil of a given density, usually in
[)roportion to the amount of water supplied. Soils that con-
tain a fair amount of clay also crack or open up deeply on
drying, and thereby compress and injure the roots of growing
jilants, besides exposing a greater surface from which excess
of evajDoration takes place, and loss of moisture proceeds.
To obviate these tendencies in land growing fruit-trees or
crops sown in rows, frequent cultivation is necessary to keep
the surface in a finely divided, powdery condition. There is
no practical method by which evaporation can be so effectually
reduced to a minimum, as by a layer of finely divided soil
closely covering the surface.* The moisture is held fast, and
the baking of the soil containing the roots into a brick-like
condition is prevented. Land growing lucerne, which cannot
be cultivated while the crop is on the ground, has to be
ploughed up now and then to loosen the surface, and to let the
water get into it, so hard does it become by repeated watering.

* George Christison, the great authority in London on the practices
of Indian tea growing, stated in a lecture dehvered at the Society of
Arts (May 1895) that, "In all countries subject to droughts — especially
in the tropics and sub-tropics — a thorough cultivation and pulverisation of
the soil, especially at the surface during autumn and the dry season, is by
far the best means for preserving the moisture and obtaining healthy crop
growth."

414 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAI'F: COLONY.

The operation can be performed with impunity, as it does not
destroy the roots of this crop, which subsequently grow with
increased vigour. The induration of the surface soil is not
the only .serious damage done to soils by excessive supplies
of irrigation water.

The water-table, or the surface of subsoil water, is frequently
injuriously raised, so that the area becomes water-logged, and
the crops actually drowned out. In some irrigation districts
of California, where excessive quantities of water have been
u.sed for a number of years, the interstices of the subsoil par-
ticles of the basin into which it has been poured have gradually
been filling from below, so that the water-table has been forced
up from a depth of 40 feet to a kw feet from the surface, and
in some instances up to the surface itself. The remedy in the
latter instance has been to stop the excessive use of water, and
to dig round a field so affected a drain 7 feet deep to carry off
the surplus water as it rises. If permitted to come up into
the surface layer occupied by fruit-trees or crop plants, the
deep roots rot off, and the area of the feeding ground, as well
as the feeding power of the plants or trees, is thereby
diminished. The raising of the water-table is no doubt an
advantage if it does not approach too near the surface. In
some places where the proper conditions in this respect have
been secured, the subsoil moisture has been sufficient to grow
crops without irrigation.

Perhaps the most baneful result of an excessive use of
water in a hot climate is the accumulation of alkali efflores-
cences which destroy vegetation and render the soil barren.
The soluble salts of the soil are dissolved by the abundance
of water soaking through it, and are carried in solution by
capillary action to the surface, where they are left as a crys-
tallised crust or powder, when the water goes off by evapora-
tion. An excess of soluble salts in a soil is harmful to
vegetation, although the salts be such as are beneficial to
plants when present in moderate quantities, but this is not
a usual cause of difficulty. The effects are as a rule only
hurtful when by means of evaporation the surface becomes
charged to redundancy. Eliminate the action of evapora-
tion and nothing of an unusual or injurious nature could be
detected in either the soil or soil-waters of many badly affected

IRRIGATION.

415

districts. If the young- and tender plant be poisoned soon after
germination it dies immediately, or if the hurtful condition of
soil be induced during the growth of the plant, the bases of
the stems rot as the crop advances to maturity, before it
can form and perfect its seed. It is evident that whatever
will tend to maintain the soluble salts in the body of the soil,
and prevent their appearance on the surface, ought to have
consideration as a remedy against the evil. To this end
under-drainage to prevent so much water rising, and frequent
and deep cultivation of the surface soil to mix and powder it,
have proved simple and efficacious mechanical means.

The salt or alkali soils of California correspond in a
number of important particulars to the " brak " soils of South
Africa, and the "reh" or "usar" .soils of Northern India. We
are indebted to Professor E. VV. Hilgard, of the University of
California, at Berkeley, the "soil-wizard" of the West, for much
.\aluable information regarding the causes and prevention of
injur)' b}' alkali accumulations. This authority divides the
substances which form alkali deposits into three classes :
(a.) Neutral alkaline salts, such as common salt, Glauber's salt
(sulphate of sodium), sulphate of potassium, &c. These are
injurious only when present in large c|uantities, and relief can
then onl}' be obtained b>' washing them out of the soil by
means of under-draining and flooding the land, (d.) Soluble
earthy and metallic sulphates and chlorides, such as the
bitter sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salt), chloride of calcium,
alum, copperas, &c. The cheap and efficient antidote to most
of these substances is lime or marl, (c.) Alkaline carbonates
and borates. These, especially the former, are injurious in
the smallest amount, rendering the soil - water caustic and
corrosive, and in clayey soils ahnost impossible to obtain good
tilth on account of their peculiar action upon clay. The anti-
dote to these (the true alkali salts) is gypsum or land plaster.
The carbonate of soda is by far the most injurious of all the
" alkali " salts enumerated under the three headings. This is
due to its corrosive power, and also to the peculiar action
(shared with the carbonate of potash), which makes it almost
impossible in their presence to produce a tilthy condition
in true clays. They are maintained in the most " impal-
pably divided condition, that of well-worked pottery clay,"

4l6 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OV CAI'K C(JLONY.

in place of the flocculent tliough tilthy state assumed in a
cultivated soil ; and they bring about the dissolution of the
vegetable matter or humus, the effect of which action is made
apparent by the dark appearance of the alkali spots or "black
alkali " in some localities.

The accumulations of surface salts vary materially in dif-
ferent parts of Cape Colony. In certain Karoo districts, the
most important of which are indicated on Map 3, nitrate of
potash has been found in considerable quantities, and the
belief has become pretty general that the origin of the valuable
ingredients in the dejjosits was the urine of the "dassie" or
rock-rabbit, with short ears, which on occasions becomes
numerous There seemed to be no foundation for the sup-
position, or any evidence to show that the deposits were of
animal rather than of vegetable origin ; and it was in 1895
still an unsettled question whether the deposits were in
quantity sufficient to pay for the working of them as a source
of saltpetre, although companies were being formed with the
object of exploiting them. Where nitrate of potash is present
in considerable quantity, the areas are limited as compared
with the total surface upon which salts accumulate ; and if the
salt which gave the following analysis,* scraped from the
surface of a brak soil at Culmstock, in the Middelburg
district, can be accepted as a representative sample, potassium
and magnesium are only present in limited quantities, and
sodium salts form the great bulk of the material : —

Water 3.0 per cent.

Sand and other mineral matter (mag-

nesic carbonate) insoluble in water i i.o ,,
Chlorine ...... 7.8 „

Carbonic dioxide ..... 6.2 ,,

Sulphuric oxide ..... 33.8 ,,

This would nearly correspond to the following, calculating
all the alkali present as sodium : —

Water 3.0 per cent.

Sand

Sodic chloride
Sodic sulphate
Sodic carbonate
Magnesic carbonate

9.8
12.9
600
1 1.0

2.5

* Specially made, at the request of the author, in the Laboratory of
the Agricultural Department, Cape Town.

IRRIGATION. 417

Althoui(h the final result of the presence of " reh" in British
India is barrenness, as in the cases of the brak soils of South
Africa and the alkaH soils of California, the conditions in tlie
various countries when compared differ somewhat in detail.
The neutral sulphate of soda or Glauber's salt, at one time
largely used as a drench for cattle, is the most prominent
ingredient in the South African and Indian alkalies, common
salt, or chloride of sodium, coming next. In California,
although each of the salts named forms a large percentage of
the total amount present, yet in a considerable number of cases
sodium carbonate is most abundant, and in others, if not most
largely represented, it is almost invariably present in such
quantities that its presence, owing to its noxious effect, is pro-
ductive of the greatest share of the resulting injury. Clay
soils in California are reported to suffer more severely than
light or sandy soils, while in India certain light, sandy, or
silty soils are as badly affected as any. In India, in addition
to the primary causes, which are present in the case of the rise
of efflorescences in any country, viz., heat sufficient to produce
rapid evaporation, and a sufficient abundance of water to be
evaporated, there seems often to be some mechanical defect in
the salt-retaining power of the soil. There is little doubt that
the peculiar influence which the carbonate of soda has upon
clay, has also a good deal to do with the fact that heavy soils
in California suffer to a greater degree than light soils in the
same neighbourhood, or than the heaviest class of soils in
India. The chemical reaction of a fertile soil is slightly acid.
The presence of the mild and useful agent, carbonic acid, is a
sufficient explanation of this fact. Neutral salts, although
soluble, do not readily exercise any injurious influence unless
when present in large quantities. It is the caustic nature of
the carbonate of soda which gives an alkaline reaction that is
mainly responsible for the injury resulting from the presence
of this salt in even very small proportions. The object aimed
at in applying gypsum as a chemical antidote to soils poisoned
by salts of the alkalies, is to induce a neutral condition. Deep
drainage, together with frequent and deep cultivation, is neces-
sary in the presence of alkalies of whatever kind.

The saline impurities in irrigation water is another matter
for consideration, of equal importance with the existence and

2 I)

4l8 FARMINC, IM)USTKIi;s ( )]■ CAPE COLONY.

J
character of the soluble salts in the soil. Much of the "sweet"
water in Australia, and the brak water in South x'Xfrica, is in no
wa\- liurtful to stock when they become accustomed to it, but is
not to be used for irrii^ation purposes. The determination of
soluble matters in soil or in water can be accomplished with
certainty by the analytical chemist, and when the results are
presented, useful deductions can be drawn from them. But in
this instance the materials are sout^ht for in the condition in
which they naturally exist, and have not to be changed in
form, nor has a conjecture to be made as to the possible
nature of them, as in the case of a so-called "complete" soil
analysis.

It should be remembered that the solid contents in
solution in clear river water usually vary from 5 to 12 grains
per gallon. The waters from brak springs in Cape Colony,
and sweet waters from artesian wells in Australia, are unfit
for irrigation purposes, as the percentage of saline matter is
immensely greater. It is interesting and instructive to esti-
mate the amount of saline material left in the surface layer
of soil by a s}'stem of irrigation where river water is used ;
and where the whole is ultimately evaporated, there being no
escape into drains or into a porous substratum. It should
also be understood that the power of the soil to incorporate
a certain amount of soluble matter, has been fully satisfied.
Ten inches in depth of water is a convenient amount to select
as a basis for the calculation, and it is at the same time a
usual annual amount actually applied in irrigation practice.
Seven grains to the gallon, and a period of ten years in which
to carry out the work, would gixe the following results : — One
gallon of water will cover about i^^ square feet i inch deep;
or two - thirds of a gallon i square foot, i inch deep ; or
6§ gallons per square foot is equal to 10 inches in depth of
water. In ten years there would be a deposit of 466I grains,
or about I ounce of alkali upon each square foot. If this
consisted of salts which entered into the composition of plants,
or were not hurtful to them on account of being distributed
through the whole body of the soil occupied by their roots,
the addition would act as a manure rather than as a cause of
injury. Much, therefore, depends upon the character of the
salts thus accumulatinir. If free from carbonate of soda, little

IRRIGATION. 419

fear may be entertained of river water producing serious con-
sequences unless when it is applied to an area where there is
no means of escape for subsoil water. Land on river banks is
not likely to be thus affected, as it is found that surplus irri-
gation water usually finds its way back into the river at a
lower point. A case in which danger in the application of
river water may be predicted is when a canal, carrying river
water, is led into a land-locked depression with only evapora-
tion as a means of escape for moisture. Under such conditions
in a hot climate few river waters could be used for irrigation
without the ultimate result being injurious. The substratum
gradually fills up the basin, and, as the water rises, soluble salts
are carried with it from considerable depths.

So important is the matter of the existence of the means
of escape for surplus water, that the irrigation laws of any
community should provide for a drainage system where no
adequate natural means of drainage exists. It might not at
first be necessary to drain for a few years, but if the water-
table in the lower levels were ultimately found after regular
inspection to rise near the surface, the community in question
should be bound to construct drains, so that the owners of
land at the lower levels should not suffer by their property
becoming water-logged through soakage of water from the
higher levels. Near Fresno, in the great California valley, the
water-table has risen from a depth of over 40 feet till within
3 to 5 feet of the surface, and in a few places to the sur-
face. In the Salt River valley in Arizona the subsoil water
has come up 30 feet nearer the surface since it was settled
and irrigated. Irrigation on a considerable scale in Cape
Colony is comparatively new, yet many of the clangers and
difficulties detailed and discussed have already begun to ap-
pear, so that precautionary measures are all the more urgent.
The results referred to are the accumulated results of irriga-
tion carried on under conditions that are very similar to the
conditions which prevail in the Colonies. They have been
found ecjually true in vast areas in India and America, and it
may be taken as purely a matter of cause and effect that the
ultimate result in South Africa will be similar under similar
conditions. The same natural laws govern the work of irriga-
tion in the countries named, and in fact in all parts of the

420 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

world similarly situated. South Africa need, therefore, look
for no special dispensation to secure immunity from numerous
evils which sprint^ from misLjuided practice. Her only chance
of escape is to employ the means which the results of previous
experience have placed at her disposal.

The system of surface irrigation is most generally adopted
because it is most simple and least costly to establish ; but of
the three common methods — {a) surface, (b) side, (tj sub-
irrigation — it is the one attended by most injurious conse-
quences to the land and to the crop. Side irrigation may be
shortly defined as the supply of water to land by soakage
from the sides of open ditches, so that the surface is never
injured by flooding. A simple and effective modification of
the side or soakage .system is in general use in the orchards
of the Western States, where the water is guided into three
temporary furrows or channels opened on each side of a line
of trees and then allowed to percolate through the body of the
porous soil lying to the right and left. After the water has
been turned off and sufficient time has been left for the surplus
moisture, not firmly held by the soil forming the channels, to
sink, the surface is cultivated and the channels obliterated to
prevent their becoming hard and opening in cracks. Sub-
irrigation is the system which is held to be the most perfect of
all the various methods of applying water where the soil con-
ditions are suitable, because by leading the water on the land
in subterranean channels, which are laid like ordinary tile or
pipe drains, the least possible supply of water is made to serve
the purpose with the greatest benefit to the land and at least
cost of maintenance. The channels, if properly constructed,
also act as drains when not required for the supply of water.
The one drawback is the vastly greater original capital involved
in this system than in any other in laying down the under-
ground distributing channels. The cost of tile-draining a field
in Britain is estimated at from £6 to ^^8 per acre, according to
the nature of the land and the consequent depth of the drains
and width between them. The average cost would be still
greater in a new ccnnitr)' where wages are high and materials
expensive.

The total cost, including head works and distributing
channels, of bringing water on land in the territory of Arizona,

IRRIGATION. 421

one of the most successful and most perfect irrigation centres
that are to be found in America, is only iJ"2 to £2. los. per acre.
No explanation is necessary to show that, under ordinary
circumstances where capital is dear, the additional expense of
£6 to £'^ per acre must make the cost prohibitive. Moreover,
in the case of land with a porous subsoil, a portion of the
irrigation supply might sink and escape from the soil without
benefit to the crop.

A good deal can be done to prevent the appearance of
alkali, and also to ameliorate the condition of soil suffering
frorh it, by the selection of deep-rooted and vigorous growing
crops that cover and shade the surface, and absorb the water
they require by deep and fleshy roots well down in the soil or
subsoil. In both ways such crops lessen the upward current
of water by capillary action, and consequently lessen the
accumulation of soluble salts near the surface. It was thus
that the author explained in his work on Indian Agriculture
the success of the growth of the rain-tree, Pithccolobiuiii diilce,
Bth., on " usar " soils. By the decay of deep fleshy roots in the
soil, the power to retain soluble salts in its substance is in-
creased, and the total amount left free to circulate in the
water of the soil is proportionally diminished. The crop of all
others which, from a scientific as well as from a practical and
useful point of view, has given the best results under irrigation
is lucerne, Medicago sativa*

Three of the numerous irrigation schemes which are
under the consideration of Government were specially in-
quired into and the proposed sites examined, viz., those at
Steynsburg, Slagtersnek, and Oudtshoorn.

The Steynsburg" scheme is specially favoured by the
natural advantages of the locality. A capacious dam can
safely be constructed at a moderate cost, and the water distri-
buted over an ample area of good land conveniently situated
for economical canalisation. The proposed barrage to be
built between two abutting kopjes, and constructed of stone

* The greater part of the foregoing pages on the principles of irriga-^
tion were written after the author had seen the systems of irrigation in
India and Austraha, and had paid a special visit of investigation to the
Western Irrigation States of America, and first appeared in his work on
" The Agriculture and Rural Economy of Australia and New Zealand."

422 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

to be found close at hand, would in the centre be 580 feet
high and 90 feet wide at the base, and would cost, according
to the engineer's estimate, ^113,000. The drainage catch-
ment area is 80 square miles, and the area of the large
reservoir would be i,0OO acres, and its capacity 1,200,000,000
cubic feet, providing a flow of 60 cubic feet per second, or
an equivalent of 2.3 feet deep of an annual supply of water
over the 26,000 acres which it is proposed to irrigate. Of
this, 6,000 acres are Government property. The present
estimation value of the land commanded by the proposed
scheme is 20s. per acre, and its prospective value, with water
supplied at an annual charge of £\ per annum, £y. los. The
elevation of the area is about 4,000 feet above the sea, and
that of the dam 700 feet higher.

The rainfall of the district is 22 to 24 inches, and it is
abundantly evident that the amount of water proposed to be
supplied will be capable of irrigating, under a proper system
of management, more than double the area calculated on — i
"acre-foot," or water to the depth of 12 inches, in addition to
the rainfall, being quite sufficient when under control to meet
the demand of the crops for moisture.

That the soil is well suited to irrigation has been demon-
strated by a settler, Andries Duplessis, who has for over
twenty years successfully irrigated a portion of it lying to the
Thebis Station side of the so-called Springbuck or Thebis
Flats. This cultivator takes advantage of the proximity of the
railway to send his produce to market in Kimberley. He has
secured twenty-two to twenty-five and even thirty fold in his
grain crops, when not attacked by rust. The soil on these
flats is of a browny-red colour, varying in depth from 4 to 20
feet, and it does not become so hard when irrigated as the soil
in many parts of the Colony. Similar level areas, to which
surplus water could be led, exist farther down the river, which
is used as a main canal to carry the water as it comes from the
reservoir. The climate is temperate, and suitable for the
growth of European fruits, including oranges.

This is perhaps the most promising of all the large irriga-
tion schemes, because of the moderate amount of money
required and the ample prospects of success from the agricul-
tural as well as from the engineering standpoint. The great

IRRIGATION.

423

question to settle is whether it ouijht to be a Government
undertakin<,^ or a company venture encouraged and supported
by a Government subsidy. It would, no doubt, be a success
either way. The author, with a wholesome horror of the
expensive nature of works conducted as Government concerns,
particularly in a country where labour troubles are chronic,
inclines to favour the proposal that a limited liability com-
pany should be permitted to take it in hand, in the hope that
the success achieved would lead to the formation of similar
companies in other parts of the Colony. There need be no
fear of the work not going on if Government offered a subsidy
of iJ" 1 0,000 and a free grant of the 6,000 acres of land ; the
benefits to be gained by Government in return would be the
extension of an important colonial industry and the concomi-
tant increase of wealth and prosperity.

The Slagtersnek scheme would be a much smaller under-
taking, and from the engineering point of view associated with
no serious difficulties. A tunnel of 1,100 yards, and deep
cuttings of 300 yards more, are proposed to be made from a
rocky bend of the Fish River, through the flank of an adjoining
hill, the water to be carried to a stretch of fairly level land
lying to the south-west of Cookhouse, for a distance of seven
miles, by a main canal which would feed five storage dams.
From these the distribution over 20,000 morgen of land would
take place.

The weir in the river would not require to be more than
15 to 20 feet deep, and the total cost for main works is
estimated not to exceed ^50,000. The misfortune connected
with the scheme, which up to this point looks so exceptionally
promising, is that the land is not only generally poor, but
otherwise unsuitable for irrigation. Very little of it could be
described as of good quality, much of it being thin and over-
lying a green shale, and some on an intractable light-coloured
" till " or dense clay.

The Oudtshoorn scheme was explained to the author on
the ground by Percy Ashenden, the engineer in charge of the
survey, and found to be one involving greater difficulties, and
denianding greater engineering skill than either of the others.
The district has been made in the agricultural sense b\' the
success of irrigation, and the fact implies two sets of circum-

424 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

stances of importance in the development of any future
scheme of irrii^ation. F'irst, that the water-rights of those in
possession require to be maintained or compensated for ; and
second, that the benefits of irrigation having been demonstrated,
it will be more easy to calculate from the estimated costs the
possible return from a new venture, and more easy also to
make it a success with a willing population possessed of
technical skill.

It is proposed to construct two large dams or reservoirs
in the mountains, the first to hold 1,700,000,000 gallons with a
head of 100 feet, by means of a masonry wall 125 feet high built
across a narrow gorge on the Grobelaars River. This would
involve the submersion of De Vos's farm, and three or four
others situated in the valley pictured in the accompanying
plate. The second proposed dam would be on the Le Roux
River, a tributary of the Grobelaars River, which enters at a
lower level than the site of the first dam. It would be formed
by a wall 125 feet high, also situated in a narrow gorge
between the precipitous banks of the river. It possesses an
estimated capacity of 1,500,000,000 gallons. An alternative
proposal involves the erection of a wall nearly 200 feet high
to hold 2,000,000,000 gallons. The catchment area for the
two dams would be 100 square miles, possessing a rainfall of
24 inches. The water would be carried down the river beds
and collected in a distributing dam situated in the Cango
Valley. It is proposed to leave undisturbed the existing
proprietary rights, which number about twenty-five, and are
hedged about with many difficulties and complications, and to
carry the additional supply of water saved by the dams past
the present irrigated land to the new area to be watered by
three main canals — a high- and a low-level canal on the
west bank, and a high-level canal on the east bank of the
river. The high-level canals would each be twenty miles long,
and the one on the low level somewhat less. This pro-
posal involves considerable engineering difficulties, which
will materially add to the initial as well as to the annual
expenditure, and forms what seems to be the only weak point
in an excellent scheme. The fall from the highest reservoir is
about 1,000 feet to the irrigable land, and the west bank
high-level canal must, to maintain sufficient fall, wind in a

IRRICATION. ■ 425

most tortuous fashion round the spurs of the foot-hills along
which it will pass. To prevent " seepage," involving loss of
water and damage to adjoining property, a concrete channel
which would necessitate infinite care in its maintenance
would be required all the way. The land proposed to be
irrigated extends to 25,000 acres, and is of excellent quality
and character for irrigation purposes, although in some places
greater depth would have been advantageous. There is not,
as at Steynsburg, a practically unlimited amount of land
under control upon which surplus water might be used. The
estimated outlay in the original scheme, which involved the
construction of only one reservoir in the mountains, was
;^i 5,000; but the more ambitious project, with two additional
dams, may involve a capital expenditure not far short of
double this amount. The crux of the position rests in the
finances. It can no doubt be made a success from the
engineering and agricultural points of view, but it remains
for those who take a special interest in the scheme to show
that it will pay.

The Government is not without experience in irrigation
and water works carried out under the direction of John G.
Gamble, the Hydraulic Engineer, who held office for a number
of years, and presented voluminous reports on irrigation
schemes in various districts of the Colony. The method of
advancing the necessary money to local bodies to build irriga-
tion works has also been tried, but, it is feared,"without any
very distinct encouragement to continue to do so. A case in
point is to be found in the irrigation dam at Beaufort West,
which was built by the municipality, at a cost of i^i 2,000, with
money borrowed from Government at 6 per cent. A successful
irrigation community of morgen-lot (2-acre) holders, some of
them paying as much as £21 of annual rent, provides the
money to pay the interest, but there is no sinking fund,
unless one is provided for by the rate of interest charged
on the outlaid capital, and the dam is rapidly filling with
soil washed from the Karoo-bush veld, from which the water
supply is drawn, and which is furrowed and loosened on the
surface, and made more easily denuded by the trampling
of animals coming and going to and from the dam to drink.
In a comparati\'ely short space of time the dam will be filled,

426 P'ARMING INDUSTRIES OV CAPE COLONY.

and the Government will probably be expected to write off as
a bad debt the sum of iJ^ 12,000 originally lent to construct the
dam.

The Van Wyk's Vlei Irrigation Reservoir in Carnarvon
divisional district has also proved a white elephant to the
Colony. The engineering works were executed in 1882-83
under the advice of the Hydraulic Engineer at a cost of a
little under ^18,000. The inducement from the engineering
point of view was the immense water-holding capacity which
could be secured at a relatively small cost.

The original scheme, published in the Hydraulic Engi-
neer's Report for 1880, estimated that a bank about 300 yards
long and 35 feet at the highest point w^ould form a reservoir
with a capacity of 35,000,000,000 gallons. But the weak
points of the position, which, had they been ascertained and
duly considered, ought to have outweighed all arguments in
its favour, were — (i.) The extent of the water surface of the
dam when full would be 19 square miles, and the average
depth only 10 feet. (2.) The rainfall for three years 1893-95
was only 4^ inches, and the most sanguine estimated average
never exceeded 6 inches ; while it was known that it would
take an annual rainfall of 10 inches draining from the esti-
mated catchment area of 240 square miles to fill the dam.
(3.) The annual evaporation from the dam when full would
be 7 feet 2 inches, or more than the actual amount of water
likely to find its way into it during the year. (4.) There was
a decided tendency to the formation of salt on the surface soil
of certain lands in the district, although the reports of the
quality of the soil from the chemical point of view were excel-
lent. No notice was taken of the fact that any soil, whatever
its chemical composition may be, will in time become salt on
the surface, if natural water be applied to it in quantity, and
the evaporation be so great as to exclude the possibility of
water escaping by drainage.

When it was realised that the rainfall was altogether in-
sufificient to maintain a head of water in a shallow dam of the
capacity in question, the Carnarvon River was diverted in
1888 at an initial cost of ^^^900, and made to throw its water
into the dam. A small irrigation colony is now maintained on
a portion of the land, for which the Go\'ernment ]:)aid .^^3,300

IRRIGATION. 427

as compensation for cancelling" the remainders of the leases
of the farms exappropriated in 1883.

The report of the bailiff on the \'an \V}'k's Vlei estate,
published in 1895, shows a total revenue of ^1,230, and an
expenditure of ;^490, figures which form a sufficient guarantee
of the unimportant nature of the place.

The failure of the Van W'yk's Vle'i irrigation scheme
ought in future to be a valuable object-lesson to the Irriga-
tion Department of Government. The results have been
perfectly natural, and need not be regarded as in any way
discouraging, if the elementary principles in the management
of irrigation water be duly attended to. However salt a
soil may become during a period of \'ears of neglect or
bad management, there need be no insurmountable difficulty
experienced in restoring it to a sweet and wholesome con-
dition for the growth of crops, with an abundant supply
of water at command. The free drainage of surplus water
is th(? great means for the prevention of brak ; and wash-
ing", which also implies thorough drainage, is the infallible
and onl)' real and sufficient means for overcoming the braky
condition.

There are two systems of washing. The first involves
the running of water over the surface without making any
preparation for it, to encourage sinking into the soil — a system
which is wasteful of water, and possesses neither efficiency nor
any other redeeming feature ; and the second is the .system
in which water is imprisoned on the surface of the soil, and
made to soak through it into drains, which carry it off- along
with the salt which it dissolves during its passage. The fol-
lowing is a description of the latter system (fully investigated
by the author during a visit to Lower Egypt in 1891), which
is successfully carried out on an extensive scale in the salt
areas of the Nile Delta,* and. is as applicable to the brak soils
of South Africa as to the salt soils of Egypt in the north of
the continent : —

* The facts were communicated, and the original of the accompany-
ing figure plan drawn, by A. C. Welch, Bachelor of Science in the
Department of Agriculture, Edinburgh University, Manager, Aboukir
Land Reclamation Company, and a former student of the author.

428

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The accompanying figure or ground plan shows the canalising of an
ideal farm or " hod" of 420 feddans* (or 436 Imperial acres). It is laid
out l)y two parallel main drains (b) i kilometre (5 furlongs) apart, only
one of which is shown at the foot of the plan. These have a surface
width of 4 to 6 metres (i metre = 39.371 inches), and the earth thrown
out of them forms an elevated road (c) at each side if required, of 6
metres wide. Along the upper side runs the farm canal (a), with a
width of 2 metres, and depth | metre. The land is subdivided by main
drains into fields or "hoshays" 300 metres wide and i kilo, long, con-
taining 70 feddans each. These " hoshay " drains have a surface width
of 2 to 2h metres. Two-thirds of the earth thrown from them forms a
road (c) along one side, and one-third of it laid to the other side forms

Plan showing the Egyptian way in which Barren Salt Land is laid out to be washed
to make it fertile and capable of growing crops.

i7.".~-.'r.~~~.~.''

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A, Canals bringing /resh water. B, Drains carrying off salt water. C, Roads
D, Banks 0/ earth 6 to 10 inches high.

ele-iated.

merely a retaining bank (d). The road is made 4 metres wide. On the
other side of the road runs the subsidiary field canal (a), with a surface
width of 1 5 metres, and depth h metre. These 70-feddan fields are further
subdivided by drains (b) into twenty plots, each containing- 3^ feddans,
and measuring 50 by 300 metres.

The smallest drains are cut | to i metre deep according to the land
level. On low-lying land there is never i metre of drainage, but | metre
(25 feet) is found to be sufficient. They are never made deeper than
I metre, as they fill in so readily on the salt soil. If i metre deep, they are
made I4 metres wide ; if o-75 metre deep, only i metre wide on the surface.
The earth is thrown out to each side, forming banks (d), only shown

* I feddan = 1.038 acre.

IRRIGATION. 429

on the upper portion of the plan, about i metre wide, and, when con-
soUdated, 6 to 10 inches high. A small " berm," or narrow strip of land
between the ditch and the bank, 10 inches broad, is cleared and left on
each side. On the larger drains the slope of the sides is kept as nearly
as possible at 1:1, z>., an angle of 45". The land requires to be gone
over carefully with the levelling instrument first to make sure that the
canal is being placed on the upper side of the field, and the escape drain
on the lower.

The cutting of the drains is usually done in the months May to
August, when the water is scarce, and drainage consequently low. In
September the Nile flood comes, and the land is filled as full as the
banks will hold. Aided by the pressure of the head of water, water by
degrees filters through the body of the soil into the drains, carrying the
salt with it. One man (pay ^i per month) attends to each 70 fcddans
regulating the water admitted, so that the land may neither stand bare,
nor the banks burst under the pressure of an excessive supply. The
land is thus kept full of water till March, when it is dried off and ploughed.
In April water is filled on again and " dineba" is sown. This is a kind
of grass which appears in large quantity as a weed in the rice-fields, and
is the first crop the land will carry. Owing to the limited supply of
summer water, only one-third of the land can be sown with dineba in
April, the remainder being sown when the flood comes in September.
By the way in which the dineba springs, the extent to which the land has
been freed from salt can be g'auged. If it grows well, berseem (Egyptian
clover) may be sown the following October, and the success of this crop
is an indication that reclamation has been accomplished, and cotton can
follow. If the berseem does not grow well, the land may be washed in
the following winter, or barley, which will grow where berseem will not,
tried as a winter crop, and dineba again sown the next summer as a
reclaiming crop. It grows like rice in water kept 6 inches deep.

The readiness with which sweetening takes place depends directly on
the extent to which percolation proceeds when washing. Land consisting
of stiff black clay a metre deep is very difficult to wash. Light sandy
land, with only 5 or 6 inches of black alluvial clay on the surface, washes
very readily. The former washes better when ploughed and subsoil-
stirred.

If, during the first winter's washing, reeds and grasses appear, this
land may, with some hope of success, be sown with rice in summer, but
as rice requires a large amount of water, the area of its growth must
necessarily be restricted.

Cost per Feddan,
The cutting of drains being done at lid. per cubic yard —
If small drains, | metre deep, ids. per feddan;
If I metre deep, 14s. per feddan.

Average cost of cutting . . ^o 12 o

Washing, six months at ^i per month per 70

feddans (in round figures) . . .019

430 FARMING INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

Ploughing, 4s. per fedclan . . . ^o 4 o

Dineba seed . . . . .018

Levelling, sowing, and watering for three

months . . . . .020

/• • 5

If the dineba grows well it may realise 4s. per feddan, but this is not
to be relied on.

Second Year —

Berseem seed ..... ^o 9 o
Sowing and watering, &c. . . .010

^o 10 o
Total cost, ^i. IIS. 5d.

To allow for land which does not grow berseem the first year, and
therefore incurs further expense, the total reclamation cost may be esti-
mated at £2. Further expense must be put down to cultivation, which
ought to give an immediate return. Thus, the first ploughing is done
by contract by natives for 4s., but after berseem, or even before, bullocks
must be bought to put in the cotton.

There is a great difference between simply washing and reclaiming,
the latter embracing much more than the former. The salt land is bare
of vegetation, and therefore very poor in organic matter. Anything
which will encourage weeds to grow is of advantage ; hence the benefit
of dineba, as it fills the land with roots. The salt soil is also too con-
solidated, and after washing, it recjuires to be broken up with regular
ploughings, to allow of the oxidation of other deleterious substances
which exist. Roasting in the hot Egyptian sun, and flooding with the
rich red Nile water, are stages of the after-treatment which follow one
another regularly.

Land is sometimes salt in the vicinity of brak springs,
owing to the seepage of the salt water from the overflow.
Deep drainage would at once check the supply of salt to the
soil, and render the process of sweetening simple.

The most prominent defects in the common system of
irrigation practised in Cape Colony are (i) the too frequent
and too abundant use of water, and (2) the leading of water
too much over the surface of portions of the land intended to
grow crops. It is no unusual thing to hear of a inan who
leads water on the saine land once a week during summer, and
once a inonth during winter, when probably two or three water-
ings annually are all that would be actually necessary under
a proper system of inanagement. And again, it is too com-

IRRICATION. 431

monly the practice to let the water go at the upper end of a
long ridge or bed to find its way over the surface to the lower
end of the land to be watered. Such treatment leaves the
upper portion of the field washed and water-worn, and in a
condition not unlike the bed of a stream. The water, in the
case of land growing grain crops, is sometimes kept within
bounds in the line of its course by low earth-banks, or walls
made by a wall-block, a triangular wooden implement, 9 feet
wide, resembling a snow-plough, which is dragged over the
surface after the seed has been harrowed in.

In Chapters X. and XXIV. it has been partially explained
how the injury from excessive, and from surface watering,
mig-ht be minimised. Much harm could be prevented
by leading the water on to broad ridges by means of
supply drains, one running parallel with and between each
pair of ridges (or more correctly, nearly level beds), and
elevated by building their sides above the surface to be
watered, so that the water would flow from them on to the
land. The beds could then be thrown into little squares by
the formation of earth-banks a few inches high, at right angles
to the supply drains. One side of each square being con-
tiguous to a drain, a supply of water would be available
within a few feet of any spot to be irrigated, and the surface
washing would be thereby avoided. Such a system implies
full control of the water supply, as any given area of a few
feet in a field can be watered, or can be kept dry, without
regard to what is being done in other parts of it. Greater
skill and care are no doubt necessary, and these in one sense
entail greater cost for labour, but not greater in proportion to
the results obtained under the improved system as compared
with those derived from the old and imperfect one.

In many cases, especially where land is being laid down,
say to lucerne, for a period of years, a durable adaptation of
the system described (known in California as the " check and
levee system "j might advantageously be adopted.

The land is first deeply ploughed, and, by the use of scrapers,
well known in the Colony in connection with the making of
earth-banks for water-dams, the soil forming the knolls is
lowered into the hollows, and the surface made as level as
possible. The levees (banks), along the .crowns of which the

432 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

distributiiiL;' ditches pass, are thrown up by the scrapers skim-
ming off the surface when the ground is originally level, or when
uneven by removing the elevations close to the levee, advan-
tage, if possible, being taken, in the interests of the general
work, of natural ridges when they occur. The levees stand
12 to 1 8 inches high at the crown, and gradually slope off on
each side to ground level, where the base is 6 to lO feet wide,
so that harvesting machinery can pass over them without
difficulty. The checks or enclosed spaces are by the forma-
tion of cross levees made of various areas and shapes, dependent
upon the natural formation of the ground, and whether the
surface be level or sloping, as well as upon the amount of
money to be spent. The water-supply ditches run along
the crowns of levees, which lie in the direction of the fall or
hang of the surface, and from these the water is let out where
and when desired. A little practical experience and judg-
ment soon indicate the position in which the levees ought to
be raised for the even and most economical distribution of
water, the ideal direction being, when local circumstances
permit, at right angles to each other on account of the
greater facility with \vhich machinery then passes over them.
The land generally presents the appearance of an uneven
chessboard of squares, irregular four-sided figures, triangles,
&c., of different sizes.

The permanent " head ditch " runs along the higher end
of the field. After the first crop has been removed, and the
land has again been ploughed, the distributing ditches, which
get obliterated, are again struck out where required along the
levee crowns.

It is best to begin work each year after harvest on the
stubble, and to do as much as possible before next seed-time,
as it takes several years to thoroughly level and smooth the
surface, the water indicating the position of the depressions
which require to be filled up. When irrigation begins, the
water passes into one check until it has received enough,
then the inlet is closed, and the water is led on to the next,
and so on, until the whole is completed. In addition to the
natural rainfall of California (lO to 25 inches annualh'), one
thorough soaking of the land before sowing, and one irriga-
tion at night-time when the crop is about 9 inches high, on

IRRIGATION. 433

sandy loam, will secure a crop. In many localities where the
soil has greater power of retaining moisture, one good soaking
before sowing is sufficient.

Harrowing fills in the distributing ditches, so that the
reaper easily passes over them, but in spring a man is sent
round as an extra safeguard to smooth off any irregularities.*

There is no doubt a great future for irrigation in Cape
Colony, under skilled guidance and management. The want
of water is great in the widest areas, but not to such an ex-
tent as is generally supposed. There are unique advantages
in the natural formation of the surface, which are furnished
by chains of mountains in which water can be easily stored
in dams to be constructed at moderate cost.

One great question remains to be settled, viz., in what
way can Government best lend its aid to the numerous
irrigation schemes, which will sooner or later be brought for-
ward. The author is strongly of opinion, in the light of the
experiences of Victoria, and the Irrigation States of Western
America — that the initiative should be taken, and the great
burden of the responsibility be borne, by the people who take
an interest in the development of any given scheme, and who
are to be the greatest beneficiaries by its success, the duty
of Government being to give all possible reasonable encourage-
ment, and even, under well-conceived regulations, to provide
material assistance. Only by such means will it be possible
to draw the line between injudicious schemes, such as that
at Van Wyk's Vlei, which ought never to have been under-
taken, and those which are worthy of consideration and
encouragement.

The subjoined Memorandum, which was courteously pre-
pared for the author by the Honourable The Chief-Justice of
the Cape of Good Hope, Sir J. Henry de Villiers, will show
how the law stands in relation to many of the more imjjortant
questions which are likely to arise in connection with irrigation
water-rights.

The only legislation in the Colony relating to water-rights is to he
found in Act No. 36 of 1882. That Act, however, does not define watcr-

* The author is indebted to E. M. Arnold, B.Sc, also a former pupil,
for refreshing his memory with regard to the foregoing details of the
Californian system of laying out land for irrigation.

2 E

434 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAl'E COLONY.

rights, nor does it specify the modes in which such rights may be acquired,
but merely provides faciHties to persons having a right to water to convey
such water across the lands of other persons. In order, therefore, to
ascertain the rights to which riparian proprietors are entitled, it becomes
necessary to fall back on the common law which, in the Cape Colony and
the other South African Colonies and States, is the Roman Dutch law.
This task is by no means a difficult one, seeing that the Supreme Court
of the Cape Colony has, by a series of decisions, settled all the questions
which have already arisen, and has laid down certain general principles
for the decision of questions which may still arise between riparian pro-
prietors. The leading case is that of Hough v. Van der Merwe, decided
in 1874, where it was held that the owner of land by or through which a
public stream flows is entitled to divert a portion of the water for the
purposes of irrigation, provided, firstly, that he does not thereby deprive the
lower proprietors of sufficient water for their cattle and domestic purposes ;
secondly, that he uses no more than a just and reasonable proportion of the
water consistently with similar rights of irrigation in the lower proprietors ;
and thirdly, that he returns the water to the public stream with no other
loss than that which irrigation has caused. What constitutes a just and
reasonable use was held to be entirely a question of degree, which depends
upon the circumstances of each particular case. That decision has been
followed by the other South African Courts, and the chief difficulty which
has arisen in its application has been to discover in each case whether the
stream is a public or a private one. Of navigable rivers there has been no
question, because there are none in the Colony. Until 1876 it had been
generally supposed that a person on whose land water rises was the owner
of the water, and could treat it as a private stream ; but in that year it was
laid down, in Vermaak v. Palmer^ that if for thirty years or upwards the
stream had flowed down to the lower proprietors in a known and defined
channel, they were entitled to treat it as a public stream. In the same
case it was decided that a stream which occasionally ceases to flow during
the heat of the day in very dry seasons, but which never dries up at its
source, is to be treated as a perennial, and therefore a public stream, and
that an upper proprietor has no right to the exclusive enjoyment of the
water. In 1879 it was decided, in Jordaan v. Winkehnan., that lower
proprietors do not by the exclusive use of the water for any period, how-
ever long, acquire the right to prevent the upper proprietor from claim-
ing his reasonable share at any time. The court there appointed a
competent person to report to it, after due examination, what would be
a fair distribution of the water among the different riparian proprietors,
taking into account the nature of the soil over which the stream flows, the
extent of land belonging to each proprietor, the comparative extent of
land capable of cultivation, and the distance of the different cultivated
lands from the main stream. But although, in the last case, the lower
proprietors acquired no exclusive right by using nearly all the water when
it reached them, it has frequently been held that if a lower proprietor
leads water out of a public stream above the upper proprietor's land, and
has for thirty years or upwards used this water peaceably, openly, and

IRRIGATION. 435

as of right, he may thus acquire a right to the water to the exchision
of the upper proprietor. In the same way, if an upper proprietor has
for thirty years diverted all the water for his own purposes, the lower
proprietor cannot claim his share even of a public stream.

In 1880 the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the views that a stream may
sometimes become dry in the heat of summer without forfeiting the char-
acter of a perennial, and therefore of a public river, and that a person's
right to deal as he chooses with water rising on his own land is subject
to the limitation that the water thus rising is not the source or the main
source of a public stream.

It sometimes happened that the course of a stream was altered by
means of an artificial water-course, and the cjuestion then arose whether,
if the stream has flowed down to lower proprietors in the new channel for
thirty years or upwards, they are entitled to use that water for purposes
of irrigation. In 1882 it was decided, in Mybiirgh v. Van der Byl,
that the riparian proprietors of such artificial water-course may thus
acquire all the water-rights which they would have had if it had been
a natural stream. In the subsequent case of Mumcipality of French- Hoek
V. Hugo, decided in 1883, it appeared that the Court of Landdrost en
Heemraden had in 18 10 authorised Hugo's predecessors in title to divert
a stream, which would naturally flow down one side of the mountain,
down the other side. The Courts of Landdrost en Heemraden were
district courts, established during the Dutch occupation, which, among
other duties, settled water disputes. These courts have long since been
abolished, but their decisions still regulate the distribution of water
between hundreds of riparian proprietors in this Colony, In the case
just mentioned, the Court held that Hugo, having used all the water in the
new channel for the period of prescription to the exclusion of the muni-
cipality below, could not be interdicted from such further exclusive use.
This judgment was affirmed, on appeal, by the Pri\y Council.

In the case of Striiben v. JVaferworks Company, decided in 1892, the
question arose whether the owner of land who, in digging the land,
abstracts underground water, which would otherwise find its way into a
pulilic stream, is liable to the lower proprietor, and the following rules
were laid down. The owner of land is entitled to the water which rises
thereon, except in so far as such water has for thirty years or upwards
been a source of a public stream, in which case his right in respect of
the accustomed flow is limited by the rights of the public, so far as they
are capable of being exercised, and by the riparian rights of the lower
proprietors. The lower proprietors have a right to a share of the accus-
tomed flow only, and therefore if the upper proprietor, by operations
upon his own land, acquires an additional supply, he is not bound to
allow such additional supply to flow down, but may treat it as his own.
A person who, by digging a well in his own land, for the bona Jidc
purpose of improving the value of such land, abstracts underground
water finding its way in undefined, and to him unknown channels, is
entitled to all such water, although the abstraction may cause a diminution
in the supply of other wells, or even of a public stream. The cases in the

436 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Colonial Courts are generally those in which a lower proprietor complains
that the water required for his needs has been diverted by the upper
proprietor, but it occasionally happens that the upper proprietor com-
plains that the lower proprietor has obstructed the free flow of the water,
and has thus thrown back the water. In the case oi Ludolph v. Wagner,
decided in 1888, the Supreme Court held that where a person has the right
to discharge water on to his neighbour's land by means of a natural
channel, or by means of an artificial channel, which has existed for thirty
years or more, he may increase the ordinary flow to the prejudice of the
lower proprietor, if such increase be occasioned in the ordinary course of
draining, ploughing, or irrigating the upper land, and be not greater than
is reasonable under the circumstances. If the channel becomes choked
through neglect, he may compel the lower proprietor either to clean it
himself or allow him to do so.

The above rules, of course, only apply where the proprietors have not
made any agreement among themselves for the distribution of flowing
water. Such agreements are extremely common in those districts where
cultivation can only be carried on by means of irrigation. In some cases
the different owners have the simultaneous use of the stream, and the
distribution takes place from a reservoir by means of pipes of different
dimensions, according to the quantity allotted to each. In other cases the
proprietors irrigate by turns, each being entitled to the whole stream for
a certain number of hours a day, or a certain number of days a week or
month. Agreements of either kind are often made when a farm is
partitioned among several owners, and they are generally based upon the
award of arbitrators chosen to effect a distribution. The agreements are
registered with the title-deeds in the Registry of Deeds Office, and thus
become binding upon all future owners of the land, whether they had
previous notice of such agreements or not. Where the courts are applied
to for relief, on the ground that some of the proprietors are deprived of
their reasonable share of the water, it is not unusual for the court to
appoint some expert in the district to report to the court as to the most
suitable mode of distributing the water, having regard to all the circum-
stances of the case. The report is generally adopted, but it frequently
happens that the court makes the adjustment upon the evidence sub-
mitted to it without the assistance of an expert. In former years
disputed cases of water-rights were of frecjuent occurrence, but since the
farmers have come to understand the principles which regulate their
rights such cases have been rare, and when they do arise, are oftener
than not amicably settled without the intervention "of the court.

CHAPTER XXIII.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES.

Transport Work on Colonial Roads — The Transport Waggon—" Braying"
Green Hides to make Ox " Rims" — Ploughs used in Cape Colony-
Harrows — Cultivators — Rollers —Self-binding Reapers — The Aus-
tralian Stripper — The Prices of Implements.

The transport waggon, drawn usually by sixteen oxen,*
was at one time the sole means for the conveyance of travellers
and commodities between the coast and the interior of South
Africa. Coaches and railways have superseded them in certain
parts, but locally and in the undeveloped interior the bullock
wagijon is still the great means of communication. Progression
by this mode is slow but it is sure, and, above all, it is com-
paratively inexpensive. Few people, accustomed only to the
splendour of the trappings and the general appearance of the
British dray horse in the lorries of the railway companies and
those of the great brewers or other merchant princes, realise
how worthless these would be in a new country without roads,
and where food has to be picked up anywhere or anyhow ; and
how admirably suited is the ox, the embodiment of power,
endurance, and patience, to trying surroundings.

The first roads of a country are merely waggon tracks,
which wear in places into sandy ruts in dry weather and into
muddy holes when rain falls. No repair is ever attempted.
When one part becomes wheel-worn or water-worn and too
difficult to pass over, a new way is taken alongside on the veld.
As an instance of the ultimate result, the author counted at
one place as many as thirty-two parallel tracks lying close to
each other forming the old main waggon road from Port
Elizabeth to Cape Town.

The transport waggon for up-country traffic, to carry

* See Plates lo, 13, 50, 51, and 68.

438 FARMING INDUSTKIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

from 3 to 5 tons Imj^erial, costs about £100. The weight is
30 to 32 cwts., and the length, gauged by the bed-plank or
floor, is about 17 or 18 feet, experience having shown that 20-
feet waggons are too large and cumbrous. The floor, 4 feet
I inch wide, is usually laid with Baltic deal 9 inches by i|
inches. The top side-beams, 17 to 18 feet long, are made
either of stinkwood or pitch pine 9 inches by 3 inches ; the side-
rails of the same materials 3 inches by 2 inches. The under-
stell consists of two scammels, two a.xle-beds, and one drie-
board, all of black ironwood. The ironwood beam underneath,
which rests on the axle beds and connects the fore and hind
axle, is 1 1 feet 6 inches long. The diameter of the back
wheels is 5 feet, and of the fore wheels 4 feet 7 to 8 inches.
The naves, made of yellow-wood, or better, of flat-crown, a
native wood of Natal, are I4v inches long, the fore pair being
1 1| inches and the hind pair I2h inches in diameter. The best
spokes, 3 inches by if inches, are made of assegai w^ood,
which is extremely strong, hard, and durable. The felloes
consist of the wood of white pear or bitter almond, 4I to 5
inches in depth and 3 inches thick. The axles, imported in
halves which are welded after they arrive, are 3 inches in
diameter at the thickest of the round part, and cost about ^3
each. The brake is made of i| inch diameter imported
iron. The four iron wheel shods, which weigh 3^ cwts.,
are 3 inches broad by | inch thick. The black ironwood
disselboom or draught-pole measures 11 feet 6 inches in
length, and the round yoke (.see Plate 13) 5 feet 3 inches,
with a diameter of 3^ inches, pierced by four slots to re-
ceive the yoke-keys. Eight stinkwood yokes weigh i cwt.
The oxen, usually sixteen coupled together in pairs — the
front pair led by a man or boy by means of a halter tied to
the horns — are yoked to one long draught rope (usually of
" brayed " leather thongs) which passes up the middle of the
two lines of cattle when they are in position. The animals
are stimulated to exertion by the driver walking alongside
and using freely a long leather-thonged bamboo -handled
whip.

Braying is the simple and largely mechanical process by
which raw hides are prepared for the making of the rough
white leather-harness in use in the country districts of the

AGRICULTURAL LMl'LEMENTS AND MACHINES. 439

Colony, and of the "rims" or powerful leather ropes just
alluded to. A ijreen bullock's skin is wetted and buried in
the dung of a kraal (sometimes within a bag) for two days,
more or less, according to the season and the condition of the
manure. The heating due to fermentation which takes place
removes the hair, but the action is not permitted to go on long
enough to injure the skin. Gathered together from the sides,
it is then hung up by one end, probably to a tree, with a
weight, frequently a waggon wheel, suspended from the lower
extremity. It is kept moist, and twisted to the right and
then to the left until it begins to become white ; then, to
soften it, the hide is greased with sheep's fat mixed with fish
oil or lard. Twisting and greasing at intervals are continued
until the hide becomes pliable and white throughout. Between
the times, which may be two, three, or more, the hide is hung
up to twist, it is stretched laterally and horizontally on poles,
and the inner surface hacked with a blunt hoe to expand
it, and to remove any flesh which may have been left if
the operation of skinning has been badly executed. The
preparation takes at least the labour of an industrious man a
week. Good skins, which would sell green at from 12s. to i8s.
each, are worth, when prepared, from ^2 to ^3. Rims are
usually cut out of the green hide in a long strip of an inch or
more broad, beginning at the edge and going round and round,
as in this form they are more easily handled than the uncut
hide while braying. Under the treatment the leather becomes
very soft and pliable, and extremely strong. Thongs, called
" rimpies," made from the fine .soft skins of bucks, are exten-
sively employed by people living on the veld for pointing
whip lashes, mending harness, and for the common pur-
poses for which twine is generally employed in more densely
populated places.

Recent years have seen an immense increase of the
numbers of ploughs in Cape Colony. At one time the old
"75," a strong, but badly constructed heavy single-furrow
plough, was to be seen almost everywhere. It has to a great
extent been replaced by lighter and better formed implements,
though it is still used for breaking in land from the veld.
When doing rough work on stony land, it is a usual practice to

440

FaKMIM; INUUSTklES OK CAl'E COLONY.

attach the " rims " of the draught oxen to a piece of No. 9 wire
fastened to the head of the plough, .so that with any excessive
strain, w liich is expected to occur at times, the wire and not the
jjlough, or the gearing of the cattle, gives way. This plough's
most conspicuous redeeming quality is inexpensiveness, as it
costs on])' 23s. at j>ort. One of the greatest drawbacks to the
new forms of plough is the cost. The " Flying Dutchman," a
favourite two-furrow American implement (by the Moline Plow
Co., 111.) costs ^15 before it can be delivered up-country.

Single-furrow ploughs, like that of Ransome, the Swedish,
the Oliver (No. 140 X), and the Steel Swift, for breaking and for
first ploughing, which ought to be done to a good depth, two- or

Oliver's No. 140 X Chilled, Double-Wheel, Walking Plow.

three-furrow ploughs like the one already mentioned,and those
bearing the names of Howard, Eckerst, German Zas, Ransome,
and Oliver, are increasing in favour for ploughing in seed and
for preparing a seed bed, the work being less expensive than when
a single mould-board plough is used for such purposes. Where
cattle are used, twelve oxen will draw a three-furrow plough,
covering 27 inches in breadth, while six mules in the Western
Province will draw a two-furrow plough, turning over 18 inches
at a time. To close and open irregularly shaped lands a single-
furrow plough and two strong mules should be used, to avoid
the tramjiling of the surface already ploughed by the numerous
mules drawing a two- or three-furrow implement. Two wheels,
when fitted to a plough, are more satisfactory than one.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES.

441

The digging action of ploughs, with a pulverising wing for
breaking -down the furrow slices, as is done by the J of
Howard, Farror, & Company (a plough with a long beam
which does deep and thorough work), is appreciated in some
districts. One - way ploughs are also employed on hill-
sides and when garden and orchard cultivation has to be
done. The Ames Plow Company, New York, and the Oliver
Chilled Plow Works, South Bend, Indiana, both contribute
useful implements of this description. (See Appendix G.)

Oliver's N.D. Steel-Bottom, Two-Fukkhw, Gang Plow.

The quick grass already mentioned as a widely distri-
buted weed in South Africa, gives a great deal of trouble
while the work of ploughing progresses, if the implement be
not of a shape which will overcome it. The share should
be pointed, not broad, and the standard or main perpen-
dicular support of the body requires to be placed 4 or 5 inches
behind the forward edge of the mould-board doing the per-
pendicular cut, and about 3 inches nearer the furrow side than

44^ FAR.\IIN(i INDUSTRIES OK CAI'E CCJLONV.

is usual in a plough constructed for \v(jrk on clean land, so
that the roots, which incline to form in a tangle round the
standard, slip off to the left, and drop into the furrow. A
skim-coulter with a pointing share cuts the roots near the
surface of the ground, and should invariably be used in weedy
ground. The skim should be set to cut not more than
2 1 inches deep, and the same width, or slightly wider than
that of the furrow slice. This prevents any increase of draught
from double cutting, such as occurs when the skim-coulter is
set to cut narrower than the furrow slice.

In ploughs of defective construction, with narrow .shares
cutting 6 or 7 inches, joined to mould-boards able to turn a
14-inch furrow slice, or with broad shares and narrow set mould-
boards, the draught is greatly increased, and little more than
half the surface soil is turned over.

The Oliver single-furrow chilled plow is one of the
most scientifically constructed ploughs of the day, and it has
within recent years become widely used and appreciated in
Scotland. For the preference of farmers for this American
plough over the original forms of Scotch plough there are
two good and significant reasons — (i) Three pairs of horses
working in the Oliver plow will do as much work as four
pairs in the old plough ; and (2) owing to additional working
parts being supplied when worn, these can be replaced by the
ploughman without entailing the loss of time and the ex-
pense which were formerly necessary in taking the " irons " to
be relaid at the smithy.

Oliver's is a centre-draught plow. The beam rests on
a pivot at the top of the standard, so that its direction can be
changed under varying circumstances, and the draught main-
tained in the centre of the beam.

Another great improvement in the construction of recent
forms of the Oliver plow is the slanting check plate on the
land side. When ploughing soft land, the soil does not tend
so much as formerly to fall back into the furrow, and the
horses have a clear furrow to walk in. Moreover, in plough-
ing lea or hard ground, the furrow slice is shaped so that it
turns over much more easily under the pressure of the mould-
board than the rectangular furrow slice, the edge of which
tends to support it in a perpendicular position.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES. 443

The great advantage of the modern improved plough,
especiall}' where soils are gritty, owing to the presence of
volcanic debris or water-worn shingle, so that the cutting
points and edges wear rapidly, is that all easily worn parts
are detachable and replaceable at a moderate cost. A saving
is also effected in the substitution of hard full chilled iron for

Common Zig-zag Harrow.

tempered steel, and the adoption of reversible points and share
wings, so that when the plough-point becomes rounded below,
by turning it is made to present an effective cutting edge.

The great inducement for Kaffir cultivators or for small
farmers to plough shallow, probably only 4 inches deep, so that

Disc Harrow or Pllveriser.

a full crop cannot be got, is the fear of breaking their old and
rickety ploughs by going deeper.

The old triangular Dutch harrow, with sides 9 feet in
length, and wooden tines driven through them, is still to be
seen at work ; but of tined implements, the iron zig-zag
harrow, drawn by six to eight oxen or four to six mules, is
the one generally adopted by progressive cultivators. The
disc harrow, under the name of the pulveriser, has quite

444 FARMING IN'DUSTKIllS OF CAPE COLONY. "

recently been coming much into favour. It is chiefly used
for breaking down the furrow sHces after ploughing, killing
annual weeds, and covering seed grain after sowing. On soil
in good condition for the purpose it will sink 4 inches by its
own gravity, and can be made to work' deeper by placing
weights on the frame. On clean land in South Africa no
other implement would better suit the conditions, but used
on land growing couch no means could be found better
calculated to establish it and encourage its growth. The
method employed in India for the cultivation of couch
(dub) on lawns when it becomes thin is to grub it up, so
that the fibrous roots and underground stems get divided
into numerous pieces. Each piece becomes a centre of growth
in the future. The disc harrow at work in a field growing
couch cannot fail to cut the plant up, and to bury portions
of it sufficiently deep to be safe from the destructive influence
of the sun. As a pulveriser pure and simple, the Acme
harrow would do the work of the disc harrow without plant-
ing couch, but unfortunately it is not as a pulveriser that the
disc harrow is most appreciated or most wanted. The present
price y£iy), delivered in the country, is prohibitive to a great
many struggling cultivators.

The benefits in orchard work of the use of cultivators
dra^vn by mules have been fully demonstrated in Cape Colony,
and the larger field cultivator or grubber is becoming more
widely used than formerly, it will when better understood
be more and more appreciated under South African conditions.
The objection to the disc harrow does not in any way apply
to th« cultivator.

Tlie Massey- Harris steel-tined cultivator was found
doing excellent work under varying circumstances in different
districts. (See Appendix F.) The tines, made of steel, tem-
pered to suit the work to be done, are stronger than they
appear to be ; and a sufficient degree of flexibility prevents
a tine breaking when it comes in contact with a boulder or
other rigid obstacle. This new form of implement is lighter
in draught and more thorough in work, as well as more
rapid in motion, than the original forms of heavy grubbers
which are familiar in British farm practice. The culti-
vator is equally valuable on light land, where it can be

ACiRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES. 445

made to dcj a large proportion of the work of stirring the soil,
and on heavy land, where it can be employed to break
the furrow slices immediately after ploughing, to prevent
them baking into hard and impenetrable brick-like masses.
In this as in the former case its usefulness is enhanced
by associating it with the Cambridge or ring roller. This
combination of work brings about a fineness of division of
the soil particles, and at the same time a sufficient degree of
compactness of the surface to prevent the excessive escape
of soil moisture by evaporation. The cultivator also does
excellent service when employed to stir wheat stubbles, to
encourage the germination of weeds and shaken grain, so that
they may supply food for stock for a period, and be easily killed
before the succeeding crop requires to be planted. The single
exception to this statement is in the case of the wild oat,
Avcna fatiia, which grows more freely after the plough than
after the cultivator.

Cambridge ok R[\'(; Roller.

The Cambridge roller, which is also a clod-cruslier and
pulveriser, is peculiarly well suited to South African conditions
of soil and climate. Where soils are so light that they are
liable to be blown by the wind, the use of a flat roller is sure
to aggravate rather than to check the injury, but the influence of
the fluted edged rings of the Cambridge roller is beneficial.
When the ring roller is used, the surface does not cake after
heavy rain as it does when the plain cylindrical implement
has been employed ; and .the passage of the ring roller over
a surface thus affected improves its condition.

The self-binding reaper is now extensively used in har-
vesting ripe crops in the chief grain-growing districts of the
Colony. The scythe is mostly employed in cutting oats for
hay, as it is thought to form a better sheaf for marketing. In
the Koebcrcr district the writer found the M'Cormack and the

446 FARMINn INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Masscy- Harris strint,^ binders high in favour. (See Appen-
dix H.) The price, viz., ^,45, in districts near the coast, or ^^55
inland, makes it impossible for a cultivator on a small scale to
invest in a reaper on his own account.

The Australian stripper has been used by a few cultivators
in the Colony. It ought to be specially serviceable on the
occasions when locusts come near harvest time, as they gnaw
the straw and weaken it a little below the ears, and increase
the loss through heads falling off when the crop is reaped in the
ordinary way.

With the expansion of the demand for improved forms
of implements, and a concurrent greater competition for
public favour by an increasing number of implement makers,
the prices naturally decline, as was well illustrated when
the " Iron Age" cultivator was brought into competition with
its rival the " Planet Junior," which was earlier in the field.
South Africa, owing to the nature of its climate, and to
present and impending labour difficulties, is undoubtedly a
splendid field for the display of the advantages of good farm
machinery, but unremunerativc prices of farm produce sadly
deter even the most enterprising farmers from investing money
in new appliances.

CHAPTER XXIV.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES.

Summary of Crops Harvested — Wheat — Improved Method of Irrigating
Wheat Land — Wheat-Growing Districts — Rust in Wheat — Steeping
or Pickhng the Seed of Grain Crops before Sowing — Cross-FertiHsa-
tion as a Means for the Prevention of Rust in Wheat — The Gartons'
Nevvton-le-Willow Experiments — The Mealie or Maize Crop — Kaffir
Corn— vSunflower — Rotation of Crops-Oats — Barley — Threshing
by Travelling Mill and by Trampling Out — The Potato Crop, its
Diseases and Means of Prevention— The Tobacco Crop — Luffa
— Manure and Manuring — Locusts.

TriE .subjoined comparative general Summary of the Re-
turns of Farm Crops Harvested in 1894-95* ^vill indicate
what are the chief crops grown, and the relative proportions
they bear to each other. It also shows how small the crop
of last year was as compared with the crops of the two
previous years, a circumstance largely accounted for by the
exceptional extent of the injury done by locusts, drought, and
other causes, as the total amount of seed put in the ground
did not materially differ from that sown during the two pre-
ceding years. Crop yields are almost invariably estimated in
South Africa as so many fold of the .seed used, a practice
which does not convey much information to the mind of one
accustomed to calculations of so many bushels to the acre.
It is essentially an indefinite method of stating returns, as on
rich land less seed is required, and the yield is much greater
per unit than on poor land.

Wheat, the staple food of the white population, is naturally
by far the most important cereal crop of Cape Colony,
83,697 muids (3 bu.shels each) being planted in 1894-95,
against 49,681 muids of mealies, the next most extensively
cultivated crop.

* See also page 1 13.

448

FARMINC INDUSTRIES OV CAPE COLONY.

Comparative General Sumalvrv — Return of Corn
Crops Harvested.

Particu

ars.

Amount in

_ Muids*-

Colony Proper.

Transkei

and

Walfish Bay.

Total
Whole Colony.

1894-5 Wheat

1893-4
1892-3

Muids

804,384

999,514
1,265,788

17,180
33,029
31,178

821,564

1,032,543
1,296,966

1894-5 Barley

1893-4

1892-3

219,444
256,962

334,795

2,234
3,032
6,233

221,678

259,994
341,028

1894-5 Oats

1893-4
1892-3 „

•

318,902
457,5'5
534,930

6,880

5,973
10,776

325,782
463,488
545,706

1894-5 Oat Hay

1893-4

1892-3

. Bundles

»5

34,518,416
37,895,078
39,331,724

2,948,383
3,233,083

3,793,299

37,466,799
41,128,161
43,125,023

1894-5 Rye

1893-4 „
1892-3 „

Muids
It

143,8543

186,798

182,208

722
252
154

144,576*

187,050

182,362

1894-5 Mealies

1893-4
1892-3

449,263

536,519
528,901

344,037
383,850
382,352

793,300
920,369
911,253

1894 5 Kafifir Corn

1893-4

1892-3

It
Jt

90,270
188,433
123,757

188,913

290,915
248,904

279,183
479,348
372,661

1894-5 Potatoes

1893-4
1892-3

tt
))
5)

253,071

302,708

Not taken.

14,003
11,480

267,074
314,188

1894-5 Tobacco

1893-4

1892-3

lbs.

4,720,903
4,699,465
4,313,980

241,628

379,679
173,670

4,962,531
5,079,144
4,487,650

The crop returns for 1895 show for the whole Colony a
yield of 11 fold harvested, exclusive of crops to the extent of
over 6 fold that were destroyed, results which are a few bushels
below the average of former years. This is estimated to be
about 18 fold. In Caledon 12 to 15 fold are got, but there
wheat is grown without irrigation, and without any proper

* I muid = 3 bushels

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 449

system of crop-rotation, and on soil which is naturally shallow.
Dry land at a considerable elevation on the way up from
Aliwal North into the New England district was seen under-
going a single ploughing, and was not expected to return
more than 8 to 10 fold. In the same district when water is
applied, a preliminary ploughing done during summer, and a
second ploughing before sowing in April on the advent of
rain, 20 to 30 fold are got from land in situations favourable
for irrigation, and in consequence generally of better quality.

On the excellent holm land near Lady Grey, where wheat
grows remarkably well after mealies planted on land newly
broken in from the condition of veld, a yield of 30 to 40 fold can
readily be reaped. The practice there is to grow wheat three
years, then oats or barley for two years before wheat is again
sown. If wheat be grown four years in succession, the last
crop is very poor. Dry land wheat is naturally not so plump
as that grown by irrigation, but it is not necessarily inferior
for milling purposes if it has matured properly.

In Oudtshoorn district wheat is planted in the end of
April, in May, and in the beginning of June — the latter being
the best time. Early planting does not in that part of the
country prevent rust. The yield of wheat is not so great
in the district as the high state of fertility of the soil might
lead one to infer. There is a tendency in the crop to grow
too much foliage ; and following a well-known condition in
other parts of the world, to wheat grown on land which is rich
in combined nitrogen, as the Oudtshoorn land is, owing to
the success of lucerne cultivation, rust is very destructive, and
is becoming increasingly so as fertility increases. There it
is found that the grain grows best in the case of crops that
are watered early — an operation which no doubt checks the
luxuriance of the growth by hardening the soil about the roots
of the plants.

In certain districts of the Colony, where black soil occurs
in the hollows and red soil on the elevated portions of the
same field, although the crop grown on the red soil is much
smaller than the other, it is sounder, makes much better bread,
and is not so liable to rust as wheat grown on the richer black
soil. The excellent practice on rich soil of eating off by
sheep wheat and other cereal crops when they show indications

2 1^'

450 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

of suffering from premature luxuriance, is not properly under-
stood by many Cape farmers, but it is a useful means when
properly carried out of increasing the yield and improving the
quality of the grain. It requires, howev-er, to be adopted with
caution if the land has been worked rather wet and left in
small lumps, as the wheat plants are then less firmly rooted,
and are liable to be pulled up by the sheep.

In Koeberg district rust usually comes in November. It
is worst in seasons when the rains stop in September, and not
so bad when it is wet into October. To escape the rust the
early beardless " du Toit " wheat is grown by some in Koeberg
and Malmesbury districts, although late bearded wheat is
preferable on account of growing more vigorously, and not
being so easily shaken by the wind as the beardless variety.
The experiences in different parts of the country with regard
to rust are somewhat divergent, but this need not be wondered
at when distances are so great and conditions so various. In
Sterkstrom district rust usually appears in its worst form
after fogs, associated with sudden changes of temperature
(even 40" and 45° F. in one day), in November or early
in December, when the wheat is going into flower. It is
found that it is not very badly affected if the crop be sown
in March and April. The crops of slovenly farmers who get
behind in their work, or those who practise the running of
cattle over the arable land late in the season, and delay
planting in consequence, are those who suffer worst when a
malignant attack comes.

In the district of Aliwal North, March and April is also a
favourite time for sowing grain crops. Wheat planted at that
.season always yields a crop, although at times it may not be
bountiful. Soft wheat grows well without rusting, and is pre-
ferred by millers to hard wheat. Barley and oats sown in this
district before Christmas suffer badly from rust.

In Grahamstown district opinion as to the best period
to sow is divided — some preferring to plant wheat in March
and April, when sufficient rain has come to make ploughing
possible, and others, adopting the Kaffirs' method of delay-
ing till the four dry months have passed, sow in September
and even later. Wheat sown earlier in the middle of July is
cut about Christmas, and can be followed immediately by

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 45 1

either beans or potatoes. Kaalkop wheat, a beardless variety
well liked by millers, has in times past been considered one of
the best rust-resisting varieties in the Eastern Province, but it
is losing its constitutional vigour, as plants naturally tend to
do when grown for a long period of time in the same district.
; A number of important questions relative to the planting
and management of the wheat crop are like that just referred
to, unsettled, and the author is firmly of the belief that much
more satisfactory results than the present ones will ultimately
be attained when the management of irrigation water is better
understood. Much of the land which is now thought to be in-
capable of growing wheat without repeated waterings during
the period of its growth, will probably be found to grow
steady profitable yields of sound grain of excellent quality
without watering after planting if a liberal supply of moisture
be present in the subsoil when the seed is sown.* This might
conveniently be arranged by thoroughly soaking the soil before
the first ploughing. It might then be safely ploughed some-
what deeper than it would be judicious to do for a seed-bed,
and a proper degree of solidity and fineness might be secured
by the use of the disc harrow and Cambridge or ring roller.
A little before sowing, a second liberal watering would sink
well into the soil, and the effects of the surface washing which
would occur during the process could be effaced by ploughing
in the seed with a furrow slice of about 4 inches deep, when
the soil had become sufficiently dry on the surface not to
bake into a hard condition when exposed to the sun. The
plant would thus begin its growth with roots not too near the
surface, and with abundance of moisture beneath them. The
main consideration in the after-treatment would be the pre-
servation of moisture by keeping the surface layer of' soil
loose, and in a finely pulverulent condition. This, with grain
crops which are not drilled, can safely and inexpensively be
accomplished according to circumstances by the use of the
common harrow and ring roller — one or other or both. If
the land be loose from being lumpy, a consequence of work-

* For example, a stretch of 10,000 acres of deep alluvial soil, excellent
for wheat growiiii^-, which could be watered in the way suggested from a
dam proposed to be constructed at Tygerpoort, near Britstown.

452

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

iiii^ when it is too wet, the roller is necessary at first. If the
sowing has been done under favourable circumstances, the
harrow put right through the crop, when the blade is about
6 inches above ground, will loosen the surface, and will not pull
the plants out of root, but give them a fresh impulse to grow.
If on comrnencing operations too soon it is found that the
wheat is being pulled out of root, harrowing must be delayed
till the roots go a little deeper. After the crop is fixed the
work may be undertaken, without doing any injury, one or
more times until the plants are 12 or even 15 inches high.
Harrowing may also be safely done some days after sowing,
and after the seed has begun to germinate, if the fibrous roots
have not begun to extend themselves. Where the conditions
of soil and climate are such that it is absolutely necessary to
water the crop while growing, the longer the watering can be
delayed without doing injury the better, in the interests of the
subsequent condition of the land and the roots of the wheat
plant. Even when a thorough soaking of irrigation water has
not been given before planting, a double turn of the harrows
would in a great many cases be much more beneficial than a
first watering to many crops.

The following are the twenty most important divisional
wheat-growing" districts of the country, as shown from the
amounts, stated in muids, of wheat harvested in 1894-95 • —

Wheat—

Division.

Muids.*

Division.

Muids.*

Malmesbury

• 173,059

GraaffReinet .

16,880

Piquetberg

• 50,693

Calvinia .

16,673

Cape

• 37,188

Oueenstovvn

16,318

Caledon .

• 35,102

Cradock .

16,214

Oudtshoorn

• 24,793

Aliwal North .

16,143

Wodehoiise

• 29,297

Tarka

15,869

Paarl

• 27,558

Barkly East .

14,379

Herschel

. 22,861

Bredasdorp

12,810

Albert

• 22,783

Ceres

11,671

Middelburg

18.981

Uniondale

11,326

Malmesbury is by far the most important wheat-growing
area, yielding more than three iimes the amount of Piquetberg,
which comes next with a good lead in front of the Cape
division, the third in order of merit.

The coast land about Alexandria and the adjoining dis-

' I muid = 3 bushels.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES.

453

tricts was at one time a great grain-L^rowiny; country, but now
it is not good for this purpose owing to rust, which came to
these parts nearly forty years ago. It was in the country
before that time, as residents of sixty years' experience in the
Colony remember noticing it on their arrival. In the early
days oats were free from the attack, although in later years the
oat has often been as badly affected as the wheat plant. Up-
country rust is not so injurious as in wheat-growing districts as

F/G.Z

Rust Fungus, Puccinia gkaminis, on Wheat and Bakherky Leaves.

Fig. I. — Upper portion of a Stalk of Wheat, with Groups of the Uredo{u, u) on the Leaves,
and of the Puccinia {p) on the fast-ripening Leaf-sheath and Straw. Fig. 2. — Portion of a
Branch of a Barberry, with a Tuft of Leaves attacked by ^Ecidiuiti berberidis, which forms
Yellow Cushions on the Leaf-blades and Stalks. Fig. 3. — Germinating Uredospore (very highly
magnified) of/*, graininis, showing the development of a Germ-tube (t). — Ward.

near the coast as Queenstown. Blue-corn, a Rivett wheat with
a pith in the straw, is one of the best rust-resisting varieties
grown in the Eastern Province.

Rust or mildew of wheat is due to the presence of a para-
sitic fungus known by the name of Piwcinia gramitiis, Pers.
The mycelium of this fungus ramifies through the substance
of the leaves and stem of the wheat plant, and lives on its
juices. As time goes on, it produces first crowds of single-
celled oblong or egg-shaped seeds or spores, of a bright

454 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE C(JLONY.

orange colour, one-thousandth of an inch long, which may
be observed as masses of innumerable powdery granules on
the surfaces of the foliage. This stage is technically termed
the uredo of the fungus, and is popularly known as " rust,"
which shrivels or burns up the croj), as its scientific name
implies. Three or four weeks later the linear red patches
first observed become " purple-brown or almost black in
colour," as the spores now produced are of a dark purple-
brown, not a yellow hue. The colour changes gradually
until no yellow remains. Microscopic examination of the
dusty colouring matter shows that then all the uredospores,
coloured by minute yellow oil drops in their protoplasm, have
disappeared, and that they have been replaced by teleiitosporcs,
also, like the former, borne on stalks connecting them to the
mycelium, but consisting of two larger cells more club-like,
and of a dark purple-brown hue.

While uredospores readily germinate on being put into
water, the teleutospores, being resting spores intended to carry
the life of the fungus over a cold or a very dry period, do not
readily do so under similar treatment until they have been
exposed for months to atmospheric influences. Some will even
remain fertile for three years, and germinate when introduced
into suitable conditions. Although the spores germinate, and
throw out germ-tubes (Fig. 3), ready to penetrate by boring
through the cell-walls of a suitable host, it is the accepted
belief that neither of the spores described can do so in the
case of wheat or other grass plants, and reproduce the fungus
in the succeeding year's crop.

The fungus has yet a third, the cEcidimn stage of its
existence, which in Europe, so far as it is known, is passed on
the leaves of the barberry, where, supported by mycelia which
ramify through their parenchyma, the masses of cecidiospores,
which closely resemble those of the uredo stage, produce
" waxy cushions," or " bright yellow patches thicker than the
rest of the leaf" On being shed and placed on the leaves of
susceptible young wheat, jecidiospores produce, first the uredo,
and later the puccinia stages of the fungus. De Bary, who
made known this discovery in 1865, had previously demon-
strated that the puccinia of the wheat gave rise to the scidium
of the barberry. Another undiscovered, intermediate host

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 455

probably exists in South Africa, as there can be no doubt the
fungus, P. gramiuis, is there similarly endowed with the power
of hetenrcisin* All the ordinary means used for the pre-
vention of other fungoid attacks upon grain crops have failed
to cope with rust in South Africa, as in other parts of the
world.

The well-known fungoid parasites, Ustilago carlw, Tul.,
producing smut, and Tilletia caries, Tul, bunt, are in evidence
in the Colon)-, but they are more spasmodic and not so
destructive in their effects as the rust fungus. They only
attack a proportion of the grain plants in a field, not the entire
crop or the plants in considerable patches of it, as is the case
with rust, and injury can be entirely prevented by steeping
or pickling the seed before sowing, to kill the spores which
adhere by the aid of a sticky material to the surfaces of the
grain. The spores of the rust fungus find their way to the
young plant after it is well above ground, and are not neces-
sarily sown with the seed, which is the explanation of the fact
that pickling is of no avail as a means for preventing rust.

The uncertain nature of these fungoid attacks is well
illustrated by the following examples. In the neighbourhood
of Sterkstrom undressed Boer oats were half consumed by
smut, while hard wheat, which was practically free from that
fungus, was seriously injured by rust ; and up in the New
England district, where rust is said to do little injury, attacks
of both smut and bunt are bad.

Steeps of bluestone (sulphate of copper) or of lime solutions
of indefinite strength are frecjuently employed, and the common
sulphur-lime and also Little's sheep dipping material of double
the prescribed strength for sheep dipping have been success-
fully used. There is a danger of destroying the seed if the
solution of bluestone be made too strong, but in proper pro-
portions, viz., I lb. of the blue crystals to 4 bushels of wheat,
there is no safer or more effective dressing. It is best prepared
by dissolving in a few ounces of hot water, ultimately made
up by adding cold water to half a gallon, which is just sufficient
to wet the outside of the grain, when well mixed on a smooth

* The foregoing has been written on the hnes laid down in Ward's
' Diseases of Plants " (Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge),
from which the figures are borrowed with acknowledgments.

456 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAl'I-: COUJNV.

n< )()!■. In the case of oats or barley the sohition ouLjht to be
half the strength, as these seeds are more easily injured than
wheat.

Although no method of dressing or spraying, either wheat
seed or the plant itself, has been of any avail in checking rust,
yet the fact that certain robust varieties of wheat have within
themselves a greater power of resistance than other wheats,
has led to the belief that the best, if not the only really
effective way to overcome rust, is to be found in developing
the constitutional vigour of the plant. And the solution of
this great problem seems to be on the verge of consummation
by means of cross-fertilisation. Most interesting and useful
work in this direction has been carried out since 1880 on
a comprehensive scale by R. & J. Garton, at Newton-le-
Willows, Lancashire, England. Fifteen to twenty acres have
been utilised, and many thousands of experiments have been
carefully and scientifically conducted with a large number of
varieties, and even what were formerly regarded as species
of wheat, brought from most of the great wheat-growing
centres, including Europe, Asiatic Russia, America, India,
China, and Japan. Perhaps the most striking and useful
results have been gained by crossing common wheat, Triticuni
sativum, with a hard-skinned species, T. spelta, or spelt wheat.

The flower of wheat is furnished with three stamens,
bearing anthers, and one pistil, terminated by two feathery
branches, and the plant is entirely self-fertilising', impregna-
tion occurring before the flower opens and the stamens appear.
This persistent in-and-in-breeding having gone on for count-
less generations, the wheat has followed the general law of
nature, and as a result has lost constitutional vigour. The
operation necessary to bring about cross-fertilisation is per-
formed by removing the anthers with a pair of fine forceps
while yet immature. The glumes which surround and protect
the sexual parts of the flower are then tied together for
a time, and afterwards ripe pollen is poured in, so that one
or more grains may rest on the pistil, and do the work of
fertilisation The immediate result of cross-fertilisation is
the production of numerous varieties with very divergent
characteristics, including appearance, some being unlike either
parent, and unlike any form known in cultivation ; but most,

FIELD CROrS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 45/

at the same time, possess much greater constitutional vigour.
A type originating on a single head, after one or more crosses,
may be at first fixed, and be capable of reproduction ; but as
a rule it has been found necessary through a series of years
to make selections of the forms that are desirable for preserva-
tion, and in time samples are got which breed true to type
like the wheats with which cultivators are generally familiar.
In the final selections only what appear to be the best are
retained, and the great majority of the infinite variety of what
may be regarded as sports discarded.

The prominent results which have so far been attained
are : —

(i.) Great increase of constitutional vigour, showing con-
spicuously to naked-eye observation in the enhanced yield
and the increase of size. The latter may be judged of after
perusing the accompanying plates of new varieties of wheat,
barley, and oats, grown by the Brothers Garten, to whom the
author is indebted for the plate originals, and for much valu-
able information connected with the work of cross-fertilisation.

(2.) The union in one plant of two or more valuable quali-
ties which previously existed in separate varieties of wheat.

(3.; Early maturity even greater than that of either parent
— a useful quality in a country liable to early frosts, or to
rust affecting the wheats which mature late in the season.

(4.) Absolute freedom from rust in many cases, and the
reduction of it to a matter of indifference in others.

The following is a brief outline of the experiments in
which the types of wheat represented in Plates 71, 72, ^i,
and 74 were produced at Newton-le-Willows : —

The Figs, on Plate 71 illustrate a selection of six evolved types
of wheat, from an innumerable number of perfectly distinct types, the
result of a composite cross. Many of those rejected possessed features
entirely different from any of the parent forms. The original varieties
employed were : — Triticum Spelta (Black), White Chidham, Mainstay,
Pedigree Red, Hardcastle White, Hungarian Red, Hungarian White,
and used in the following order : —

A. Hardcastle White on Black D. Hungarian W^hite on Main-

Spelta. stay.

B.Hungarian Red on White E. Progeny of D on Progeny of A.
Chidham. j F. Progeny of B on Progeny of C.

C. Progeny of A on Pedigree Red. | G. Progeny of F on Progeny of E.

45^^ FARMINC; INDUSTRIES (H^ CAPE COLONY.

The P'igs. represent specimens selected from the third year's growth from
a single grain.

Descriptions of the parents used : —

Triticum Spelta (lihickj. — An extremely early variety, with a very
tenacious chaff, producing a grain remarkably rich in gluten, but the
brittle character of the ear renders it useless for commercial purposes.

Chidham White. — An early beardless variety, with white grain and
chaff, short thin ear, straw thin and weak, only moderately fertile; special
features, earliness and good quality of grain.

Mainstay.— A late, rough-chaff, very prolific, beardless variety, chaff
and grain white, straw strong and of medium length ; special features,
strength of straw and prolific yield.

Pedigree Red. — A hardy, beardless, white-chaff, vigorous, late variety,
grain large and dark amber, straw of moderate length but weak ; special
features, its hardy vigorous character and size of grain.

Hungarian Red. — A hardy, vigorous, late, beardless, red-chaff variety,
with dark amber grain, very short compact heads, and only a moderate
length of straw, but very strong ; special features, hardiness and strength
of straw.

Hungarian White. — An early white-chaffed, bearded variety, grain
white and of good cjuality, but deficient in yield ; special feature,
earliness.

Hardcastle White. — A beardless, white-chaff variety, grain white and
of good quality, straw medium length but weak ; special features, quality
of grain.

The following are the principal features of the types evolved from
this combination : —

Plate 71, Fig. i. In the form of the head of this specimen the
influence of three parents is distinctly visible. In the general form of
the head it resembles Pedigree Red, but differs from that variety in
being slightly heavier set ; the chaff is black, showing the influence of
Triticum Spelta (Black), whilst the bearded form is transmitted by the
Spelt or Hungarian White, both being bearded types. The tenacious
nature of the Spelt chaff is also very prominent.

Fig. 2 is abnormally congested, and exhibits features which are not
found in any of the parents used ; the colour and strength of the chaff
shows the slightest trace of Triticum Spelta, and the woolly chaff of
Mainstay is very prominent.

Fig. 3 partakes of the form and colour of Hungarian Red, the chaff
being dark amber coloured ; the beards show the influence of Triticum
Spelta and Hungarian White.

Fig. 4. In this the character of Hungarian Red is very prominent,
the head being very compact and the chaff dark amber in colour, but
much stronger in texture, partaking in this respect of the Spelta parent.
In opposition to this very compact form of head, which only measures 2^
inches in length, and possesses eleven breasts, another type evolved from
this combination measures 9 inches in length, but possesses only the same
number of breasts.

^ ^

Plate 72. — Two Evolved Types of Wheat. Face page ^sg.

Grown at Newton-le-Willows. Similar to those on Plate 71, with one of the parents (Hardcastle White)

in the centre for comparison.

Specimens of three grains from each head are shown below them, the progeny being 50 per cent.

larger than the parent. Reduced to Two-thirds Natural Size.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 459

Fiy. 5. This shows the same abnormally congested form of head as is
seen in Fig. 2, but exhibits more of the character derived from the Spelt
and the Hungarian White, being bearded, and having a black tenacious
chaff.

Fig. 6. The character of Hungarian Red is very marked in this
specimen, the chaft" being of a dark amber colour, but the head is longer
than that parent, showing the influence of the long-headed varieties.

Other specimens show numerous and distinct features which represent
in some degree the influence of the various parents used. Other dis-
tinctive features appear in shape and colour of grain, length and strength
of straw, periods of maturing, hardiness of constitution, and whether of a
sterile or fertile character, details which would alone fill a small volume.

Plate 72 shows two types evolved from the same combined cross,
together with one of the'parents used in the combination for comparison,
the parent illustrated being Hardcastle White, a standard variety. The
grain at the foot shows the relative size of the grain produced in each of
the progeny, and also in the original pai'ent shown. The form of the
ear and the colour of the grain are very similar in each of the progeny,
e.xcept that the one is bearded, showing the influence of the bearded
parent. The grains of the progeny, weighed against the grains of this
original parent, show an increase of 50 per cent, in size of grain alone.
Although very similar in form of head and grain, they vary in general
characteristics, the bearded head being earlier than the unbearded.
In this combination one of the parents, Paine's Defiance, is of a very
distinct character from the rest of the parents used. In the first cross,
this variety was used in conjunction with Plardcastle White, the latter
being the female, and the former the male parent. The progeny resulting
from this cross were all more or less inclined to sterility of ear, although
many of them were remarkably vigorous. This cross also produced a
powerful reaction in the progeny, the sportive tendency being very strong.
These two varieties produced progeny which proved very sterile in the
first cross, but when combined with the progeny of another cross, of a
less violent character, the resulting progeny were normally fertile,
although many of them exhibited the same amount of vigour as was
shown in the previous cross. Many of the types evolved possessed very
valuable features, and produced no sterile tendency when used as parents
in subsequent crosses. The parents employed were : — Hardcastle White,
Squarehead, Paine's Defiance, Victoria de Automne, Pedigree White,
and Talavera, which were used as follows : —

A. Paine's Defiance on Hardcastle White.

B. Victoria d' Automne on Talavera.

C. Squarehead on Pedigree White.

D. Progeny of B on Progeny of A.

E. Progeny of C on Progeny of D.

Descriptions of the parents used which have not already been
described : —

Squarehead. — A beardless, white-chaff wheat, with a short thickset

460 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAFE CCJLUNY.

head, straw of medium lenj^th and very strong, late in ripening, grain
dark amber, and of medium quality only ; special features, strength of
straw, and jirolific yield.

Paine's Defiance. — A variety of the Coned or Rivett wheat, Triticuin
turi^iduni, ear long, well set, and heavily bearded, straw very long and
strong, very productive in grain, but inferior in quality, and very late in
coming to maturity ; special features, length and strength of straw, and
prolific ear.

Victoria d'Automne. — A hardy, vigorous, late unbearded variety, white-
chaff, grain large dark amber, and straw of moderate length but weak ;
special features, hardy vigorous character and size of grain.

Pedigree White. — An unbearded, white-chaff variety, with straw of
medium length but weak, grain white and of good quality ; special
feature, quality of grain.

Talavera. — A white-chaff, unbearded wheat, straw weak, grain of good
quality and very early ; special features, earliness, and quality of grain.

Plate 73- — The most prominent feature of this evolved specimen is
the increase shown in the quantity of grains produced in the breasts,
each breast counting seven and eight perfectly matured grains, and the
individual grains themselves showing a similar increase in size fo those
in Plate 72. Although this type shows an average of seven grains per
breast, still it is eclipsed in yield by either of the two types shown in
Plate 72, owing to the smaller number of breasts produced by the ear
represented in Plate 73. The average number of grains on the head
in Plate "]"}) are as follows : — 14 breasts, averaging 7 grains to each
breast, 98 grains to the head. The longest head in Plate 72 counts 24
breasts, averaging 5 grains to each breast, 120 grains per head. Still the
wheat figured in Plate ^2) is more valuable as a parent, possessing
characters which are deficient in the other type. These two types have
already been crossed with the object of combining the prolific form of
breast in Plate T}) with the greater number of breasts on the head of
that in Plate 72, and types will be selected which unite the greatest
number of good points represented in the two parents.

Plate 74 shows side views of two specimen heads, A and B, of
evolved types of wheat, and one of the parents, C. Type A produced
larger grains of much finer quality than B, but the latter was far more
prolific. By crossing the two together types were secured which united
the prolific tendencies of the one with the superior quality of the other.

The varieties of Triticum Spelta were used to fix the grain of the
cultivated varieties more fii'mly in the chaff, and to improve its milling
quality. Although the true black character of the Black Spelt is not
shown when grown at Newton-le-Willows, still the resulting progeny,
although growing under the same conditions, exhibit this property to the
fullest degree, many being quite black in the chaff.

At the commencement of the experiments, composite crosses were
made before the types were fixed, but now the progeny is not used as
parents until it is fixed in character, and the results are much more
satisfactorv.

Plate 73. — An Evolved Wheat Cross Face page ^do.

Grown at Newton-Ie-Willows. It has 14 breasts, averaging 7 grains to each breast, or gS large grains in
the one head. Natural Size.

i;^

AC B Face page ifii.

Plate 74.— Side Views of Two Evolved Tvi^es of Wheat with one Parent between.

Grown at Newton-le-Willows. One new type produces a moderate yield and very large grain of fine

quality, and the other a much larger quantity but of inferior quality.

The best qualities can be secured in certain of the progeny by mating the two varieties together.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 461

It is very seldom that anything is evolved showing any special value
subsequent to the third year from the single grain ; after this time those
which differ from the type are merely deteriorated forms.

In crossing very distinct types of wheat and oats, sterility of head
and grain generally results from the first cross ; but in barleys, however
distinct the types crossed have been, there has never been the slightest
trace of sterility in any form, although the most distinct types have been
combined. — R. & J. Carton.

The experiments have long pa.s.sed the stage when they
could be regarded only with interest akin to curiosity, and
they have grown on scientific lines into one of the most
valuable practical developinents in the interest of agriculture
of this century. The record coines next to that of Rotham-
sted in the promise of its usefulness to agriculturists. The
work is on a par with the work of that greatest of experi-
mental stations in being solely the result of individual enter-
prise. The Gartons have recently become associated with
Lord Winchilsea, whose heroic efforts on behalf of the union
of the three great agricultural classes — landlords, tenants, and
labourers — have become a household word; and it is antici-
pated that some of the benefits which have been so fully
experimentally demonstrated at Newton-lc-Willows may soon
be realised by the farming community.

Cape Colony would do well to share in the advantages

to be trained, and might do so with an unusual measure of
certainty under terms which would necessitate payment accord-
ing to results. Under satisfactory guarantees of the safety
against illicit distribution of their grains among cultivators
the brothers Garton would be ready to introduce choice
varieties judged suitable to South African condition.s — the
remuneration other than actual outlay to be dependent upon
the success achieved.

In agreeing to the Parliamentary vote, it would not be
unreasonable if the members who are interested in the people
having cheap bread insisted upon a promise from the Protec-
tionists that the import duties upon grain would be reduced
as soon as it had been demonstrated that the vigorous new
varieties of the Newton-le-Willows grains are proof against
the evil influences of the rust fungus.

462

FARMINf'i INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY

The mealie, maize, or Indian corn crop supplies the staple
food of the black population of South Africa. It is strong and
vigorous, and can, without irrigation, be cultivated where the
common European cereals would not grow, if the soil about
its roots be well worked, and kept loose on the surface — a
requisite of cultivation which the Kaffirs are more alive to
than Europeans. It is planted on the flat, preferably on
alluvial soil, or land being broken into cultivation, the seed
being frequently sown in every third furrow as ploughing
progresses. In the after-working there is this benefit gained
when the earth is hoed up into ridges about the foot-
stalks of the plants, that the surface remains in a condi-
tion so that ploughing in preparation for a second crop can
be done almost at any time — a decided advantage when
seasonal rains are long delayed. The yield for seed sown,
according to the last crop returns, was nearly 22 fold, exclu-
sive of an additional 6 fold which were lost.

The chief districts in which mealies are grown, with the
amounts in muids harvested in 1S94-95. are given in the
subjoined table : —

Wheat—

Wheat-

Division.

Muids.*

Division.

Muids.*

King William's Town

84,706

Bedford .

• 13,277

Herschel

32,880

Stockenstrom .

• 11,674

Victoria East .

28,260

Oudtshoorn

11,228

Glen Grey

27,860

Humansdorp .

. 9,817

East London .

20,480

Peddle .

9,704

Queenstown

17,315

Somerset East

. 8,576

Fort Beaufort .

13,722

Graaff Reinet .

• 7,859

Komgha .

13,651

After harvest a Kaffir hangs up his mealie cobs, fully
exposing them to the air for two or three months. When
thoroughly dry, they are buried in a pit, shaped like a
short-necked water-bottle, dug 8 to 10 feet deep underneath
the cattle kraal, the narrow mouth being covered by a flat
stone, and the joints drawn with fresh dung to hermetically
seal it. In the South xA.frican climate a foot or more of
well-trodden cattle manure covering the floor of the kraal
effectually protects the store from rain, and even from serious
injury from moisture. The aroma inside is fresh and agree-
able, being not unlike that of malt or of fresh sweet silage. A

T muid -3 bushels.

1^:/

/''

Mealies or Inoian Corn, Zea mays, L.— The Dvra Shami of Lower Egypt.

464 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

few mealies which become moulded round the edges of the
pit are utilised for making Kaffir beer, a beverage having
the consistency of thin porridge, of which the natives are
fond.

Mealies are largely consumed during the growing season
in a green state. When fully ripe, they arc often ground
into meal, made into thick porridge or " pap," and eaten,
either alone or with milk, by means of large wooden spoons.
When not ground into meal, the mealies have the glazed
outer husk or covering of the grain removed by the native
process of " stamping," usually done by women, as shown in
the accompanying plate. The grain is wetted and put into a
wooden mortar, in which it is beaten by stamping with a
wooden beetle-shaped pestle. The corn that gets thrown
out during the operation is usually anxiously waited for and
speedily devoured by a few hens, which naturally seem well-
to-do. To prevent excessive leakage in this way, the succu-
lent leaves of a dwarf fig-bush, if at hand, are sometimes put
in to supply a pulpy material which holds the corn until the
work is completed, and which is easily removed by washing.

Kaffir corn or great millet, SorgJiiim vnlgare, Pers., the juar
of India, is, next to the mealie, the most important native
crop. The divisional districts in which it is most extensivel}'
cultivated are here mentioned in order of importance— Her-
schel, King William's Town, Glen Grey, Victoria East, and
Peddie, but chiefly the first two. The plant is the largest of
the so-called millets which form a large proportion of the
food of the inhabitants in tropical countries. It is repre-
sented by numerous varieties, and is suitable for cultivation
on the heavier classes of soils. Although a dry land crop,
it grows well under irrigation. In India it is drilled, 3 lbs.
of seed being used to the acre as a crop to grow alone,
or at times as a mixed crop. The straw from the ripened
crop makes useful fodder, and the plant is sometimes grown
and cut as green forage. In India it is said to poison cattle
when the water supply is not sufficient to maintain its growth
in a healthy state. This is no doubt due to the degradation
of some of the nitrogenous compounds, brought about b}^
the growth of a fungus which finds a suitable habitat in the

Plate 75. — Kaffir Women Stamping Mealies. Fiue pa^e 46^.
An operation for removing the outer skin before cooking.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATKJNS, AM) MANURES. 465

y^^

Kaffir CoKiN ok Gkeat Millf.t, Sorghum vulgare, Peks.
The Dura Beledi of Upper Egypt.

2 G

466 FAKMIKG INDUSTRIKS OF CAPE COLONY.

tissues of the plant when its vital functicjiis are weak from
haying received a check to its growth.

The sunflower, Hcliantluis aiuiuus, L., which is familiar
to most observers as a tall, showy garden annual, would be
an admirable crop-plant to cultivate in South Africa on those
soil formations in which there is an abundance of lime and of
potash. It has long been cultivated in many parts of the tropi-
cal and semi-tropical areas of b(jth hemispheres, and it would
form a valuable addition to the list of crops commonly culti-
vated in Cape Colony. The seed of the large varieties is
consumed like nuts by the Russian peasantry, and it is ground
and made into bread in the United States. The smaller kinds
are well known and appreciated as food for poultry, and all
varieties would be excellent for chick ostriches. From it an
oil, with the properties of olive oil, is expressed, the husky
residue being made into a useful cake for cattle-feeding.
Since the recent growth of dairying in Canada, sunflowers
have been grown extensively, and the heads chopped and
mixed with green beans and maize in the making of silage,
in proportions calculated to contain a suitable albuminoid
ratio for a dairy cow.*

The time to plant is in early spring. The seed is best
drilled 4 to 6 lbs. to the acre, in rows 18 inches apart, and the

* Haifa bushel of beans and a third of a bushel of Indian corn are
sown to an acre. When the resulting crop has reached a satisfactory
stage of its growth — namely, when the corn is at the glazed stage — it is
cut and chaffed, mixed with sunflower heads, and then put in silo. The
mixed crop will yield some 16 to 18 tons of green fodder per acre, and the
sunflower heads weigh about 7^ tons per acre ; 2 acres of corn and beans
and half an acre of sunflower heads being chaffed together. Round maize
or flint corn is used in preference to the dent corn, which generally
ripens at a later period of the year. On the Central Experimental Farm,
Ottawa, in one of the Government silos, were seen 135 tons of silage
made without any weight being put on the top, and the loss was hardly
perceptible. It is no exaggeration to say that by the use of silage the
stock of a farm can be doubled in numbers, because the silage given in
the amount of 40 lbs. to each cow or bullock makes it possible to use
straw as fodder, which in ordinary circumstances is regarded as worthless
for that purpose. — From the Author's Special Report 071 the Agricultural
Resources of Canada^ published by authority of the Dcpartvient of the
Interior of that Colo?iy in i S94.

FIELD CROPS, ROIATIONS, AND MANURES. 467

crop thinned out, leaving 30 inches between the plants in the
row. A good average crop may be estimated at 50 bushels
per acre (40 lbs. to the bushel), and from this 50 gallons of oil
maybe extracted, and about 13I cwts. of oilcake made. A
report of a crop grown at Bathurst, in Lower Albany, in 1870,
estimates the yield at 68 bushels per acre.

With a plentiful supply of sunlight and heat, the seed
crop should be ready to harvest five months after planting ;
then the heads are cut off, and hung up like tobacco in a cur-
ing shed to dry. The seeds are subsequently easily threshed
out and made clean by winnowing. If the land be kept clean
until the crop is about one foot high, it requires little further
attention, as the bulky growth keeps weeds in check. The
plant takes up a large percentage of potash, and it is neces-
sary to bury the stalks to manure the land, and to give a
dressing of 3 or 4 cwts. of kainite per acre as well.

One of the chief defects of South African cultivation is
the want of systems of rotation of crops to maintain or
restore the fertility of the soil. It is a fact, as the following
illustrations show, that the order is varied somewhat, but merely
to retard, if possible, the acknowledged system of exhaustion
which ultimately leads to. the land being left to rest, and to
win back to some extent its crop-growing power. In the

same way the little artificial manuring which- is practised

the use of guano more particularly — is too much done to
stimulate one crop, regardless of consequences. It is like a
whip to a willing horse becoming weaker through overwork.
There is a decided want in all but the Oudtshoorn district,
which is an exception to the general rule, of crops belonging
to the natural order Legwiiinosc2. Leguminous plants pos-
sess the unique power to fix the free nitrogen of atmospheric
air by the aid of minute organisms living in the wart-like
processes on their roots, and then to make use of it in a
combined form as an important part of their root food. Much
of it is stored up in the masses of roots which occupy the soil
in the case of such crops as red-clover and lucerne (Plate
26), and is a valuable ingredient in the root residue as a
source of food supply to succeeding crops. On this account,
and parti}' owing to the great depths to which the roots

468 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

penetrate to brin<( ujj jjlant food, as well as to find moisture,- •
leguminous crops are capable of giving a heavy yield of
produce, and of simultaneously bringing the land into good
condition for the growth of cereals.

One important barrier to the introduction of leguminous
crops in certain districts of the Colony is the deficiency of
lime in the soil. The other serious difficulty prevailing in
those areas in South Africa where lime is plentiful is the
want of soil moisture, but with the extension of irrigation this
will decrease. In those areas where the bean and the lentil
can be grown as a field crop, their growth on a wider area
would increase the grain-growing capacity of the land.

In Caledon district a common practice is to begin with
wheat on virgin soil, or with barley if the land has been pre-
viously cultivated. Wheat follows wheat for two or three
years, then oat crops are grown till the land is exhausted.
A good yield of barley under the circumstances is 25 fold,
and oats on exhausted land 10 fold, if not cut for hay, which
is the general practice. Progressive farmers apply two bags
(200 lbs. per bag) of guano for each bag of wheat sown.
The land after undergoing a course of cropping lies out to-
rest for four or five years. Ploughing" of virgin soil or
"braaking" is done in September after rain. If rain does
not come, breaking is impossible at that season. The plough-
ing of land previously crapped can be delayed till April, when
spring rains fall. The bulk of the sowing takes place in May
and June, but early oats or barley are best sown in the end of
April, although these crops can be sown even, in June when
rain is late in coming. In a normal season wheat-sowing
follows the first sowing of oats and barley at an inter\-al of
two or three weeks. In this district lime is in favour for
pickling the seeds of the common cereals. A heap of grain
is mixed with the flour of lime on the floor, \\'etted and
turned Oxer, and next day it is quite dry. The benefit of
harrowing the crop some time after sowing is not und-^r-
stood in the di.strict, but evidence was forthcoming that the
practice of doing so, as explained at page 451, would be
attended with satisfactory results.

The s}^stem of cro]:)ping practised in Koeberg and
Malmesbury grain - growing districts is also a system of

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 469

alternate soil exhaustion and resting — the periods devoted
to both becoming in recent times shorter than formerly. The
cropping period of years is necessarily shorter, owing to the
soil giving out more quickly than it did thirty years ago. In
Koeberg the areas of farms are too small to permit of a long
rest being given to land. At one time six or seven crops
could be grown in successive seasons, now it is often found
expedient to take only two — wheat followed by oats. The
land is ploughed in July, and left in fallow till the succeeding
Ma^^

Practices vary in different parts of the Colon)-, although
they are mainh' conducted on the exhaustion principle. In
some places, two }'ears of fallow are given after eight or ten
years of constant cropping, but shorter periods are more usual.
In the Eastern Province, as compared -with other parts of the
countr)', a greater variety of crops is introduced, and there is
greater diversity of practice among the progressive farmers of
British descent. As an illustration the practice near Kei
Road ma}' be taken. The most suitable season in which to
work the land in that district is March. June is the. right
month. f(M- sowing wheat ; June and July for oats. The white
Tartarian, or so-called " side-oat," or " side-hanger," does best
at this season. The Boer oat suffers so much from smut that
it cannot be grown to advantage. The Scotch oat grows
during winter, and does well on strong soil. It comes to
harvest two months earlier than the side-oat, and may be
used as a means for the reduction of wild oats, as the crop is
removed while the wild oat is still green and not ready to shed
its .seed. A barley crop, intended to ripen its grain, is sown
in May ; but if for green forage, during the winter, in January.
The safest time to plant mealies is between 15th October
and 15th November. If earlier sown, they are liable to suffer
from the attacks of the caterpillars of a white butterfly ; and if
later, from a grub at the roots, besides other sources of injury.
Potatoes may be planted at two seasons after mid-winter, and
again after mid-summer. In favourable }'ears both turnips
and "mangels grow well, sown in spring. If the weather pre-
vents them being planted at the proper season, or if it be
favourable to the development of insect pests, the entire crop
is at times destroyed. The caterpillars of the white butterfly.

470 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the turnip-fly or flea-beetle, and the red ant do, in turns, their
share of the destruction. White turnips grow well at times,
sown broadcast on the New Zealand plan along with grass
seeds ; but swedes do not agree with this treatment.

In Aliwal North, pumpkins do better than roots. They
are sown in November, and if they fail, roots can then be put
in. The period of sowing roots differs from that already
given. Swedes are best sown in January, and turnips in
February. Pumpkins are equally useful as food for man
and beast. They are liable to spoil towards the end of the
season, however carefully stored in a whole condition, but
their keeping powers can be improved by rasping down the
succulent fleshy substance, and drying it into a condition
similar to that of dried fruit. The labour is much less in the
case of pumpkins than in that of roots, as the former crop
smothers all weeds when once it has spread over the ground.
The following brief quotation indicates the succe.9S attending
pumpkin cultivation in Victoria, Australia : —

" For milking cows nothing gives better results ; while for
sows, young pigs, and horses, pumpkins are excellent, and
preferable to mangels. Pumpkins are sown in rows 15 feet
apart, with a distance of 12 feet between the plants in the
rows. The seed is sown by hand, three seeds in each spot,
and 2 lbs. of seed per acre will suffice. The yield is from 15
to 20 tons an acre on rich vegetable soil, though the latter
quantit}' is considered an extra crop. Two rows of maize
are grown in the space between two rows of pumpkins."

Other illustrations of the diversity of practice may be
given. In that adopted on the Irene Estate, 10 miles south
of Pretoria, the general produce consists of mealies, potatoes,

Plate No. 76. — In this illustration, and also on Plate ']'], are shown
the heads of two progeny, in which the influence of the naked oat, Avena
ntida, is very prominent. The parents used in the production of this
specimen were— Scotch Potato, Thuringer, White Canadian, Rugenscher, i
Waterloo, White Tartarian, and Avcna niida (large). '

In form of head the specimen is distinctly intermediate between the
White Tartarian and the bell-headed varieties used, the influence of the
various ])arents being very ecjually balanced, except A^'etia imda, the
influence of which is very predominant, showing the perfect extended
panicle, and producing a naked grain, both of which are true character-
istics of that variety.

If'- ^

"^SSSkt.

\Vr

j^y

■

WrM.-

^ ^Hh,

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 47 1

and forage, derived from grain crops. Boer oats being liable
to rust during summer, are grown in winter under irrigation.
The Sidonian oat, which came from Natal, and originally from
.Australia, does not rust, and grows well in summer. The
Boer oats are planted in May, June, and July, and harvested
in October, November, and December. Other varieties are
planted in December and January, and are ripe in April and
May, both seed and forage, the latter being cut only one week
earlier than the former.

On George Paton's farm of Newlands, north-west of
Kimberle}-, oats are ploughed in, 3 bushels of seed to 10
acres of land, then harrowed, and ridges thrown up by a
double mould -board plough to hold water which is subse-
quently led over the surface. The crop is harvested in
December, and mealies planted immediatel)', so that on a
limited area of good land, which can be thoroughly cultivated,
and well manured and watered, two crops can be successfully
grown within the year. In some parts of Cape Colony, the
English winter oat, brought from Natal, is sown in the mealie
crop, and eaten off in winter with the mealie stalks, and
allowed to come to seed in the following season.

A reference to the crop returns will show that the growth
of oats for fodder is both general and extensive throughout
the Colony. Malmesbury is by far the most important dis-
trict in which the crop is grown for grain or seed, and next
to it come Caledon and Piquetberg, but with less than one-
fourth of the total }'ield in each case.

Barley in the Colony occupies quite an inferior position in
importance to wheat or oats. The main centres of growth
mentioned in order of merit are Malrnesbury, Swellendam,
Robertson, Worcester, Bredasdorp, and Riversdale.

Plate No. 77. — In this specimen the parents used were— Black Tar-
tarian, White Canadian, Scotch Potato, Etampes, and Avctia tntda (large).
The selection shows very distinctly the character derived from the Black
Tartarian parent, the form of head being identical with that variety, except
that the panicles are much more densely crowded on the stem. Although
so very powerfully influenced in form of head by this parent, the charac-
teristics of the other parents are also very prominent, the chaff and loose
hull are pure' white and do not show the slightest trace of the black
parents used, while the panicle is extended in form, producing a naked
seed showing the powerful influence c\{ Avcua nttda. — R. & J. Garton,

472 FARMING INDUSTRIES OK GATE GOLONY.

Rye holds a still less important place, but for reasons
already stated might be grown with advantage to a much
greater extent than it is.

The varieties of barley and oats grown are not so pre-
eminently suited to South African conditions that the vigor-
ous products of cross-fertilisation introduced to cultivation by
the brothers Garton would not readily find favour among
Cape farmers. The plates representing selected specimens
from Newton-le-Willows show that as striking results have
been achieved with these as in the case of wheat.

The travelling threshing mill now seen in the Eastern
Province has been blamed for spreading the smut and bunt
funguses, but if all seed is steeped as it ought to be the objec-
tion falls to the ground. The earlier custom still in use in
most districts is the treading out of grain on the tramp floor
or threshing floor, the work being done, not by cattle as in

Figs., Page 473. — This illustration comprises an evolved type of six-
row barley, together with two of the parents which have been used in the
combination shown alongside, the one on the left being a type of here
or six-rowed barley, Hordciini /ic.vas/ic/iui>t,cA\\Qd. Edel (a German variety),
and that on the right, the two-rowed Chevalier, H. disticJium. The parents
used in the production of the progeny illustrated were as follows : — Cheva-
lier, Italian, Manchurian, Golden Melon, Jewel, and Edel.

The Chevalier is a medium early two-row variety, with long drooping
ear and weak straw, but with grain of good quality, which is its special
feature.

The Italian is two-rowed, with a compact erect head and long strong
straw, which arc its special features. The grain is inferior in quality.

The Manchurian, a late six-rowed Chinese barley from Manchuria,
produces a grain of medium quality but irregular in size. Its special
feature is strength of straw.

The Golden Melon is a two-rowed type, medium in time of maturity,
with weak straw and a good quality of grain, which is its special feature.

The Jewel may be described in similar terms, but in addition it drops
its awn when ripening.

The Edel is a six-row variety, grown in Germany, head long and
drooping, grain very small, irregular in size and of a poor quality, very
weak in the straw ; special features, earliness and prolific yield of grain.

The characteristics derived from the various parents are very promi-
nent, the length of ear being influenced by Chevalier. The grain partakes
in size and quality of the several two-row parents, whilst the six-row form
of head shows the characters derived from Manchurian and Edel ; a
distinctive feature of Jewel is also inherited, the beards partially dropping
off at maturity, as is the case in that \ariety. — R. & J. Garton.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 473

An Evolved Six-Rowed Barley between Two Parents. Natural Size.

To ihe left is " Edel " a German Six-Rowed Barley or Bere, and on the right the Two-Rowed Chevalier.

Grown at Newton-le-Willows.

474 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

India, but by horses trottin<( round at a good pace. As in nnost
tropical or semi-tropical countries where trampling is the
common method by which grain is threshed, great import-
ance is attached to the simultaneous breaking down of the
straw, which is harder and more brittle than straw grown in a
climate like that of Britain, and consequently in its natural
unbruised state not so palatable to animals. The quick
motion of the horse moving round increases the effectiveness
of the work, as a lateral rubbing action is given to the feet,
by the heels inclining to slip towards the outside of the
circle. One thousand sheaves can thus be trampled into chaff
by twent}'-five horses in four hours. To remove impurities
from grain for grinding, it requires to be picked over on a
table or clean floor by Kaffir women.

Potatoes are widely cultivated throughout the Colony,
although not extensively in a good many districts. Robertson,
the Cape, and Stellenbosch are the three main centres of pro-
duction. The crops are grown in some parts under irrigation,
the water being run as often as six times in the season between
the rows or ridges, but in the more humid regions of the
Western Provinces, and in many parts of the Eastern Pro-
vince, near Sterkstrom, for example, on the farm of the
Halse Brothers, the largest potato growers in the Colony, no
water is now applied after the crop is planted, as it is found
that irrigation makes the plant more susceptible of disease.
What is known as the potato disease, PhytopJitJiora infcstans,
finds a congenial home even in the dry climate of South
Africa, taking advantage of the period of moisture to attack
more particularly the late planted autumn crops and the most
exhausted varieties planted. Other blights 'do much damage
in certain seasons.

The fungus, Macrosporiuin solani, which destroys tomatoes
under the name of tomato black spot, also attacks the leaves
of the potato in a similar manner, but not so injuriousl}- as
the real potato disease PhytopJithora. Red rusty patches on
the leaves also indicate the presence of a fungus, the crop
stops growing, and finall\' the tubers rot. A blight known as
ring disease and spotted tuber is produced by the fungus
micrococci, amylivorns and ainylobccter. A dark-coloured dis-

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 475

eased ring and spots appear in the otherwise healthy-looking
substance of the tuber, and the market value becomes seriously
reduced. The destruction is, however, not wholesale, as in the
case of PhytopJitJiora. When the potato is boiled the black
spots can be picked out and the uncoloured parts not involved
eaten ; but apart from the disagreeableness of the bad parts,
the general quality of the whole is deteriorated.

The following are remedies likely to enable growers to
cope with diseases which are becoming more extended in their
attacks and also more destructive : —

(i.) The importation of new and vigorous growing
varieties.

(2.) Two applications of Bordeaux mixture (see page 214)
— the one a little before the usual period when a fungoid
attack is expected, and the other three or four weeks later
— by the spraying machine — one of the numerous knapsack
fruit-sprayers for crops on a small scale, or one of Strawson's
horse-power machines when the area to dress is extensive.

(3 ) Planting only sound potatoes ; ascertaining the con-
dition by cutting them into sets a few days before planting to
allow time for the wound to dry, and to form a sort of false
skin.

(4.) The changing" of potatoes used as sets from one dis-
trict to another, and from one class of soil to another. Even
on the same farm where a rich black loamy soil is found in
the hollows, and a red soil on the higher parts, great benefit
would be derived from regularly changing the situation of the
potato. The larger crops grow naturally on the black land,
but the red soil will generally produce a finer tuber for eating,
and the best quality of seed-potatoes for the purpose of plant-
ing black land.

(5.) The practice of planting potatoes frequently on the
same land should be discontinued. This has been done to
an excessive degree, cases being recorded where two crops per
annum have for fourteen successive years been taken from
the same land without it being manured. When disease
appears such cultivators not unnaturally lose the entire crop,
and, it might be added, deserve to do so.

Under favourable circumstances potatoes sometimes grow
to an enormous size — picked specimens weighing 3^ lbs. at

476 1 ARMIXG INDUSTRIES OF CAl'K COLONY.

times — but those of the finest quaHty do not assume large
dimensions. Few districts of the Colc^ny produce, under
existing systems of cultivation, really first-rate potatoes, which
develop when cooked the mealy condition characteristic of a
well-grown Irish tuber. Evidence was not wanting, however,
to show that with greater care in working much better results
could be obtained. The methods of storing are defective for
the dry climate. The pits are not as a rule made deep
enough, or sufficient earth used to form a covering to preserve
a normal quantity of moisture, and growers are consequently
induced to leave the crop in the ground, thus rendering it
liable to get frosted in districts where frost appears. The
American planting machine has proved successful with Halse
Brothers in saving labour, but the mechanical digger has been
a failure.

The most prominent feature of the potato crop of the
Colony seems to be the exhausted condition of man)- of
the old varieties of potatoes which produced excellent
crops some years ago. The German Blue and the Snow-
flake, once well known in the Eastern Province, are both
worn out. The Early Rose, which has grown for many
years in the Colony, is not yet so far gone. The Beauty
of Hebron, recentl}' introduced, has proved fairly successful
in some districts.

What is wanted to give the potato-growing industry a
new start is the introduction of a few of the most recently
developed varieties with large robust foliage and a good
qualit}' of tuber — such vigorous heavy yielding potatoes as
the Saxon and the Dron, the last introduced into Great
Britain by William Beeson, London, or some of Sutton's
strongest - growthed varieties. Man}' varieties have been
imported since the relaxation of the original phylloxera
law of 1880, but only a limited number of these have been
successful, such large - growthed, coarse - haulmed potatoes
as the American Eagle and the Champion taking the lead.
Exporters ought not to forget that potatoes going from
Europe must be accompanied with a schedule containing a
declaration of their having been grown in a district free
from the phylloxera pest, else thc\' will be delayed at the
port of landing.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 477

The Tobacco Crop. — As the cultivation of tobacco was
most fully investiL^atecl at Seymor and in the Kat River Valley,
Stockenstrom district, the following remarks will be largely
confined to the practices there in vogue. The common plant
grown in the country by the name of " Boer" or " Transvaal"
tobacco is a coarse bastard variety from Sumatra. A num-
ber of new varieties have been introduced among the pro-
gressive farmers of the district by the Government expert,
H. H. Davison, the manager of the Government Tobacco
Farm, Stockenstrom, which was given up in 1895. Of these
White Burley, which yields 2 lbs. more than other varieties on
twenty-five plants, has proved to be the best on the score of
heavy yield and good quality ; but Sweet Orinoco, Virginia,
Persian Rose, Havana, Palatinate, and Blue Pryor have also
been successful. The Boer product, when well cured, though
admirable for smoking on the veld, would not appeal to a
P^uropean's taste, or be tolerated by non-smokers within the
pale of European civilisation. It is very dry, and gives off
an offensive odour, or at least one with which Europeans are
not familiar, and have no desire to become so, unless when
living a South African outdoor life. A great advantage it
possesses over European and American cured tobacco for such
circumstances is, that it can be smoked all day long without
the smoker experiencing the stinging sensation in the tip of
his tongue known as "tongue burning.'

In the Boer method of treatment the crop is cut before
it is ripe, and immediately piled into heaps about 2i feet
deep to sweat and to assume a lighter and more uniform
colour. The danger of losing the crop by hailstorms at this
period is a strong inducement in favour of shortening the
risky period by harvesting as soon as possible. Owing to the
increasing demand for cigars and tobacco cured on more
scientific principles for smoking in the large and increasing
urban centres of population, it is necessary to give up the
Boer methods of growing and curing, and to adopt those
which have been found successful in the great tobacco-growing
countries whose products go to the European markets ; and
to this end Government has employed expert assistance, which
is slowly but surely introducing improvements which will no
doubt sooner or later become general, although the source

4/8 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

may not be acknowledged. A little time will be required in
which to learn what of the old methods of workint^ are nece.s
.sary under the j^eculiar climatic conclition.s of Cape Colony.
The i^rower.s will speedily settle this question when they
become familiar with the proposed innovations.

To make good tobacco it is held to be necessary to let
it ripen before harvesting, and to hang it up immediately in
barns, which are so constructed that ventilation is completely
under control. The walls of colonial barns are often made of
reeds, which require to be plastered with mud to make them
air-tight. An ordinary barn, lOO feet long and i8 feet wide,
may be estimated to cost £yo or ;^8o, unless the building
materials are difficult to get and consequently dear.

-Tobacco should hang head down for six weeks until it is
thoroughly dry, and so hard and brittle that if it were handled
in that condition, it would crumble to pieces. Advantage is
taken, in getting it down, of damp weather, in which the
tobacco by the absorption of moisture from the atmosphere
becomes pliable, and capable of being put together without
suffering injury.

Tobacco is sown in well-cultivated and well-manured seed
beds, which are covered with bushes or other simple nieans
of shelter and protection, while the young plant, which is very
slow of growth, and easily injured, is developing. The earliest of
the beds are sown in the middle of June, and more are laid down
each month till September, as if plants are too old before they
are transplanted they do not develop into good trees. Plant-
ing out goes on from ist September till January. The tops,
including the flow^ers and the upper leaves, require to be
nipped off by hand when about 3 or 4 feet high, as the
flowers begin to come out. Suckers or side shoots are removed
at the same time. If the process of trimming be delayed too
long, the yield is reduced. A tree weak in growth should only
have a few leaves left, but a strong plant is capable of maturing
as many as seventeen leaves. The crop planted in September
is cut in February, and the last cuttings should be over before
frost comes. As a rule, tobacco should not be grown more
frequently than three years in succession. It generally refu.ses
to grow after five or six years, although instances are given in
certain favoured spots in the Colony, where tobacco has been

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 479

i;ro\\n for much longer periods (see page 481). Good soil can
be brought round by the intervention of one barley crop,
although under ordinary circumstances a longer period is
desirable. A crop of green barley ploughed into the land
makes an excellent preparation for tobacco. Tobacco is an
exhausting crop, and land devoted to it requires to be well
manured in this or in some other way at least once in four years.
The plants, when 3 or 4 inches high, are best set in rows
3 feet apart, with spaces of 3 feet between them in the row.
In windy places the latter distance is sometimes reduced to
2 feet, so that the plants may afford more shelter to each other.
The Boer method of irrigation is to run the water directly
against the footstalks of the plants, so that the soil surround-
ing their roots becomes water-worn and sodden. As it dries
it cracks and hardens, and rec^uires to be frequently wetted,
else the development of the plant is immediately checked, and
it is liable to suffer from a fungus which gives rise to the con-
dition known as white rust. This first shows itself on the
lower leaves, which ought then to be removed without delay.
The climate is such that after tobacco has been planted out
from a seed bed in which it has been carefully watered
and tenderly nurtured, it will die if not immediately soaked
with water at the root ; but this could be done to give it a
start, and with a little additional labour subsequent waterings
could be done midway between the rows, and not directly on
the roots of the crop. The earth thrown up in ridges against
the footstalks of the tobacco would never get wet on the sur-
face, or be liable to run into a silty condition, and the frequent
use of a horse-hoe between the ridges would undo the injurious
influences of running water over the surface of culti\'ated land,
and keep a finely divided layer of soil as a protection to the
roots. The advocates of the present system assert that this
would take a greater amount of water, but, on the contrary,
less water would be required, as there would be less loss by
evaporation. In porous soils water let into every second row
would soak through the entire body of the soil, and the diffi-
culties which arise from the application of water could be still
further minimised by utilising alternately, as water channels,
the rows represented by even and by odd numbers.

Deep ploughing or subsoil stirring are innovations in

480 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

working which are necessary in successful tobacco culture,
especially in the case of soil which has been under crop for a
lengthened period, and the frequent use of the horse-hoe, the
" Iron Age " or " Planet Junior," greatly reduces the cost of
cultivation. After the hoe has done its work, two " boys " can
in a day remove the weeds remaining between the plants on
an acre of ground.

Under a good system of cultivation an average yield of
1,000 lbs. of leaf should be got from 5,000 plants occupy-
ing one acre, which at 6d. per lb. would be worth £2^,
the total outlay being about £\2. los. The price of first-
crop tobacco is frequently below 6d. per lb., viz., 5d., 4d.,
or even less, if the quality be not first-rate ; while second-
crop leaf fetches only licl. to 2d. per lb. The produce
of old stools, or that grown upon exhausted land, is not
of much account. It does not keep well, and should not be
produced. Much of the tobacco consumed in the Colony
is dipped in a lye of " lucht," a potash salt got by burning
a small Karoo bush with fleshy cylindrical leaves known as
" ash bush." The whole plant is pulled up by the natives in
January and February, when it is mature or "ripe." If
gathered at any other time when the sap is running, it is
worthless, as the tobacco treated with it does not keep. After
lying three days to wither, it is burnt and sold at from 5s. to
7s. 6d. per bag of 203 lbs., on which a duty of is. for burning
has to be paid. A bucketful of the salt is dissolved in 30
gallons of water, and the dry leaf is soaked in this, and sub-
sequently pressed into large wooden cases, and left for
twenty-four hours before it is twisted into rolls, which weigh
one-third heavier than the original leaf. By these means it is
made stronger for native consumption and for chewing. Cut
tobacco is merely dipped in pure water, and the usual prac-
tice is to dry it on a sailcloth in the open air, except in the
factories, where the excess of moisture is driven off by artifi-
cial heat. In such places treacle and spices, which are un-
known in Boer practices, are used in the manufacture of the
modern or improved kinds of tobacco. The great defect of
South African tobacco is the want of burning quality, one
authority declaring that not more than 10 per cent, of it will
burn without the use of lye.

FIELD CROPS, k(jTATIONS, AND MANURES. 481

Tobacco is very inferior in quality in those districts where
the water is salt or brackish. Certain parts are favoured

above others in the matter of suitabihty of conditions, as is
shown by the official returns of amounts produced. A special
instance may be mentioned in the case of land in the vicinity of
Oudtshoorn, in which a hard pan called " dorbank," resem-
bling Indian " kunka," forms beneath the soil. Grown on this
land tobacco is of superior quality in both aroma and flavour.
Vines also do excellently upon it. This limy material,
which is often coloured red by iron, is used for road-making.
Oudtshoorn is a famous district for the growth of tobacco.
On one field of rich soil near the mountains a crop is said to
have been grown annually for seventy years ; and on another
farm a record of thirty years has been made. Catch crops are
sometimes thrown in between the annual tobacco crop in this
way. The first crop of leaves is taken between the beginning
and the end of January, and the second crop in April or May.
Barley is then planted in May, and fed off with cattle in
August, the land ploughed in the end of August, and planted
with tobacco in September. Sometimes only a single crop of
leaves is taken ; and oats sown in May to be cut as forage in
November half-way up the straw, so that a rough stubble is
left to plough in as manure. If the old tobacco stumps be
left in the ground, and no crop taken, grubs, which accumulate,
at the roots of the first crop, are liable to destroy the second
planting of tobacco.

Virginia Beatall is the new variety which has proved most
successful in this district, giving a large yield of good colour
and quality. The admitted falling-off of the burning quality
of the tobacco in the district is believed to be due to the
increase of brak in the soil.

" Bijwoners," who are frequently the hangers-on or poor
relatives of some local magnate, grow tobacco and other crops
on the share system. If they possess no cattle and receive
seed also from the superior, they give half the tobacco crop
and one-third of the grain crop. When ostriches are farmed
in this way, one-half of the produce is given as rent if the
birds do not belong to the farmer. If they are his property,
the proportion given is reduced to one-third. The system is
not a good one, unless under very exceptional circumstances,

2 H

482 FARMING 1NJ)USTRIES OF CAPE C(JLONY.

as it discourages individual enterprise through introducing
communal interests in property.

Luffa is the Latinised rendering given by Tournefort of
the Arabic " lufah," in naming the species of gourd, the
iibres of which form a network familiar to many in the shape
of a bath sponge. Luffa egyptiaca is the best known species,
and an attempt has been made to grow it in the Colony. The
colonial fibre is not quite so fine as the Egyptian product, and
the peach-fly is liable to injure the fruit while it is in the
green succulent state, when it resembles a cucumber. A com-
paratively new use has been found for luffa, in the manufacture
of the " vitalite " sock or inner movable sole for boots and
shoes. One special advantage it has over all other material
for the purpose is, that in addition to being warm and dry, it
can be washed when necessary. Probably the coarser Cape
fibre may be found to be superior to Egyptian fibre for this
special purpose.

Manures and Manuring.

Owing to the prevalence of the custom already discussed
of shutting farm animals in kraal during night, large accumula-
tions of dung 1 5 and 20 feet deep occur in the drier pastoral
districts, where manure is not much in demand for fertilising
purposes. The heaps get dry, and it is the practice to cut the
material, which resembles a light fibrous peat and is known as
" mist," into slabs 3 to 4 inches thick, and about 16 inches long
and 12 broad. In this form it is used for the building of kraal
fences (see Plate 64) or as fuel. Quite a little revenue is at
times secured by the sale of kraal manure, at £\ per 100 cakes,
when it is within reach of a market, and when the owners are
enterprising enough to undertake the delivery of it. Com-
paratively little is used as manure, and when this is done it
requires to be broken into a fine state of division, or only the
dusty portion from the surface of the kraal floor taken, else
the results are unsatisfactory. At times the ashes are used as
manure, but where there is brackishness resulting from the
accumulation of soda salts on the surface, it tends to aggravate
the condition, owing to the amount of sodium chloride being

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 483

greater in this than in ordinary accumulations of farmyard
manure. In the dry climate the solids of the urine, which
contains much common salt, are preserved in the heap. So dry
and compact do these mist hills formed in the floors of old
sheep and cattle kraals become, that if set on fire they some-
times smoulder for a period of years. Special care in the use
of matches has to be taken by those at work in stock kraals.
In some parts of the country crabs get into the banks of
water dams and destroy them ; but when a quantity of mist is
mixed with the earth used in constructing the bank, the crabs
are unable to establish themselves, owing to the injurious
effect on the surface of the crab's body of the ammonia pro-
duced in the decomposition of the manure. All these sub-
ordinate uses only employ a very limited proportion of the
manure collected in the manner described, and the great
mass of it which has been accumulated at the expense of the
fertility of the land remains slowly rotting in worthless heaps.

The manurial substance w hich is markedly deficient in
Cape Colony is phosphate of lime, an ingredient which is of
special importance, owing to the solid substance of bone being
largely composed of it. The scarcity of so-called bone-earth
is evidenced by the ravenous manner in which graminivorous
animals devour the bones of dead animals picked up by them
in the veld, and by the success which has attended the
application of phosphatic manures in the instances, too few
in number, in which it has been used in the Colony. The
lessons to be learned from these facts are that all bones
should be carefully collected, and ground into meal and flour,
to be used either as manure, or fed to animals that require it
as an ingredient of their food. A grinding" mill large enough
to do satisfactory work, if driven by a good air-motor, can be
secured for ;^40, and could be utilised for grinding grain and
other materials as well.*

Owing to the prevalence of anthrax (meltziekte or gift-
ziekte), it would be wise, as a measure of precaution, in a work

* Any of the following English firms would supply, on application,
illustrated catalogues, and also quote prices for large power machines : —
The Hardy Pick Company Limited, Sheffield ; J. Harrison Carter,
Dunstaple ; Christy & Norris, Chelmsford ; and the Central Cyclone
Company Liuiited, Fenchurch Avenue, London.

484 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

conducted on a large scale, to steam all bones supposed to be
contaminated by the germs of disease. When the preparation
takes place on a farm where the cause of death in each case
could be generally ascertained, all the bones of animals which
die of anthrax should be burnt, and suspected bones collected
from the veld treated with flower of lime before and after
grinding, and then used only as manure.

The concentrated manure most extensively used in the
Colony is guano, and this is largely due to the fact that
Government offers it to the farmers at £"]. 12s. per ton,
for cash payments, or ;^3 to ^4 below its market value, — a
mistaken kindness from every point of view. The stimu-
lation of crop-growth by guano, without the liberal use oT
bones, or some other form of manure rich ,in phosphate of
lime, is not a practice which comes within the sphere of good
husbandry, and ought to be discouraged rather than encouraged
by Government, as it most assuredly leads to the ultimate
deterioration of the land. The report of the Government
agent in charge of the Seal and Guano Islands for 1893-94 (a
good season) shows that the demand is practically confined to
the chief grain-growing centres of the Western Province,
where it is usually applied to grain-crop land in amounts
equivalent to double the weight of grain sown as seed.

The following amounts in tons were delivered at the
railway stations mentioned, and would be used in the districts
bearing corresponding names, with the exception of Caledon
which would be supplied from Sir Lowry's Pass : —

Malmesbury

835

Cape Division

298

Piquetberg

Paarl

559

Stellenbosch .

272

Tulbagh .

Sir Lowry's Pass

366

Hermon .

188

Burger's Drift .

and 182 tons in small amounts to other stations, making a total of 2,807.

This was within 50 tons of the year's produce of guano from
the nineteen "islands, islets, and rocks" placed under the Sea
Birds and Seals Protection Act, 1893. ^11 the rocks are not
guano-bearing, but are the haunts of the birds, three species
of which are specially named in the Government Memorandum,
1892, on the working of the Guano Islands, viz., the Penguin,
Malagas, and Sea Duiker.

The annual yield fluctuates extremely from two causes
— the washinfj of rain during wet seasons, and the mi^^ration

FIELD CROrS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 485

of the birds, which come and go with the shoals of small fish
upon which they feed.

The produce of the season 1894-95 amounted to 3,200
tons, the total receipts for the sale of guano and penguin
eggs being ^^^23,110, and the expenditure ^^10,003. 6s. The
Treasury may look upon a balance of this kind as satisfactory,
but the position of the Guano Islands and the guano supply
as a whole cannot be regarded as satisfactory, although it
must be admitted that the quality of the guano delivered to
the farmers, containing about 13 per cent, of ammonia, is now
much superior to that supplied by the lessees who had the work
in hand before it was taken over by Government, in accord-
ance with a resolution of the House of Assembly, dated 1889.

Apart from the injury done to the farmers, and the loss of
revenue by selling the guano 30 per cent, below its value in
London, the sum of i^io,ooo a year, or over 40 percent, of the
gross receipts, is a very large proportion on a business which
does not include manufacture, but merely preparation for
market and delivery. Such must at all times be the state of
matters when Government undertakes commercial enter-
prises which can only be properly conducted on trade prin-
ciples, when subjected to ordinary trade influences. It is not
sufficient to point to the position of a few years ago, and to
say, " What a change for the better! " That, after all, is a matter
of opinion in which there may be considerable variance, when
the evil effects of what are now regarded as improvements
are fully realised.

In June 1895, the leases of the Ichaboe and Penguin
Islands group, lying to the north of the mouth of the Orange
River, having fallen in, as the leases of the other groups had
been gradually doing since June 1890, a considerable increase
of guano at the disposal of Government must have alread)-
taken place. It will be a misfortune if any successful effort
is made to find a market in Cape Colony for this additional
quantity, which has previously been shipped to Great Britain,
where for the past three years, guano containing 14.25 per
cent, of ammonia has readily commanded £11. 12s. 6d. to
^12. 6s. per ton.

To put the guano industry on a sound economic basis,
so that the full measure of advantage might be gained by tlie

486 FARMINr, INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

farmers as a class, and by the Colony at large, the guano should
be sold at its market price and without favour to any individual
or any class of the community. If Government would do this,
and devote the proceeds to the reduction of railway charges
on agricultural products and requirements, it would confer
an undoubted advantage upon farmers generally. In his
Australian work, the author has fully discussed the duty
which devolves upon the Government of a new country to
keep down railway charges, as a means not only of aiding
struggling agriculturists, but also of increasing the proportion
of the rural to the urban population, of fostering industry, and
of conferring an important element of general prosperity upon
all. The net annual proceeds of the Guano Islands might
well be looked upon as a gift of Nature or of Neptune which
has cost the Colony nothing, and the sum might be devoted to
the lowering of railway rates. No measure of direct protec-
tion could possess the far-reaching beneficial influences of such
a step on the development of trade. Nothing ensures elasticity,
which is the very soul of commercial enterprise, like ready
means of communication.

To sell the guano at market prices could give rise to no
real grievance on the part of the farmer, as those who in their
ignorance wished to continue to scourge their land might 3'et
be able to do so at the old cost by applying nitrate of soda.
The offer of the Government to supply manure at .;^8 per ton,
less 5 per cent, for cash, is liable to induce isolated farmers to
believe that £8 is not too much to pay for any mixed special
manure offered by manure merchants, especially when the
ultimate results are equally good if not better than those got
by the use of guano. Such a price gives a large margin of
profit to be worked upon by dishonest traders, or even by
traders who are honest within limits, but are not above taking
a 20 per cent, profit for a mixture of two or three substances
which, if sold separately, and by name, would only yield them
a bare 10 per cent. The colonial farmer need not expect to
escape more easily than the thousands of British farmers who
confided in middlemen without making themselves masters of
the situation. During the years of prosperity which followed
the general introduction of mixed special manures in Great
Britain, and while it was not a criminal offence to sell any

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 487

worthless rubbish to farmers as manure, the agricultural com-
munity were robbed to the extent of millions steilin;^" — an
expensive whistle to pay for through want of technical skill.
As this blackmail was generally deducted from profits which
still left a substantial margin, the effects were not felt as they
would be felt in Cape Colony with the current rate of prices.
The great safeguard of the farmer is to discard all mixed
special manures unless they come from some trustworthy
firm, accompanied by guaranteed analyses, and to purchase
only the well-known forms of simple manures which can be
easily mixed at home. Special attention should be given
to the form in which the nitrogen is present in the manure,
as nitrogen from certain sources is of little or no value, and it
might even be injurious rather than helpful to plant growth.
There are only three ingredients in concentrated manures
that have any commercial value, viz., combined nitrogen (which
is generally in the form of a fixed ammonia salt or a
nitrate), phosphoric acid (as phosphate of lime), and a potash
salt. The latter not being universally required (on granitic
and clay soils, for example), the list of useful substances is
made simple to a degree. Still better would it be for farmers
to secure their manures through the medium of their own
local associations, which can command lower prices by deal-
ing on a large scale in the wholesale market. Only by these
means can a farmer make himself aware of what he is using
as manure, and foreshadow possible results.

Much benefit might be derived from the extension of the
system of green manuring, viz., the growing of a green crop,
preferably a leguminous crop, such as lupine, and ploughing it
down to increase the supply of humus in the soil. In vine-
yards, and still more in orchards, this practice is likel}^ to
gain favour when its advantages are better understood.

Locusts.

A number of the chief sources of difficulty and causes of
loss to the South African cultivator have already been alluded
to in connection with droughts, hailstorms, ' and fungoid
attacks, but the locust plague forms }'et another which is
worthy of special consideration.

4<S8 FARMING INDUSTRIliS OF CAPE COLONY.

Sharp * classes the locust as a member of the family
Acridiidce, and defines it " as a species of grasshopper that
occasionally increases greatly in numbers, and that moves about
in swarms to seek fresh food." Some members of the family,
which are not true locusts, " multiply locally to a great extent
— often for one or two seasons only " — and are then popularly
designated locusts. The true migratory locusts are not repre-
sented by many species, although their swarms visit many
parts of the world. The number of species were at one time
thought to be greater than they really were, until it was
demonstrated that the Orthoptera to which locusts belong
change colour during their development, and even after they
have reached the imago stage. Much confusion exists regard-
ing the nomenclature and the identification of species. This
is not to be wondered at, owing to the spasmodic nature of
locust attacks, and to the changes which take place in the
instincts as in other characteristics when swarming occurs.

Different species of locusts have a curious way of following
each other ; for example, swarms of Pachytylus migratorms
{Taiironotus marocaniis), the North African species, common
in Algeria, Tunis, &c., are usually followed by Schistocerka
peregi'ina {Acridhtm peregrinuui), a large and numerously
represented species, which is known to travel very great dis-
tances. In Cape Colony PacJiytyliis migratorius is followed
by Acridiiim piirpurifeniin, which is generally regarded as a
red-winged variety of A. peregrinmn. The most abundant
and widely distributed species of the migratory Acridiida;
(although not the one most frequently seen in South Africa)
is Pachytylus cinerascens, which is well known in Europe and
Asia, and has extended its invasions even to New Zealand.
A third Pachytylus, viz., niigj'atorwidcs, " inhabits Eastern
Africa. A variety of it is the ' Yolala ' of Madagascar," and
Distant says it is also found in South Africa. The species
which has done so much damage in 1895-96 has not been
identified, and is said to be new to Cape Colony, or not to
have visited it for a lengthened period.

Migratory locusts are productive of much greater injury
to crops and vegetation generally than the endemic species.

* In the " Caml^ridi^c Natural History," 1895.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 489

Metamorphoses of the Migratory Locust, Acridium peregrinum.

One mature form flying, and another resting with folded wings on the ground, Ijetween two
pupal forms at different stages of development.

Front Blanchard's " Metai)iorJ<hoses des Insccics."

490 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

The numbers in whicli they travel from place to place are
almost incredible to those who have not witnessed their flight.
Sharp refers to a writer in NaUire^ who states that " a flight of
locusts that passed over the Red Sea in November 1 889 was
2,000 square miles in extent, and estimated to weigh 42,850
millions of tons at one-sixteenth of an ounce each locust ; and
that a second similar, perhaps even larger, flight was seen
passing in the same direction the next day." It is little
wonder that such clouds of locusts should so obscure the sun
as to produce the darkness of night at mid-day. The locust
is supposed to be carried by the wind, and thereby to cover
great distances, but not to possess much power of progression
by flight.

Swarms do not as a rule annually alight in the districts
which they visit, but do so at intervals of ten years more or
less. South Africa has recently been exceptional in this
respect. During the past five seasons vast swarms of locusts
have ravaged Cape Colony to an extent not previously ex-
perienced, and if their visitations are going to be continuous
agriculture will have a poor future before it, unless more
effectual means are discovered to cope with the pest. The
chances are, however, looking to previous experiences of
locusts in other parts of the world, that a period of years
may now elapse without any serious injury from this source.
Aggravation of the evil is found in the facts that the locusts
breed freely in Cape Colony, as many as six or eight broods
hatching out at times from the same field in one season, and
that movement from place to place in search of food is begun
before the young insects have acquired their wings. These
immature wingless forms, called "voetgangers," or pedestrians,
by the Boers, according to Mrs Barber, writing on " Locusts and
Locust-Birds in South Africa,"* frequently hop in the direc-
tion of the north whence the parent swarms came, and in
vast numbers cross rivers and overcome all ordinary obstacles
met with in their course.

The development and flight of large swarms at varying
intervals of time is accounted for by three important facts
mentioned by Sharp — (i) That the increase of locusts is kept

* Tr. S. Afr. Phil. Sor., 1880.

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES.

491

492 FARMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

in check by parasitic insects ; (2) that the eggs may remain
more than one year in the ground, and hatch out when
favourable conditions arise; and (3) that the migratory instinct
is only effective when great numbers of superfluous individuals
are produced.

An instance of the power of self-preservation possessed
by the locust was evidenced in the case of the eggs of a
swarm which visited Pampoen Foort, in Carnarvon district.
The eggs were reported upon reliable evidence to have re-
mained in the ground for eleven years, until seasonal rains
came to enable them to hatch.

" It is not known that the parasites have any power of
remaining in abeyance as the locust eggs may do ; and the
bird destroyers of the locusts may greatly diminish in num-
bers during a year when the insects are not numerous," so
that the balance of nature may for a time be lost, and result
in the production of large numbers of locusts which in virtue
of their numbers develop the swarming and migrating instinct
more perfectly.

Sharp, following Riley, says: " The female has no elongate
ovipositor, but possesses instead some hard gonapophyses
suitable for digging purposes ; with these she excavates a hole
in the ground, and then deposits her eggs, together with a
quantity of fluid, in the hole," preferring hard and comj^act
earth to loose soil. The fluid hardens, and forms a capsule-
like protection to the eggs.

A Report on the Incursion of Locusts into Egypt in 1891,
by Williamson Wallace, Director of the Egyptian College of
Agriculture, is one of the most recent statements of the re-
sults of observations on the life-history of the insect. The
species was Acridiiini migraiorium, and the swarms were
supposed to have come from Tripoli The investigations
were made in the field and with locusts kept in confinement.
Copulation began immediately the swarm arrived in the
country, and eggs were not seen for about six days. The
egg's were oval, about a centimetre long, and of a yellowish-
clay colour, 90 to TOO being laid by one female in twenty-four
hours, the male and female being locked together during the
whole period. In three weeks the pupae or young locusts,
then of a pale-gre}' colour like the eggs, scrambled to the

FIELD CROPS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURES. 493

surface in millions from the holes, not more than 8 centi-
metres deep, in which they had hatched. They remained for
a few hours inactive and helpless, but speedily assumed a
darker colour and acc[uircd great activity. The dark-brown
or almost black colour with yellow markings of the first three
weeks gradually gives place to yellow with black markings,
until the full-grown insect at six weeks is almost yellow — the
male being "deep yellow, and the female of a pale hue with
a brown tinge." The full jjeriod of the life-history from eggs
to eggs was found to be in this instance about three months.

Although the injury done by locusts is very great, yet
their works are not wholly evil. There is no doubt they
manure the land. They eat so much that what passes
through them is deprived of little of its food- or manurial-
value. That their droppings are very considerable in amount
may be realised from the constant patter kept up by their
falling on the corrugated-iron roofs of houses as a swarm
passes overhead. We have in these facts a confirmation of
the belief of the old Dutch farmers that stock generally thrives
well in seasons which follow locust visitations.* Annual
visitations, .so disastrous to arable land farmers, confer yet
another benefit upon stock farmers to partially recompense
for the mischief done. Locusts devour at an immature stage
annual weeds which depend exclusively upon their seed for
the propagation of their species, and in this way greatly
reduce or entirely destroy for the time being " steek-grass "
and other injurious or weedy plants.

In 1891-92 one-third of the crops were reported to be
destroyed over a large area. At first they spared beans
and peas, but now they eat everything, even wild tobacco,
which does not agree with them. At times they get on the

* In the great devastation in Bavaria, a few years ago, when the
Government lost / 100,000 through the ravages of the Nun caterpillars on
spruce trees, the sound of the excrement falling on the lower leafage
from tens of thousands of feeding caterpillars quite resembled a shower
of rain. As a result of this abundant manuring, a most luxuriant growth
of grasses and forest weeds sprang up in the following year ; and it was
remarked that as the indirect result the antlers of the wild deer in the
forest were larger than ever before noticed. — R. S. M'DOUGALL, M.A.,
B.Sc.

494 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

rails in such numbers that they stop trains, the wheels becom-
ing slippery, and refusing to grip the metals.

The most simple and effective method of destruction
practised in Egypt was the driving of the young locusts when
about three weeks old into long dry trenches, 30 to 40 centi-
metres deep and 25 to 30 wide, by bands of men and children
armed with palm branches. The loose earth thrown out in
making the trenches was immediately replaced, and the whole
trampled firmly, so that escape was impossible. When the
locusts had fully developed their jumping powers, they were
more difficult to drive, and the trenches required to be made
more capacious. Many locusts were also destroyed by burning
heaps of dry material laid out to supply shelter in open spaces
to attract them. In Cyprus locusts have been successfully
destroyed in large numbers by leading them into deep traps by
means of extensive screens put up to guide them. The digging
up of eggs seems a hopeless task, although it has been carried
out on an extensive scale in Cyprus. In 1881, 1,300 tons
of eggs were thus destroyed without making any appreciable
difference to the number of eggs deposited in 1883.

The flooding of land in which locust eggs have been
deposited only retards the hatching for a few days, and the
working of the surface soil does little to injure them if they
are not left exposed to the direct influence of the sun. The
young locust on escaping from the egg can readily find its
way to the surface from a depth of 10 centimetres ; from a
depth of 12 centimetres about half escape, but all perish when
buried 15 centimetres deep.

One of the most hopeful means of combating a locust
attack not yet tried seems to lie in cultivating the various
parasites that prey upon them, and are capable of destroying
them in vast numbers. Beetles belonging to the family
Cantharidcs lay their eggs in the egg-masses of locusts, and
by the young devouring them, secure their wholesale destruc-
tion ; and ants devour not only the eggs, but many of the
young locusts as well. In North America a mite is also most
active in their destruction.

A hymenopterous "sand-wasp," AviinopJnla (with body
and legs black and rufous ; face sickly yellow ; legs bear-
ing powerful grippers ; and body about one inch and a quarter

FIELD CROrS, ROTATIONS, AND MANURE.S 495

long, and an inch and a half across from tij) to tip of the out-
stretched wings), seizes locusts and carries them off one at a
time to bury them, at the rate of twenty to thirty an hour. The
female wasp is armed with a sting with which she paralyses
the locust, but does not kill it. By this means the prey is
preserved for the use of the wasp grubs when they hatch,
and does not decay as it would naturally do if it were dead.

The brummer fly, Cyiiomyia pictifacies, Bigot, possesses
wonderful power in checking the ravages of locust swarms.
It is "similar in ap(:)earance to the common house-fly," but
about twice its size, and rather lighter in colour, " of an ashen-
grey hue, with two white marks down the face." It deposits
a living maggot on the thorax of the locust, or an egg which
(jlaatches almost immediately. The maggot loses no time in

Sand-Wasp (Natural Size). Brummer Fly (Enlarged).

penetrating the tissues under the neck, and after forcing its
way inwards, it lives upon the fatty parts intended for the
nutrition of the insect during its pupal stage, and finally leads
to the death of the host after making good its escape. The
periods of development in the cases of the fly and of the
locust are identical, and it is supposed that flies accompany
locust swarms in their migratory flights. Several other
species of flies belonging to the family SarcophagidcB are
known to be destructive to locusts, but the subject requires
working out, and means should be devised for introducing
additional species of flies into a swarm of locusts from a stock
of flies which might be reared in captivity, and distributed to
applicants for them under certain regulations in the same way
as young vines or forest trees.

40 FAk.MINc; INDUSTRIKS OK CAPE COLONY.

Driving sheep over young swarms tramples them to death,
but there is a danger of the sheep becoming lame or taking
" klawziekte," owing to irritation set up between the digits.

Brush-harrowing with four to six oxen has been tried
with good results, and also burning rags dipped in paraffin
oil, but these cannot be considered wholesale remedies.

Much more might be clone to check locust ravages in the
Colony by the judicious use of spraying machines, and the
application of the poisonous washes already detailed. Every
precaution would have to be employed to prevent the poisoning
of farm stock which eat the locusts when food becomes scarce,
and which would suffer if permitted to graze on veld sprayed
for the special benefit of an approaching swarm of locusts.
A limited amount of risk is, however, excusable as an offset
to the danger of the animals dying of starvation. Stock
might be removed from certain areas to be sprayed with
arsenical solutions, and the machines might be freely used
upon bushes and trees, including orchard trees, to which the
locusts of 1895-96 have paid special attention, gnawing with
their powerful jaws, buds and the firmer parts or leaf-bearing
sprays as well as foliage. Fenced potato fields could also be
saved without entailing any danger by spraying with arsenic.

A wash of Little's sheep dip might be substituted in ca.ses
where stock could not be entirely excluded, as its effects upon
them would not be so deadly as arsenic in the event of its
being consumed by them.

It would be interesting to ascertain whether a dressing of
Bordeaux mixture would not poison the locust without
causing serious injury to stock, which could be removed for a
time after the application.

Attachable Five-Row Sprayer for Horse and Hand Power,

Exhibited at the Royal Dublin Society's Sprifig Show, i8g6.
The pump is fixed to a barrel in the cart, and is worked by a man as
the vehicle goes along. The liquid is conducted from the pump to the
nozzles by elastic tubes, and controlled by taps. The nozzles and spraying
apparatus are arranged along strong iron tubes, which are attached to the
hind part of the cart by adjustable screws and bearings. The tubes move
on these bearings, and upon holding the lever down the nozzles are simul-
taneously lifted out of the crop into a horizontal position. The support-
ing tubes telescope into each other to make the machine small enough for
roads and gateways. Prices range from ^10. los. to ^32.

CHAPTER XXV.

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL
SCHOOLS.

The Agricultural Schools at Stcllenbosch and Somerset East — Programme
of Study at Stellenbosch — Arrangement of Classes at Somerset East
— Lack of Interest in the Colleges —Reports of Select Committees to
the House of Assembly — Common Fallacies about Agricultural
Education — A Farm Unnecessary at an Agricultural School— A
Complete System of Agricultural Education under the Education
Department — Principles Taught in Rural Schools — Vacation Classes
for Schoolmasters — A Text- Book — Agriculture an Optional Subject
in the Matriculation Examination of the South African College —
Recommendations for the Improvement of the Agricultural Schools
— Scholarships.

There are two Government agricultural schools in the
Colony — one at Stellenbosch, and the other at Somerset East.
A third was tried at Grahamstown, in the Eastern Province, but
was given up owing to the limited number of pupils who took
advantage of it. The work done is mainly theoretical and
scientific, although a practical colouring is given to it by associa-
tion with experimental farm plots, by practical demonstra-
tions in viticulture and dairying, and by a limited number of
excursions to farms, agricultural shows, &c. A better idea of
the nature of the instruction given may be gathered from the
Time Table showing the Programme of Work in connection
with the Stellenbosch Agricultural School during the quarter
ended 30th June 1895 • —

2 I

498

FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CABE COLONY.

Hours.

Monday.

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

Thursday.

Friday.

8-8.50

Breeding,

Fruit Culture.

Anatomyand

Viticulture.

Anatomyand

General

Physiology

Part.

of Farm
Animals.

8.55-9-45

Diseases of

I. Wine-

Horse-breed-

I. Wine-

Plants.

making.

ing.

making.

2. Production

2. Dairying.

2. Cropping,

of Plants,

General.

9.50-10.40

Chemistry.

Breeding,
General.

Viticulture.

1. Cropping,
Special.

2. Diseases
of Animals.

F>uit Culture.

IO.45-II.35

Chemistry.

Anatomyand

Fruit Culture.

Diseases of

Horse-breed-

Physiology

Animals.

ing.

of Farm

Animals.

I 1. 40- 1 2. 30

Botany.

Horse-breed-

Cropping,

Diseases of

Receipt and

ing.

Special
Part.

Animals.

Issue of
Library
Books.

1st Hour.

Bool;keeping

Carpentry

Practical

Carpentry

Practical

and

Farm Work

and

F'arm Work

and Hour.

Elements of

Woodwork.

& Demon-

Woodwork.

& Demon-

Surveying.

strations.

The full course extends over tvv'o years, but a number of
students come for shorter periods, which ought to be permis-
sible only when they join with the object of studying special
subjects. The terms are three in number, and correspond to
those of the Victoria College, in which the lectures are
given. The school pays £Ss annually to the College for the
use of three class-rooms and a reading-room, and with the
salaries of three teachers — F. Blersch (Principal), J. W. Crow-
hurst (veterinary), and C. Mayer (viticulture) — together with
that of Dr Marloth (science lecturer), who visits two days a
week — the total outlay for instruction amounts to ;^500, only
half of the Principal's salary being estimated against this branch
of the expenditure. The total amount put down for the
school (including the experimental farm) in the Government
estimates of expenditure for the current year is ;^i,505, but
in the previous year only i^ 1,300 of the sum estimated were
required. The farm has an extent of 15 acres, including (i) 8
acres of experimental vineyard, containing 20,000 vines ; (2)
5 acres occujjied by a nursery of fruit-trees ; and (3) 2 acres

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE.

499

of an experimental field, largely devoted to test plots of
forage crops. A weak point in the situation, in the matter
of securing the confidence of the public, is that Government
rents the farm from the Principal of the school. Five bur-
saries of i^20 each, to be applied for through the Secretary for
Agriculture, are annually available for "promising sons of poor
parents," but during the last completed year only three had
been applied for. The fees — only £2 for agricultural students
— are extremely moderate, those of the Victoria College being
£\2 to £\^ per annum. The College has recently made, as a
means for expanding the curriculum of stud}' in certain sub-

ViCTORiA College, Stellendosch.

jects, what appears to be an excellent proposal — viz., that for
a sum of iJ^SOO to be paid by Government, the whole lecture
and laboratory work of the school, with the exception of that
of the Principal, should be provided by the College. While
an arrangement of this kind would cost the Exchequer prac-
tical 1}' no more than the present .system, the course of study
in sciences allied to agriculture could be extended, and the
waste of energy from the duplication of classes in certain
subjects done away with.

The numbers in attendance have been decidedly unsatis-
factory, in sipite of all the facilities offered for acquiring
knowledge. The report of the Principal, issued in 1895, showed
an attendance roll of 19 |)upils, dra\\n from a wide area, a

500 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

threat majority being sons of farmers. It was further pointed
out, that of 6y students who had left the school since its estab-
lishment, 47 are engaged in farming, 7 of these being on their
own account, and 9 are otherwise employed in agricultural
work ; but only 23 completed the full course of instruction, and
passed the final examination.

The Agricultural School at Somerset East is associated
with the Gill College, in which the pupils spend the greater
part of the morning — nine till two — at general and agricul-
tural chemistry, or at branches of study not included in the
agricultural course. One hour each afternoon is devoted to
some purely agricultural subject. From time to time practical
courses in dairy and garden work are undertaken. During
summer the practical classes are held between 6.30 and 8
A.M., but at other times they encroach on the time of the
College work. Evening classes for those who cannot attend
in the morning are also held in chemistry. " One extended
general excursion and some short ones are taken every year."
The staff consists of the Principal, J. H. Overman ; an assist-
ant in science (chiefly chemistry), H. Welch ; and the Assistant
Veterinary Surgeon stationed in the district, J. D. Borthwick.
Under the heading terms of entrance, the prospectus states
that—

" Intending students must be at least fourteen years of age, and will be
admitted without examination, provided their previous education is such
as to satisfy the Principal. It is desirable that a practical apprenticeship
on a well-managed farm should either precede or follow the course of
study at this institution. The fee for the School of Agriculture is los.
per quarter, and the sons of poor parents are, under certain circum-
stances, even admitted free. Those students who attend other subjects
at the Gill College have to pay for these separately. Applicants for
admission to any of the College classes must satisfy the respective Pro-
fessors of their fitness to enter. New courses commence in July, the
exact dates being always advertised."

The following return shows the number of pupils who have
joined the school since its opening till the time of the author's
visit — the end of July 1895 : —

In 1890 . . 25 I In 1892 . . 19 I In 1894 . . 13
„ 1891 . . 25 I „ 1893 . . 19 I „ 1895 . .11

The numbers arc not only small but diminishing ; and for the

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 501

five available ;^20 bursaries not a single application had been
received during the previous twelve months.

In spite of the facilities offered for acquiring useful know-
ledge, there was a decided lack of interest in the colleges
among the farming community. It was abundantly evident
that something was radically wrong with the existing system or
plan of work, although no fault could be found with the work
itself Many proposals of reorganisation were in the air, but
it remains to be seen whether some of the proposals that had
received the most favourable attention would, if tried, not make
matters worse instead of better.

After taking evidence at considerable length, a Select
Committee on " Agricultural Schools " (the Report of which
was printed by order of the House of Assembly in 1894)
recommended the abolition of the existing agricultural
schools, and the establishment of two farms where agricul-
ture and stock-farming could be taught and carried out on
thoroughly scientific and practical principles, and where a
large part of the work would be undertaken by the pupils
under competent supervision. Another Select Committee on
"Technical Education in Agriculture" reported iu; 1895 on
similar lines. These recommendations undoubtedly coincide
with the expressed views of many, both at home and abroad,
who have no intimate experience of educational matters, but
they open up a very large question, which demands ample
consideration before action is taken. It has yet to be demon-
strated that any proposal of the kind has ever been carried
to a successful issue in any part of the world, although the
experiment has frequently been tried, and has even been
favourably reported upon, by interested persons.

In an article in the National Revieiv for April 1888, to
which the reader is referred for details which cannot be intro-
duced here, the author enumerates and discusses four popu-
lar fallacies relating to agricultural education, and to the
proper course to follow in learning to farm : —

(i.) That any one, however void of intellect, or the power of using it
if he do possess it, can become a successful farmer.

(2.) That the short period of two years devoted to the study of agri-
culture is sufficient time to fully prepare a man, possessed of no previ-
ous knowledge of the subject, to practise it without risk of loss through
inexperience.

502 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

(3.) That practical work and a scientific training can advantageously
proceed at one and the same period of time.

(4.) That manual labour is the practical work of a farmer, and is the
most important branch in the training of a youth, on which time and also
money should be spent.

The last fallacy is due simply to ignorance, and to the desire of
parents of gentle birth to find a royal road for their sons in acquiring the
experiences of actual labour. There is no difficulty in the case of the
son of a working man acquiring the ability and knowledge of how to
work with his hands — in fact, his efforts, by the way, are worth money,
are worth his wages in the labour market. The attempt to acquire a
knowledge of and facility in labour operations by what might almost be
termed the illegitimate means of offering to barter money for that which
is really not in the market for sale, can only end in failure. It would be
no more ridiculous to try to buy a fish that would live out of water than
to try to buy that knowledge of work which can only be acquired in the
performance of it. The value of actual labour has, in virtue of what
has been stated above, been greatly over-estimated. To the man who
lives by field labour, and who of all others thereby profits most by his
ability to perform it, this ability is worth from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per day.

A more serious misapprehension is that of believing that the practi-
cal experience required by a farmer in conducting his business is little
more than a knowledge of labour and competency to do the work of one
of his servants. It is practically equivalent to asserting that an expert
workman of the most humble order possesses the qualifications necessary
to make a good farmer.

Experience has shown that it is only under exceptional
circumstances that the practical work of the farm can be
carried out in conjunction with a course of instruction in the
sciences bearing on agriculture. Dookie College, in Victoria, is
a case in point. Much of its early success was due to the unique
qualifications of Principal J. L. Thompson, who organised it,
and to the fact that, the pupils being mostly drawn from towns
and not from the farm, it was possible to accept the total result
as successful, although half the time which, in the case of boys
brought up to farm life, ought to have been spent in the study
of science, had to be sacrificed to enable them to acquire in a
manner admittedly imperfect some knowledge of practice.
In the cases of youths who have been accustomed to farm
work, encouraged from early boyhood to take part in it and to
otherwise become familiar with it, no such excuse for the loss
of precious time from study can be accepted.

The plain common-sense view of the case taken by farmers
is, that there is no place where a youth can learn practical

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 503

agricultural work to greater advantage than on his father's
farm and under his father's supervision and direction. Under
such circumstances a personal interest in what is going on is
developed in the learner in a manner which is impossible
where responsibility in the execution of any given object has
to be divided among a number of pupils on a school farm.
Moreover, when a son works at home, his labour is of con-
siderable value, and often a great convenience to a father,
who may very well be excused if he declines to send his son
to work on a college farm, entailing not only the loss of the
labour at home but the payment of a fee so that the son
may be privileged to work for the benefit of some one else.
There is also introduced a most important factor which is
patent to a practical man, but which the theoretical and
amateur educationist is too apt to overlook. With a large
number of pupils, such as one would expect to find if an
agricultural college became popular, the arrangements for and
the methods of work done on a college farm must of necessity
become unnatural and differ fundamentally from the work of
an ordinary farm. Under a successful scheme at least 100
and probably 200 pupils would be in attendance annually —
quite an impossible number to control, supervise, and instruct,
unless on a very extensive farm at enormous expense ; and
even under such circumstances the work would require to be
arranged and executed differently from the work of a farm
managed in an ordinary way.

A complete system of education in agriculture such as
is needed in a country so dependent as Cape Colony upon
the success of agriculture, including stock-farming — its most
important industry — should not be confined to a few agricul-
tural colleges, which at the best are only available for limited
numbers of favoured or fortunate individuals, but should extend
to all schools in rural districts, and in time, when work in the
lower grades is well advanced, it might also include a branch in
the University, which would give instruction on an academic
standard, and confer a degree in Science in the Department
of Agriculture as an Honours distinction.

On this extended basis, which would involve intimate
association with the general education system of the Colony, it
would be necessary to transfer the entire control of the educa-

504 FyVRMING INDUSTRIES OF CAI'E COLONY.

tional work in agriculture from the Agricultural Department
of Government to the Education Department, otherwise there
would be inevitable division of aims and interests which would
^hamper progress and render satisfactory development im-
possible. Room could easily be found for all grades of
instruction in agriculture in the excellent system of public
education being developed by Dr Muir, the Superintendent-
General of Education for Cape Colony.

Agriculture is a subject the principles of which can be
satisfactorily taught by a schoolmaster to advanced classes of
boys and girls in rural districts, without any necessity for field
demonstrations or out-of-door practical work of any kind. It
is necessary that the teacher be provided with a suitable
text-book, wall diagrams, and hand models, and that he should
have the advantage of a course of training under an agricul-
tural expert, who would suggest methods of instruction and
emphasise the more important parts of the subject. Some-
thing has already been begun in the direction indicated, as
agriculture was introduced in 1894 ^^ o'^^ of the science sub-
jects taken up in the free vacation courses held for teachers —
one in Grahamstown in June and the other in Cape Town in
December — but something more extensive than a few lectures
in a general course of instruction is necessary to the success
of the object in view. Agriculture is a large and an im-
portant enough subject when associated with the allied
sciences, to absorb the whole available period, which might
conveniently extend to four weeks or twenty-four working
days of one vacation. A course during the first year of
attendance might be advantageously devoted to the principles
of agriculture and chemistry — laboratory work as well as
lectures on general chemistry — to which three or four hours'
work ought to be devoted daily. A similar period in one or
more succeeding years could be profitably employed in more
advanced stages of agriculture and chemistry, associated with
botanical, entomological, and geological work, both theoretical
and practical.

Courses of free classes for schoolmasters were begun in
Edinburgh in 1888, and during the period which has since
elapsed, 459 teachers have attended, and after returning to
their respective local centres have given instruction to 14,100

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 505

pupils in country districts. In consideration of the importance
of the work, and the sacrifice which a hard-workini^ school-
master undergoes by giving" up a month of his holiday, a grant
of iJ^i per man per week, plus the amount of travelling expenses,^
was at first given by the Board of Agriculture and more recently
by County Councils. The teaching" done, very frequently in
the evening, in their respective classes by schoolmasters is
remunerated on the scale of science subjects under the
regulations of the Science and Art Department, South Ken-
sington, or the Scotch Code. It is found to be impossible
in districts where the numbers of pupils are small, to form a
class every year, but a satisfactory solution of the difficulty is
obtained by arranging a rotation of science classes extending
over a number of years, and including such additional subjects
as chemistry, botany, physiography, &c., so that in a sparsely
populated district an agriculture class is held once in three or
four years, and interest in the subject is not permitted to flag.

Much of the success of the scheme depends upon the text-
book used. The present want would be fully met if a Cape
edition of " Fream's Principles of Agriculture "* were specially
prepared, and descriptions of the crops and live stock peculiar
to South Africa added.

Another very important preliminary step in the direction
of putting the teaching of agriculture upon a satisfactory
footing, would be to make agriculture an optional subject
(probably an alternative with Greek or a modern language, or
as one of the group of science subjects) in the matriculation
examination of the University. There is no such thing
among boys in Cape Colony, any more than in other parts of
the civilised world, as the extensive study of a subject merely
for the love of the work. Some inducement requires to be
held out to encourage the average youth to forego the plea-
sures of idleness and the lower forms of amusement for the
higher pleasures to be extracted, but with greater effort, from
learning, and from the healthy exercise of the mental facul-
ties. A boy wants some more immediate encouragement than
his ultimate success in life, the real importance of which does

* Issued by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and published
by John Murray, London, at 3s. 6d.

5o6 FAUMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

not even dawn upon him until he leaves school. Such en-
couragement in Cape Colony is found in the matriculation
examination, which, necessary thouc^^h it be, and good up to
a certain point, is made too much the be-all and end-all
of the pupil's educational existence. So much is this the
case, that no scheme of agricultural instruction could have
a chance of success unless the work were done as a part of
the great educational system of the Colony, which in its
lower branches is on the lines necessary to prepare for the
matriculation examination.

A useful basis of preliminary work having been laid at
school, or in evening extension classes immediately after the
school age had been passed, a higher course of study could be
undertaken in the Agricultural Colleges with the same object
in view — the passing of the matriculation examination, as
well as that of securing a leaving certificate or diploma in
agriculture and the allied sciences.

Contrary to the prevailing unskilled belief on the subject
of agricultural education, the instruction given at an Agricul-
tural College ought not to be ordinary farm work (which
can only be carried out on a farm managed on commercial
principles, and can therefore only be taught where natural
conditions prevail), but such as cannot be learned on an
ordinary farm — something above and beyond what an ordi-
nary farmer knows — which will give the successful student an
advantage over the farmer who has not had the benefits of a
scientific training, or the wider knowledge of the subject
gained by reading the accounts of the varied experiences
of other workers in a similar field. Clearly, then, the basis of
a sound and economical practical training for a farmer's son is
at home under the supervision of his father, who above every
one else has a genuine regard for his success, and where he
himself is much more likely to contract a liking for the work
in hand than for that done among a number of inexperienced
student workers at an agricultural school. Or, as the article
above quoted said : "In no way could a young farmer learn
the practices of his profession so thoroughly as at home by
the old and time-honoured plan, the reciprocal interests of
the father and the son having a prominent position in the
efforts of both teacher and tauEfht."

EDUCATION IN ACiKICULTURE. 507

The great question to be solved, with regard to the para-
mount importance of practical work, is, How can the scientific,
explanatory, and literary sections be undertaken so as to inter-
fere as little as possible with ths practical side of a young
man's training? The end could be accomplished by the method
which has with most satisfactory results stood the test of
many years in the Agriculture Department of the University
of Edinburgh, by confining the lecture and laboratory course
to the five consecutive months of each year in which least farm
work is done, and liberating the students from study during
the busy seasons when they really learn most, and when their
work and supervision would be of greatest value on the home
farm. This division of the two kinds of work not only per-
mits of each being taken up during the months when it can be
best performed, but it avoids far-reaching and practically in-
surmountable difficulties which otherwise can only be over-
come at great sacrifice — ^viz., the difficulty of doing satisfactory
mental work after engaging in protracted physical exercise in
the open air, and the bodily strain upon a youth doing efficient
manual labour when he must spend half the available hours
of the working day at a desk, or in a sedentary position.
" It is a fact, though perhaps but little known, that it is impos-
sible for a man to labour throughout the day in the fields for
such a length of time, and in such a manner, as to get into
condition to perform efficient work, and at the same time be
fit to undertake serious study, and overcome the natural tend-
ency towards rest and repose during the evening. It may
be accepted as a sine qua non that a youthful agriculturist in
going through a proper course of instruction must, to reap full
benefit from it, undertake his scientific education and his
practical training as regards manual labour, at different periods.
This is an acknowledged principle in engineering, and there is
no physiological or other reason w^hy it should not be so in
agriculture. To give an illustration, let us ask. How many
men who ride hard all day with the hounds can sit down to
solid brain work in the evening?" The usual penalty paid
when an attempt is made to associate these two incompatibles
is loss of time, which is avoided by the adoption of the alter-
native proposal submitted.

Several farmers in the Colony, whose opinions on the

508 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

matter were sounded by the author, expressed their abihty
and vvilHngness to submit to the temporary inconvenience of
parting with their sons for a period of five months during
the slack season, who would not dream of doing so for
the whole year. Five months once granted would almost
as a matter of course be succeeded by a similar period in the
following season, and by a third period in many instances.
The young man would not meanwhile lose touch with or
cease to take an interest in the farm at home, and probably
become unsettled for a country life, as one is liable to do if
dissociated for two years from local experiences. Pupils
whose relatives are not farmers might be distributed during
the seven months' vacation among farmers and managers of
farms of different kinds, according to the branch of agriculture
or stock-rearing each desires ultimately to follow. There
would be no lack of suitable places found if a systematic
inquiry were made through the Civil Commissioner of each
District. For instruction in horse and cattle rearing no doubt
the De Beers farm near Kimberley, and other similar places,
could be made available.

It would be advantageous for the existing schools to culti-
vate more intimate relations with their associated colleges.
This should not be regarded as an abolition of the agricultural
schools, but rather as a means towards their development.
Periodical excursions to well-managed farms might advan-
tageously be made more frequent, as a means of imparting a
wide and varied knowledge of agricultural practice, conducted
in a natural and business-like way.

Nothing so extensive as a farm associated with such an
institution is necessary, but a few field plots to enable the
teachers to show how experiments ought to be conducted on
every farm might be advantageous. It is, however, an accepted
fact by those who have had the advantage of experience in
the matter, that it would be unsafe and unwise to attempt
to conduct experiments with the object of publishing defi-
nite results for general use if students took part in the work,
or had free admission to the experimental grounds.

The scholarships offered are at present not taken advan-
tage of for two sufficient reasons — (i) They are too small to
cover the whole expenses of a year's study — a necessity in the

EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE. 509

case of the pupils for whom they were intended ; and (2) in
place of being a mark of distinction, something to be proud
of, and to be anxiously acquired, the possession of a scholar-
ship bears the stigma of family impecuniosity — " sons of
poor parents," or " parents in impoverished circumstances."
Agricultural school scholarships of i^20 each would probably
cover all necessary outlays during a five months' session, as
the annual cost of board and lodging at Somerset East is
stated in the prospectus of the Agricultural School at from
.1^40 to ^^48, and at Stellenbosch at from £26 to ^40. They
should also be offered, without invidious distinctions, purely
as a reward of merit, determined by the results of examina-
tions held in connection with the agriculture classes to be
established in rural districts. Scholarships given on such
conditions would induce the most brilliant pupils to continue
studies which probably they would otherwise not undertake,
and would help to fill the schools with a class of students likely
in the future to do credit to the instruction imparted to them.
The foregoing views, although in opposition to popular belief,
are confidently stated as the mature opinions of one who was
reared as a farmer, who has been a Professor of Agriculture for
a period of fourteen years, and who has devoted much time to
the special study of the question both at home and abroad.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT.

Creation of and Changes in the Department of Agriculture — Annual
Expenditure — The Chief Officials— Qualifications of Officials — The
Political Head — The Permanent or Under-Secretary — The Heads of
Branch Departments — Qualifications of an Ideal Permanent Secre-
tary — The Bacteriological Institute — Its Commercial and Scientific
Work — Developments necessary to make it more useful — Its Possi-
bilities as an Educational Centre — The Cape Government Herbarium
— The Agricultural Journal — Suggestions for its Improvement.

The first Department of Agriculture for Cape Colony con-
trolled by a Secretary for Agriculture was created in 1887,
and associated with the office of the Colonial Secretary. In 1892
a reconstruction was effected, and the Agriculture Depart-
ment became a Department of Lands, Mines, and Agri-
culture, administered under the Colonial Treasurer. The
existing Department, including the office of Minister of
Agriculture, was created in 1893, and provisions made for its
administration by Act 14 of that year.

The total estimated expenditure under the control of the
Minister termed the Secretary for Agriculture for the financial
year 1895-96 was i^220,8oo, but this included the following-
sums under their respective headings, which may be regarded
as extra-agricultural : —

Crown Forests and Planta-
tions . . . ^46,195

Geological Exploration,
Irrigation and Water
Supply . . . 10,826

A substantial balance of ^^"103,723 remains for the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, the expenditure of which comes under
the followiner heads : —

Guano Islands

^22,000

Mines . . . .

3,536

Surveyor-General .

9,620

Miscellaneous Services .

24,900

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT. 511

Salaries and Contingencies ^{^14,801
Bacteriological Institute . Z^'^n
Veterinary . . . 44,920

Viticulture . . . 5,600

Tobacco Culture . . 470

Agricultural Schools and

Experimental Stations . ^3,105

Agricultural Societies and

Association Grants . 12,008

Botanic Garden Grants . 3,675

Miscellaneous Services . 14,600

The chief officers associated with the Department under
the Minister or Secretary for Agriculture, whose appointment
is political, are the Under-Secretary or Permanent Secretary
for Agriculture, supported by a chief and a principal clerk ;
the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon ; the Director of the Bacterio-
logical Institute ; the Government Botanist and Keeper of the
Government Herbarium ; the Government Entomologist ; a
Marine Fishery Expert;* the Conservators of Forests; the
Inspector of Mines ; and the Surveyor-General.

A good deal of dissatisfaction with the work of the
Department was expressed by the public, and talk of its
total abolition or complete reconstruction was in the air.
There was a tendency to go altogether to extremes, and
to make changes which would certainly not be improve-
ments. A measure of reform was, however, undoubtedly
necessary, but it would be invidious, and might even
defeat the object in view, to state too directly what changes
appeared to be most urgent. It will be convenient and
expedient to Consider the question in the light of general
principles, and to leave to those who have a more intimate
knowledge and greater experience of the local circumstances
involved, to find out the weak points and to apply the remedies.

The supreme head of a Department holding a political
appointment is at once a source of strength and a source of
weakness, but the essential and overshadowing importance of
the chief of a Department being within the inner ring, and
taking part in the most secret deliberations of those forming
the Government of the day, is so great that the disadvantage
of an incompetent person being at times appointed for purely
political reasons becomes a minor consideration. The danger
is also minimised when the political head is supported and
instructed by a properly constituted permanent staff of officials.
The post of Permanent or Under-Secretary under the cir-

* The last two offices were first filled in 1895.

512 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

cumstances becomes one of paramount importance and
responsibility, and the true strength of this official must lie
not in the assumption of an air of personal importance, of
superior knowledge, and of individual responsibility for all
details in every branch of the service with which he is asso-
ciated, but in utilising to the fullest extent the technical skill
of the so-called heads of the different branches referred to.
Each officer occupying the position of head ought to be the
highest authority on the subject of his particular work in the
Colony, and being so, his final and mature opinion ought to be
accepted as such and acted upon without modification or what
may be called official alteration. It is impossible for a properly
qualified Secretary to be as great a specialist in one and all
of the subjects represented in the numerous branch depart-
ments as the heads of these departments themselves, and
therefore no modification of the proposals of these experts
ought to be given effect to without their agreement or con-
currence. It may very frequently happen that, owing to
financial considerations of which the Secretary would naturally
be the dominating authority, original schemes might require
to be materially modified, but the skill of the expert is quite
as necessary if not even more essential to adjust the details
of a modified or reduced scheme as those of an original com-
prehensive one. While an Agriculture Department ought
to appear to the general public to work as one body, the
different branches of it should virtually be guided by their
respective heads. The responsibility would then to a large
extent be distributed among them relatively to the advice
given, and would not be centred in the Permanent Secretary,
who, apart from special subdivisional responsibilities, would
have general responsibilities of his own.

The man best qualified to be Permanent Secretary for
Agriculture, and the previous training he ought to undergo,
are considerations which demand ample deliberation. It has
been strongly urged that a skilled agriculturist is the man
wanted, but this is a popular fallacy born of ignorance of the
duties and functions of a Permanent Secretary. There are no
objections to the post being filled by such a man, provided he
possesses the essential qualifications of a Secretary, but great
difficulty would be experienced in finding an individual who

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT. 513

combined the two very different sorts of qualifications. It is
absolutely necessary that a Permanent Secretarial Head should
have gone through the routine work of a Government Depart-
ment, else the office work would speedily get into inextricable
confusion, and the benefits to be gained from any special
agricultural qualifications of the Secretary would not be
available.

The ideal Permanent Secretary is essentially a strong-
man, and consequently not afraid of taking and of giving effect
to the advice of his specialist subordinates and associates, and
at the same time meting out to them all credit where credit
is due. He is a man with a large grasp of the subject on
the literary and scientific side, an omnivorous reader, with a
retentive memory, and orderly literary proclivities — a man
who, as an individual and as an official, is respected and
esteemed not only by his subordinates but by his Parliamentary
sujDeriors, and whose opinions on Departmental questions of
policy arc sought after and accepted.

It has been suggested that the duties of Permanent Secre-
tary ought to be divided between two colleagues, one a prac-
tical agriculturist and the other an experienced office man ;
but apart from the difficulty of harmoniously associating two
men of equal power, all the benefits to be derived might be
secured if the Political Head were chosen on account of being
distinguished as a practical and progressive agriculturist.

It goes almost without saying that if the most suitable men
to fill responsible positions in a Department are to be secured,
there ought to be no doubt of the remuneration offered being
adequate to the circumstances of each case. The practice cf
offering insufficient salaries to officials when first appointed
(from which the Government of Cape Colony is not altogether
free) is fatal to the success of any service, as important posts
are filled by incompetent men who have no chance of promo-
tion except to the pension list, but who after a time claim and
frequently receive salaries far beyond their deserts.

The Bacteriological Institute at Grahamstown, under the
directorate of Alexander Pxlington, M.B., CM., of Edinburgh,
was established in 189L It is the only institution of the kind
in South Africa, and it has been supported by sub^•cntions

2 K

514 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

from the Colony of Natal, the Orange Free State, and the
Transvaal, all participating equally with Cape Colony in the
benefits which are derived from it. The object for which the
Institute was established was the scientific investigation of
the nature of diseases in farm animals due to specific organisms,
such as horse-sickness, red-water in cattle, and heart-water in
sheep ; but the exigencies of the situation led to the develop-
ment of a commercial side, and it is now a self-supporting
institution, and, according to the state of accounts published
by the Department of Agriculture in 1895, in receipt of a
revenue of, in round numbers, ;^ 10,300 from the sale of
vaccine lymph for vaccination against smallpox, and ,^300
from lung-sick virus for inoculation against pleuro-pneumonia
in cattle, the former being supplied at 6d. per tube, and the
latter at is. 3d. per tube, sufficient for five cattle. Diagnosis
of cases of diphtheria and rabies is also undertaken at the
Institute, but the great scientific work which has absorbed
most time and attention during the four years which have
elapsed since the laboratories were put into working order, is
that done in connection with horse-sickness. A considerable
and what may be regarded as a satisfactory measure of
success, in work so tedious and uncertain as bacteriological
research, has been attained. Reference has already been made
at page 320 to the progress marked and the results achieved,
so far as it would be judicious to make them publicly known.

It has also been pointed out from time to time that
numerous diseases from which farm animals in South Africa
suffer ought to come within the scope of the investigation of
the Institute, the establishment of which was one of the most
far-seeing movements made by the Cape Government during
recent times, thereby calling one of the most recent and most
progressive of modern sciences to the aid of the owners of live
stock.

To be put on a satisfactory and thoroughh^ scientific basis,
the Institute ought to be conjointly and amply endowed by
all the States and Colonies of South Africa, and the com-
mercial department, though maintained on the plea of useful-
ness, separated as comi)lctcly as possible from the research
department. The author fully sympathises with the position
taken up in this matter b)- the Colonial Vctcrinar}' Surgeon

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT. 515

while giving evidence before the Select Committee of the
House of Assembly on the Bacteriological Institute in July
1895. He would even go further than this officer, and assert
that a much more intimate relation ought to exist between
the Veterinary Department of the Colony and its Bacterio-
logical Research Station than there is at present. Admittino-
the necessity of the internal control of the place resting ex-
clusively with the Director, the great scheme of work to be
taken up should be systematically discussed and agreed upon
by the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon and the Director of the
Institute conjointly, and the special knowledge and wide experi-
ence of the chief of the Veterinary Department made available
to the fullest possible extent in all preliminary arrangements,
which would in many cases require to be made in the field.

So many diseases urgently require investigation — diseases
which not only continue to extend but which increase in

number, and, it might be added, even in virulence as

witness recent experiences of rinderpest — that important
additions require to be made to the staff. An officer who
holds a high position as a pathologist is almost as essential
in an institution of the kind under review as the bacterio-
logical expert and head ; and a larger number of qualified
assistants are required to carry on the work of investigatino- a
number of diseases at one and the same time. With such an
addition to the staff, time now lost by a limited number of
experimenters changing from one class of work to another
would be saved.

Effect might also be given to the excellent suggestion
of Dr Hutchcon of making the Institute an educational
centre as well as a research station. Short courses, mainly
practical, could with advantage be instituted, in which farmers
would have an opportunity of becoming familiar with simple
bacteriological and veterinary processes ; for example, the
proper methods of inoculation, the use of the microscope,
the taking of temperatures of animals, the conducting o{ post-
vwrtem examinations, and many other useful operations which
could be taught during a residence of two or three weeks.

The analytical branch of the Agricultural Department, like
the veterinar)- branch, is too much engaged in doing work for

5l6 FARMING INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

the public at the cost of the State. This leads to much un-
necessary work being undertaken, and is fatal to the prospects
of original research, which ought to be the main feature of
the analytical department of Government. If a reasonable fee
were charged for the determination of all samples sent for
examination, the results obtained would be much more highly
appreciated than they are at present.

A vast field of research is open to the chemist in South
Africa, but it is to be hoped that it will not be restricted to soil
analysis, the misleading nature of which has been discussed
at some length in the author's Australian work.

Only a passing reference can now be made to the Cape
Government Herbarium,* one of the most valuable col-
lections of plants existing, and to which contributions have
been sent from all ]:)arts of the world. Constant touch is
kept with leading botanists and curators of museums and
herbariums in foreign countries, and exchanges with them
of botanical literature and of duplicate specimens take place.
By this means not only the reputation but the scientific value
of the Cape Herbarium is maintained at a high level. Even
more of this useful work would have been done but for the
total absence till last year of subordinate assistance under
the control of the Curator. After being most inadequately
housed for years, the cases containing the valuable botanical
treasures have recently been removed to fairly suitable quarters
in Grave Street, Cape Town, where they may safely rest until
provision be made for them in their natural and final resting-
place — the South African Museum. T^'om time to time the
centurias of the Herbarinm Nonnale Aiistro-Africaniivi are
issued to the chief Herbariums in Europe and America, the
sixteenth centuria being that for 1894-95.

A valuable library of botanical literature is also associated
with the flerbarium, but for the present it is unfortunately
necessary to accommodate it in a separate building.

One of the grievances urged against the Agricultural
Department was the alleged lack of merit in the fortnightly

* Under the able supervision of the Government Botanist, Professor
P. MacOwan, B.A., F.L..S., &c.

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF GOVERRMENT. 517

Agricultural Journal, which has been issued to farmers free
of charge by the Department since 22ncl March 1888, when
the first number appeared. Although the general plan of
conducting the Jour?ial is not the best for gaining the con-
fidence and appreciation of the farming community, the pubH-
cation is certainly not worthy of wholesale condemnation.
In some departments — notably those of botany and veterinary
science — it is particularly unassailable. Its weak point is to
be found in a want of special articles by experts on various
subjects, and in the filling of much space with wholesale clip-
pings from foreign agricultural periodicals without that con-
densation or special trimming which is recjuired to adapt them
to local circumstances.

The Agricultural Journal is such an all-important medium
for the communication of information of an interesting and
valuable kind to farmers of every degree, that it is worthy
of greater consideration and more attention by the Depart-
ment. Its form and get-up are too much after the style of a
newspaper, which, if opened at all, is merely glanced at, dis-
carded, and probably destroyed within a week of its issue ;
whereas the journal of an Agricultural Department of Govern-
ment ought to be a reliable compendium of interesting
information worthy of preservation, and useful not merely for
the moment, but for reference in succeeding years. To this end
the Joiirnal of the future, following many excellent examples
set in England, Australia, and America, ought to take the
form of an octavo volume, to be issued in parts at longer
intervals than a fortnight, probably monthly or quarterly, like
the Journal oj the Royal Agricultural Society oj England.
Special articles by the leading authorities on various agri-
cultural, horticultural, viticultural, forestal, and other subjects,
ought to be secured and paid for, and concise resiivu's of
important original articles which occur in other journals, made
and incorporated. Illustrations by figures, diagrams, and
full-page plates would be an attractive and most valuable
feature of such a publication. It might probably be made to
pay its way by putting up to auction every two or three years
the contract for printing, and the right to secure advertisements.
The practice of distributing it free to certain farmers could then
be extended to all who made application for it.

5l8 FAKMINC; INDUSTRIES OF CAPE COLONY.

Professor MacOwan's suggestion that some of the more
interesting papers which have appeared in the Journal might
be repubHshed, is well worthy of adoption. If the Journal
were issued in the form suggested, these articles could be
incorporated from time to time as the subjects with which
they deal come up for discussion.

It w(nild be well to cultivate a more intimate and more
friendly relation than at present exists with the newspaper
press. Advance proofs of special articles should be sent to
all newspapers, so that they might reproduce the parts of
interest to the district in which the papers circulate before their
appearance in the copy of the Journal in which the articles
are to be issued. In this way they would have a greater
chance of becoming of general service to those interested in
the matters with which they deal, and they would at the same
time be supplied later in a form suitable for preservation
and reference.

In its present form the Agricultural Journal x^r, practically
boycotted by the other sections of the newspajjer j^-ess — a
fact which seriously curtails its general usefulness. The pro-
posed alterations would make correspondence in i\\e Journal
on topics of passing interest impossible, but such correspond-
ence is better confined in any case to the local press of the
district to which the circumstances involved are applicable or
interesting. Such correspondence would be food for the daily
and weekly press, and might lead to a much wider interest
being taken in agricultural matters by that extremely im-
portant and influential section of passing literature. If a
movement were in this way initiated which ultimately led
to the 'publication of a weekly letter on agricultural topics
in each of the leading newspapers circulating in importaivt
farming districts, great advance, would be made in the means
for imparting valuable information to the members of a class
who stand much in need of it, and who are chary about being
instructed unless in a manner which disarms any suspicion of
a deliberate intention in that direction.

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A. (See page 17.)

SoMK arch;L'ologists maintain these drawings are relics of the termina-
tion of the Shemitic civihsation, inaugurated by Solomon, whose colonists,
Phojnician and Judean, occupied Manicland and Mashonaland (the Land
of Ophir), and where their ruined cities are now being discovered. The
horse with the bushy tail would, in this view, represent the horse of the
East, the ancestor of the modern Arab.

P. CARCINOMATIS.

APPENDIX B. (See page 69.)

The utilisation of a termite hill as a cooking stove has
been thus described by a resident : — " You have only to dig
or cut a door-hole at the base of the ant-hill, put in half a
Cape Times or Argus, light it, and blow till the heap
catches fire, and you have an impromptu baker's oven.
In ten minutes you put your steak in on one of the flat
stones with which you beat it to make it tender, cover up
the hole, and leave it for an hour or more. When you
come back from your quail-shooting or botanising, you
have a p/af worthy of the table of the gods."

It is on the decayed debris of grass stored in these
hills that the mycelium of that most extraordinary fungus
Podaxon carcincnnatis grows. The sporiferous form or
finished mushroom is exactly like a folded umbrella in
Cruikshank's illustrations. This fungus, like the fungus
of a fairy ring in old pasture, being engaged in preparing
the insoluble decaying organic matter into available
plant food, has no doubt much to do with the increase
of temporary soil fertility which results from breaking up
an ant-heap.

APPENDIX C. (See page 147.)

Vermorel's "Torpille" or Sulphur Bellows is a most useful and effective
apparatus for distributing flowers of sulphur to prevent the development
of the oidium fungus on vines, or flower of lime to kill the pear-slug. The
apparatus consists of "a knapsack bellows, holding 22 lbs. of sulphur,
and delivering it in a uniform dusty cloud," the density of which can be
regulated. "At the top is an elastic cap, rising and falling in obedience
to the movements of a hand-lever. A mixer, reciprocating over a fine
grating, drops the sulphur into the air chamber at the base, whence the
blast delivers it through a length of hose into a tin distributing tube."
The bellows cap is now made of leather in preference to indiarubber.
The illustration at page 147 shows at a glance the structure of the
apparatus, with the exception of the tin distributing tube (held in the
operator's left hand), and the hose by which it is united to the body of
the apparatus.

APPENDICES.
APPENDIX D. (Sec page 62.)

521

Thk Chicago Aekmotor.

522

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX E. (See pages 272, 273.)

spindle of Bowl.

•Top Cover with Regulat-
ing Cup.

Cream Cover.

Skim-Milk Cover.

Milk Openings, Tubular
Shaft.

■Wings of the Tulnilar
Shaft.

Skim-Milk Tubes.

Float.

Top-Bearing Ring.

Top-Bearing.

Regulating Pin.

Separating Bowl.

•Regulating Pipe.

Ring for Regulating Pin.

-Top- Bearing Plate.

-Top Plate.

-Hood.

-Tubular Shaft.

Regulating Cup.

-Alpha Discs.

Bowl Ring.

Skim-Milk Outlet.

Cream-Screw.

Faucet.

Cover Arm.

Speed Indicator.

Sleeve for -Speed Indicator.

Set Screw for Sleeve.
-Guard for I'owl Spindle.
-Head of Lower Spindle.
-Pin for Head.
-Upper Bushing.
-Lower Bushing.
-Bottom Screw.
-Pulley for Spindle.
-Tapered Pin for Pulley.
-Tread Wheels.
—Frame of .Machine.
-Lower Spindle.
-Bottom Plate of Frame.
-Steel Point.

Section of Laval's Ali'HA AI ok AKTiiiuoLAGET
Sei'akatok, Stockholm (Dairy Supply Co , London).

The Alpha All Separator workeil at a speed of 5,600 rc-vulutioiis per
minute (the temperature of the milk being 86° F. [30 C.]) will skim 400
gallons per hour.

The Alpha AI Separator under similar conditions will skim 265
gallons per hour.

APPENDICES.
APPENDIX "^.—continued.

523

The Humming-Biru Mu.k Sei'arator.

Ihe Thistle Mechanical MilivINC Machine (Dr Shieids Patent) at Work.
(£■ xplanation ni. it page )

AI'TKNOICES.

APPENDIX Y..—conti7iued.

The Thistle Mechanical Milking Machine (Company's Office, 25 Gate-
side Street, Glasgow), invented lay Dr Shields, competes favourably with
that of Gray of Stranraer, in Scotland, which may fairly claim to have
been the first really successful machine worked on a large scale. The
chief drawback is the cost, which may be stated at ;^ioo for a power
machine to milk ten cows at one time, in addition to that of a 1.8 horse-
power engine required to drive the vacuum pump to create suction. The
action of the machine imitates, as far as possible, the movements of the
calf or of the hand of a milker, having a pulsating motion as well as
intermittent suction. The time required for one man to adjust the teat
caps and complete the milking of ten cows is twelve minutes. The milk
in the udder is completely extracted, and no injury results either to the
teats or to the udder, although the action goes on for a time until all are
finished after milk has ceased to flow from some of the cows.

APPENDIX F. (See pa^^e 444.)

Wassey-Harkis .Steel-tined Cultivator.

APPENDICES.

525

APPENDIX G. (See page 441.J

Oi.uek's No. 56 X Douhlr-Wheei, Stekt, Mm i.i)-1!(1ari), Hri.i.sinE Pi.

Olivers Chilled-Uoi'i o.m, " Fjlue Bell,' Gang Pl

526

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX H. (See page 446.)

TEMPEEATURE

TKo Id'-iibnrgL. GwogVajliical Inst

-•-'^''-/^T^flj-.

TEMPERATURE

' Jfciiohctb. ■ ">•

^tHpai3ljmatf'■

COUNTRY

X^UlKts SfrO

BECHU"AN"AjLAKD
lATHOEH'S COUNTRY

#--

^^aPeqwn^

' treiootii

KAINFALL

•9 Hi^achimatf ^_

— »(— -^ t— «r^ ^

MMulHrJI S dUTH -WE S T "Jj^
I At Jf AMA (J l> A
J. I fl 1 1 11 ^ <

J, AND J I'

U>^ol\ AFRICk

Jin f

' I STutahvmf

Toi^fis ' •DbU' ,, f, iSBEt.E S( CO UK TRY

BATHOENS Coi^NTBY ^^•"ZxiAa-finrJ^^ j

Kan

B<f%f

*^it

jr' r^Ti^

Sj«

H A F a I
REPUBLIC /l

A,N ,

MONTS<0»S COUriT-m^ Jbfami< ,, » / '^ \i- T^ lia} ami c

"ks"

•^.

H n t / '

Mo d,JJ^

\0RtQV4. 1A>D(

, Land

Jl ) IKJi, '^'^

r:^^

FREE STAlTE

iai3r;juil]t-

>i^t}in .

f.A^

JANUARY

. Under

incAes

to 1

Over U-fi
inches.

•rot I'
aU I H

Mil _^

Lape 1

J //.»/ f/ . 1 -.^ -.-^B. ' "z ;^ "X =-»^ tA . Trr- .11'^..

JJenttnjTTf

.li lful.1 y

Capcof GoodHopi'

atXn

IV^'

.'^^^

_ C^guliias^

'< r--^.

Over h-5
inches.

.AgiilUas

^s^--?4r r^^-^.^-*

RAINFALL

5 RelmtoA

W /. .S OU T H ■ WE: S T/^J-'A.

G IL E AT NAM A Q TJtA V

■/Jfersel.a • . ^i,.,....

»THOEN"S CO

.?«.■-

"'Molepolole'.

B E r HTJ AITAJLAND
I M T R_Y

JEonj-t*

iX . f, s o tr^Tit^AFBL-:

.An^aPequenaJ

'J"

"*.' \ Fitswn,

'UdiiSjvM

rnhili _

Zo«kt,w

r&nj^a.

\grtqua laxd^^xtst*
I Gl'iqwaTtmn/

Sjnl,

ORlAjr&E '
Wlev* •Wubui'iJ

• ■„ f-REE STATE

anlagiia Laud. „ ' ,•„ ,

''■Sjnrmgbakiontei^

Fa£ernosUr I'

Mahi
Cape To-

Tape of GflodHoj"'

)k-A/a>-»

'''-'<,. '''"'^i-*?.

k/ Shosfumg

■^.^ iBAMAiieWATO.

'^djoKollo

aiUKtsj

Q BL, E iA-^T KAMA Q lirA "v '^

J 1 ;l. Ajsrp '■, \pnh^^^ ^^

H : .„ i ' '' ;. BECHtTANAi

, -. ,y5 r^ z:

ECHTJANAjLAN'"!/ '
HOEN'.S COUNTRY/

"n KistenJte-g REP^VS.

-.^ift-i_.

Bemaniefr^ "
1 Geufoiui'

CCS

iqua

JRiAKGE >
" 'FREE STATE

Lobotfontev- . ■ - ^ , ,

*-^,.:. ;■• - X#m: ■,J<hn!V*fl»-IU^4tmniiaffj^ •■•■', iv,nll«3^^.''~

OCTOBER „ , >J<^ "i^^A ?^'"^*^W%i^n^'"'ir"'^^'r'^r, '

0-5 inches. nar.»iiiESS^^!t^P^7^ ,.«>£?Fr:K "^S-J a

0:5 to 1-5 „ „&y 'SimLj ■ ■^*^'*'-'' ,.■"":■ 'Y"""

.. ^-^ capeTo,^ls^^^^^^^-e^ v- ••■'^""-'

v.fo...ii.

■'Jt'tusiJi.

g^ Ote;- 4-5
inches.

Cape oi' Gno«tHnp(*

1 F.J---

*«^ ■■^^^S"

INDEX.

A BREATH from the Veldl," 242
Aarbosje, or " water-finder,"
the, 87
Aard-wolf, the, 338
Aasvogels, decrease in nimiliers of, 338
Abolition of slavery, a result of the, 333
Abortion, ergot causing, 103

— in goats, 328

— popular belief concerning, 44
Acacia caffra, 124

— giraffe, 18, 124

— horrida, 96, 123

Acacias at the Cape, 18, 32, 35, 73,

123, 128
Acarus, various species of, 371
Acetic acid or vinegar in wine, 156
"Acre-foot,' the, 412
Acridiidre, the family, 488
Addo Bush near Port Elizalicth, the,

123

" Aermotor," the Chicago, 63

Africa, general belief concerning

South, 56
African horses, white spots on, 303

— ostrich, the, 219
Afrikander breed of cattle, 253
— ■ custom, a delightful, 9

— farmers, the small, 10
Agave americana, 92

— the, as a fencing plant, 93
Ages of ostriches, 226
Agriculture, four popular fallacies con-
cerning, 501

— Government Department of, 153,

158, 510
Agricultural education, a complete
system of, 504

— implements, high price of, 42, 440,

446

Agricultural implements and machines,

437
— Journal, the, 516

— products, markets for, 163

— Schools, 33, 497, 506
Agriculturists, Cape C<jlony a desirable

country for, 164
Agrostis alba, 102
Air-motors, 61
Alarms, false, during the Kaffir wars,

92
Albany, district of, 30
Albert, district of, 38
Alcephalus albifrons, 12, 238, 246

— caama, 239, 245

— pygarga, 12, 246
Alderneys, 265

Alexandria, the muscat of, 147, 168
Alfalfa, 21, 34, 102, 104, 106, 222
Aliwal North, district of, 41
Alkali deposits, three classes of sub-
stances which form, 415

— efflorescences, 414

— deep-rooted plants as a preventive,

421
Aloes plant, the, 91
Alston, E. G., good work of, 87
"Ama-Khosa" Kaffirs, 397, 398
Amaranthus hypochondriacus, 115
iVniatola forests, the, 120
Amblyomma hebra^um, 301
American aloe, the, 92

— blight, the, 185

— fruit grader, 206

— fruit used in Cape Colony, 169

■ — irrigation, improved methods of,
410

— stock vines, best resistant, 151

— vines and phylloxera, 151

INDEX.

529

Ammonia soluliuns, 215

Ammophila, a hymenopleious " sand-

wasp," 494
Analysis of a " brak " soil, 416
Andropogon contortus, 99

— excavatus, 43, 103
Angora goat, the, 324

Animal excrement as a compost for
vines, 146

— p-irasites of sheep, by Curtice, 343,

345. 347. 384. 386, 389

— parasites of sheep, U.S.A. report

on, 375
^Vnimals, colours of skins of, 243, 261

— delirium in, lOO, 289

— intoxication of, 100

— mental derangement of, 289

— want of hardiness and ioss of power

of self-help in early maturity, 258,

357
Annual loss caused by phylloxera, 152

— yield of guano, 484
Annular steel mills, 61
Ant-eater or " aard vark," 68
Ant-hills, 27, 43, 45, 66, 67
Antarctic continent, a great southern

or, 77
Antelope, blesbok, 12, 238, 246

— Livingstone, 19

— various, small, 246

Anthistiria ciliata, 23, 27, 34, 42, 98,

314
Anthracnose or blackspol, 167
Anthrax, 284, 483
Antidotes for various alkalies in the soil,

415
Ants, the true, 68

— - white, 66

— work of, 69

Aphis, a black, on orange loliage, 196
Apple, the, in South Africa, 184
. — bark plant-louse, 185
Application of water to land, the, 409
Apricot, varieties -and pruning of the,

173, 192, 205
Arab horses in South Africa, 309, 313
Architecture, Dutch style of, 5
Area required to keep an ostrich, 223
Areas, ostrich-farming, 232
Argemone mexicana, 114
Aristida congesta, 99

Aristitla ramosa, 99
Arizona, cost of irrigation in, 420
Arnold, E. ^^., on the Californian system
of laying out land for irrigation,

433
Aromatic character of Karoo bushes,

80
Arsenic for horses, 322, 391

— for sheep, 382, 391

Arsenites of copper and lime as insect

poisons, 21 1
Artesian water, 60, 61
Artificial rearing of ostriches, 220

— production of Texas fever, 297
Arum lily, the, 79, 222

Ashenden, Percy, on the Oudtshoorn

irrigation scheme, 423
Asparagus stipulaceus, 94
Aspidiotus aurantii, 31, 196
Aspinall, manure used by, li
Assegai wood, 123
Asses in Cape Colony, 316
Associations, fruit-growers', good done

by, 165
Atavism, curious cases of, 332
Atherstone, Dr, of Grahamstown, 51
Attemperator or cooling worm, the,

140
Atrophied livers in horses, 291
Australia, fixing of drift-sands in, 70

— irrigation in, 411

— salt bushes of, 87

— the Cape weetl of, 1 18
Australian blue-gum or " fever-tree,"

24, 28, 127

— bug, the, 10, 94, 197

— colonies, attacks of strongylus in

the, 390

— prairie grass, 103

— wattles, 128

Autumn fever in sheep, 35, 382
Avena fatua, 1 17
Avoca, turnip growing at, 43
Avocado pear, the, 30
Ayrshire breed of cattle, 261

BABO, Baron A. von, funda-
mental blunder of, 137
Baboons, destructiveness of, 339
Bacillus anthracis, 284

2 L

.530

INDEX.

Bacteriological Instilule, the, 30, 277,

283, 306, 320, 513
Bain, A. G., a road engineer, 51
]5ain, T. , late Geological and Irrigation

Surveyor of the Colony, 51
Bairstow, S. D., on peach maggots,

189
lialance of nature, dangers of upsetting

till-', 96, 338

Bamboo cultivation, 32

Banana, the, 199

Bang, Professor, on tuberculosis, 281

Bantu family, the, 396

Barbarossa grape, the, 146, 202

Barber, Mrs, on " Locusts and Locust-
Birds in South Africa," 490

Barber's place at Halesowen, 37, 312

Barberry leaves, connection of, with
mildew in wheat, 454

Barkly East, district of, 41

Barley, the cultivation of, 105, no, 113,

471
Barren salt land, washing and fertilising

of, 427
Barrenness of " salt " soils, 414, 417
Barry, Sir Jacob, enterprise of, 8
Barton, Major, as a breeder of cattle,

264
Basin, a former fresh -water, 56
Bastard goats, 325
Basuto ponies, 313
Basutoland, 24

Bathurst, settlers of, &c., 31, 32
Baumann, Dr, on African cattle, 257
Bavaria, ravages of the Nun caterpillars

in, 493
Bean-crops, 44
Beaufort West, interesting experiments

at, 16, 425
Bedford, district of, 34, 271
Beefwood, 128
Beer, daily allowance of, to workmen

in the South of England, 403
Bei Basar, goats from the district of, 328
Bekker's model dairy at Braam Spruil,

41
Beneficial insects, 197
Benefits of growing turnips for sheep,

354
— of locust visitations, 493
Bent grass, white, 102

Benthani on )jlants, 76, 79
" Bare " or bigg, 105
" Bermuda grass" of Australia, lOO
" Berseem " or Egyptian clover, 429
" Besom-riet," 96
Bicycle, use of, on a fatm, 38
Bijwoners, 355, 481
Biliary hepatitis, 95, 288
" Biltong," 240

Birds, wild, 12, 13, 15, 17, 40, 58
Bisulphide of carbon for killing phyl-
loxera, 150
Bite of the tsetse fly, 249
Blaauw seed grass, 85
" Blaauw-tong " in sheep, 3S2
" Black alkali," 416

— lice on transport cattle, 292
" — reef," the, 55

— skins in cattle, 243
Blesbok antelope, 12, 238, 246
Blight or rust in wheat, 31, 41, 46, 47,

176, 449, 453
Bloemfontein, 24
Blood of animals suffering from Texas

fever, thinness of, 298
Blood-poisoning, anthrax a cause of,

285
Blow grass of the Scottish hills, the, 100
Blue-bottle flies, scavenger work of, 338
Blue-gum, the, 24, 28, 127
Board of Agriculture and the stamping

out t)f pleuro-pneumonia, 282
Boer farmers and scab inspectors, 367

— goat, the, 323

— houses, 5

— meaning of the word, 398

— names for prairie grass, 103

— population, erroneous ideas of the

uneducated, 400, 406

— system of irrigation, result of the,

14, 205, 479

— remedies for cattle diseases, 275
Boers and British rule, 332

— easy-going habits of the, 401

— and their characteristics, 399
" Bok " or " Buck-doctor," 277
Bokhara clover, 112
Bokkeveld (Devonian) beds, 54
Bolus on South African grasses, 98, ico

— on " The Flora of South Africa,"

INDEX.

531

Bone, supplies of, for animals, 287,

352, 483
" Bone-earth," lack of available, 59,

82, 287, 352, 483
" Bont-poot," or " bont-pooten," the,

302
Bontebok, the, 12, 246

— flats, 45

" Boos," explanation of the term, 235
Bordeaux mixture, 153, 168, 21 1, 214,

496
Border Leicester rams, 356
Boring for water, cost of, 60
Borthwick, J. D. , on stift'-sickness, 287
"Bosch vark,'"' the, 392
" Boschjesveld," the, 80, 96
Botanic Garden at Cape Town, 2, 79, 90
Botanical literature, vahnljle library of,

516

— winter, the South ^Vfrican, 77
" Boter-bosch," the, 81

Bots in horses, 288

Boven Valei, the fruit farm of P. T.

Cjllie, 204
Ijowman, Dr F. H., on the structure of

hair and wool, 359
Boycotting of Cape fruit, supposed, 200
Braam Spruit, 41, 66
Brak River, the, 85

— the prevention of, 427

— soil, 6, 16, 17, 37, 38, 87, 415

— springs, 38, 66, 481
Brand-ziekte in sheep, 367

— of the Angora, 329
Branding Act of the Colony, 346

— of goats, 328

Brandy industry, the, 13, 158, 176
Breeding of locusts, the, 490
Brindled gnu, the, 245
British breeds of sheep for crossing

with the Merino, 356
Bromelia ananas, 198
Bromus catharticus, lOO

— mollis, 104

— Schraderi, 103

— unioloides, 103
Broncho-pneumonia, 282

Bruce, Surgeon-Major David, on the

tsetse fly, 250
Brace's "Travels in Abyssinia," 257
Brummer fly, the, 495

Brush-harrowing to kill locusts, 496
Bubalus caffer, 247
Buffalo grass, 102

— the Cape, 247

Bulblets on roots of ])lants, 78
Bulbous plants, numerous species of, 78
Bulbs, poisonous, 18, 37
" Bunt " on grain, 455
Buphaga erythrorhynca, 242, 247 .
Bur clover injuring wool, 1 13
Burchell's zebra, 308
Burning the veld, 27, 35, 39, 43, 82,
84, 100, 294, 304

— of kraal manure, 483

Burweed injuring the wool of shee]3, 95

Bushbuck, 30, 246

Bushes of the Nieuwe Veld, 16

— of the Karoo veld, 16
Bushman drawings, 17, 239
Bushmen, description of, by Theal, 395
Butter and cream for Cape Town, 8

— imported, 271

— prices of, at Johanneslnirg and Pre-

toria, 25, 41

— prices of, at Kimberley, 18

— storing of, in refrigerating chambers,

270
Buxton, Ronald, & Co., information on

wool supplied by, 365
"Byock," explanation of the term, 235

CALANDER, the, 148
Caledon, district of, 10, 65, 352
California, wind power in, 61

— work of irrigation in, 431
Californian fruit, 203

— method of applying water, 181

— salt or alkali soils, 415, 417
Calomel as a remedy for gall-sickness, 288
Callosities on roots of plants, 78, 112
Calluna vulgaris, 82

Calves, liver disease in, 278, 291

— milking of, 266

— tapeworm in, 292
Cambridge or ring roller, the, 445
Camel thorn, the, 18, 124
Camps, ostrich, 223

Cango Caves, the world-lamed, 21, 55
Canker at the collar, or gum disease, of
the orange, 196

532

INDEX.

Cannabis saliva, Il8 "^

Cape Agricultural Journal, 173, 516
" Cape-boys," the, 9, 402, 403
Cape Colony, erroneous ideas concern-
ing, 161, 162

— flora of, 74

— geology of, 50

— pt>pulation of, at last census, 397

— soil of, 59
Cape cow, the, 255

— Flats, the, 3

— francolin, the, 15

— fruit, advantages to, due to seasons,

166, 177

— gooseberry, 172

— horse, defects of the, 31 1

— house, the old-fashioned, 78

— jams, 169

— Orchard Co.'s fruit farms, 14, 202

— partridge, the, 15

— pheasants, 15

— plants, rage for, 78

— smoke or brandy, 159

— Town and its vicinity, i

— Town, fruit eaten by natives in, 165

— tulp, the, 95

— weed of Australia, the, 118
Capillarity in the soil and free evapora-
tion from its surface, result of the
combined action of, 16, 38, 182,
414, 419

Capnoidium citri, 197

Carbonate of soda, effect of the presence

of, in soil, 415, 417, 418
Carboniferous era, the, 55
Carcases of animals dying from anthrax,

treatment of, 286
Carnarvon farm, size of, 38
Carpocapsa pomonella, 186
Carriage of goods by transport oxen,

268
Cassowary, the, 219
Castration of lambs, 346
Casuarina equisetifolia, 128
Catch crops, 481
Caterpillars, 17, 44, 46
Cathcart, district of, 44
Cattle, anthrax in, 284

— broncho-pneumonia in, 282

— crossing of, 253, 255, 256, 260, 2 J2,

263, 264

Cattle, dark-coloured, best' for South
Africa, 244, 261

— Damaraland, 256

— Devon, 254, 262

— Dexter-Kerry, 264

— Dexter-Shorthorn, 264

— diseases of, 274

— Dutch, 259

— Friesland, 25, 253, 258
— 7 Hereford, 263

— Holstein, 258

— Jersey, 265

— Lake 'Ngami, 255

— native, 252

— ■ red-water in, 32

— rinderpest in, 305 ,

— scour in, 91, 93

— ■ Spanish and Portuguese, 253

— sufferings of, from eating prickly

pear, 90

— Texas fever in, 296

— Urundi, 256

— that have eaten tulp, treatment of, 96
■ — tuberculosis in, 280

— zebu, 243, 254, 257

— Zulu, 256

Cave sandstone, the, 57

Cerastes or " Hornsman " snake, the, 19

Ceratitis citriperda, 189

Cereal crops of Cape Colony, 447

Ceroi^lastes, 35

Chaftey Brothers Limited, financial
difficulties of, 411

Channel Islands cattle, 265

Characteristic points of the Merino, t,12,

Charlock, wild mustard, or " Romincs,"
117

" Check and levee" system of irrigating
land, the, 431

Cheese, making and price of, 39, 272

Chenopodium album, 115

Cheviot sheep, 358

Chicago "Aermotor," the, 63

Chick-ostriches poisoned by "stink-
blaar," 37

Christian, J. B., owner of Kragga
Kamma, 30

Christison, George, on thorough cultiva-
tion and pulverisation of the 5011,413

Cillie, P. T., President of the Welling-
ton Fruit-Growers' Association, 204

INDEX.

533

Citrullus vulgaris, 80

Citrus fruits all attacked l)y Ceratitis

citrijDerda, 191
City refuse, distribution of, 72
Claviceps purpurea, the fungus, 106
Clay strainers, 337
Cleveland horses, 312
Clovers, various kinds of, 104, 112, 113
Cluster pine, the, 126
Coaching work, mules for, 316
Coal, 56
Cobbold on the bol-tly of the horse,

290
Cochineal cactus, 90
Cockscomb, 115
Coco or nut-grass, 1 15
Codlin moth, the, i'86
"Coerimony" principle of fencing, 24
Cognac, manufacture of, 158
Colonial measures, 136
Colour of skins of animals, 243
Coloured labourers, 174, 403
Common fence, the most, 336
• — pasture held in, 13, 32, 47, 267
Composites, the region of, 76
Composition of hair, 359
Compost, vegetable, for vines, 145
Confyt, 9
Connochretes gnu, 23S

— taurina, 245

Conservancies, four forest, 129
Constantia, district of, 2
Contagion of rinderpest, the, 305
Continent, a great southern, 77
Convict labour, 72

Cookhouse, proposed irrigation scheme

at, 33
Coopers' powder, Dr Uutcheon on, 391

— proposal to eradicate scab, 380
Copper ammonia carbonate, 215 .

— wire grass, 43, 103

" Corn-stalk " disease, 282
Corstorphine, G. S., Professor of Cieo-

logy, 56
Corvus scapulatus, 40
Cost of some irrigation schemes, 421,

422, 423, 425, 426

— of washing salt soil on the Egyjitian

plan, 429
Cottages for workmen, 404
Cotyledon fascicularis. Si

Couch grass, the small, 100, 444
Covent Garden, fruit exported to, 165,

168
Cowie Valley, crops in the, 34
Cows, milking of, 266
Crabs in the banks of water dams, 483
Crabtree, Thomas, a great mohair

merchant, 324
Cracking of soil, injury done by the, 413
Cradock, district of, 36
Crawford, Frazer S., on the codlin

moth, 188
Craw's formula for paraffin emulsion,

212
Creameries, the practice at, 272
Crops cut green, official returns of,

1893-4-94-5, 113

— harvested, return of corn, 448

— rotation of, 11, 22, 30, 447, 449
Cross-fertilisation as a means for the

prevention of rust in wheat, 456

— prominent results of, 457
Crossing of goats, 324

— of sheep, 356

Cryptostemma calendulaceum, 1 18
Culling of ewes, 352

Culmstock, Charles Southey's farm of,

37,85
Cultivation, influence of thorough, 8,

413, 451

— of land by Kaffirs, 34, 46, 450
Cultivators, the use of various kinds of,

444
Gumming, John, owner of (jlenavon

farm, 33
Currey, C, Permanent Secretary of the

Agricultural Department, 50
Curse of the Colony, immature brandy

the, 160, 407
Custard -apple, the, 30
Customs, superiority of certain native, 46
Cyclone Nozzle, the, 208
Cynodon dactylon, 100, no
Cynomyia pictifacies, 495
Cyperus rotundus, 115
Cysticercus ccllulosus, 393
Cytisus proliferus, 112

AGGA or Indian hemp, 118
Dairies, two travelling, 270

534

INDEX.

Dairying at Braam Spruit, 41

— at Newlands farm, 18

— centre, an imj^ortant, 34

— co-operative, 272

— industry, the, 270

— on Irene estate, 25
Damaraland cattle, 256

Dams for irrigation water, 38, 39, 41, 85

"Dassie" or rock-rabl)it, the, 416

Datura tatula, 117

Davis, a Welsh settler, 39

Davison, H. H., Government tobacco

expert, 477
De Aar, an important railway junction,

— Bary's discovery with regard to rust

in wheat, 454

— Beers horse-breeding farm, iS, 314

— Graaf, of Leyden, 79
Deciduous trees, pruning of, 184
Decrease in the number of sheep, 353
Defects of fruit from the Cape, 200
Delirium in animals, 100, 289
Demoralisation among the native popu-
lation caused by the prickly pear, 90

— of " poor whites," 407
Dentition of the wart hog, 392
Depasturing, benefits of, 100
Destruction of game, 240

— of locusts, the, 494
Devon cattle, 254, 262
Dexter- Kerry cattle, 264
Dexter-Shorthorn cattle, 264
Diagrams illustrating rainfall, 167
Diameters and twisting tendencies of

various wools, 361
Diamond drills, sinking of bore-holes

with, 60, 65
Diamonds, 56, 163
Digestive powers of the ostrich, 222
Dikkop variety of horse-sickness, 321
" Dineba," sowing of, 429
Dip, varieties of, used in the Colony, 376
Dipping, hot versus cold, 378

— of ostriches, 229

— of sheep, 340, 371, 378

— tanks, 378

Dippings, simultaneous, for scab, 371
Diseases of cattle, 274

— in farm stock from lack of " bone-

earth," 59, 82, 287, 352

Dishorning of cattle, 256

Distinction between wool and hair,

361
Distoma hepaticum, 385
District of Albany, 30

— of Albert, 38

— of Aliwal North, 41

— of Barkly East, 41

— of Bathurst, 30

— of Bedford, 34

— of Bredasdorp, 10

— of Caleilon, 10

— of Cathcart, 44

— of Constantia, 2

— of Cradnck, 36

— of East "London, 28

— of Fort Beaufort, 35

— of Koeberg, 22

— of Kimberley, 17

— of King William's T(iwn, 44

— of Malmesbury, 22

— of Middelburg, 37

— of New England, 42

— of Oudtshoorn, 20

— of Paarl, 9

— of Queenstown, 43

— of Robertson, 12

— of Somerset East, t,t,

— of Stellenbosch, 4

— of Steynsburg, 37 .

— of Stockenstrom, 35

— of Stutterheim, 44

— of Swellendam, 12

— of Tygerberg, 22

— of Victoria East, 35

— of Wellington, 9

— of Wodehouse, 38

— of Worcester, 1 2

Di-sulphide of carbon acting on wool,

363
Dodder, various species of, 109
Dolerite, 57, 60
Dolomitic limestone, 54
Domesticated pigs, 392
Domestication of the eland, 241
Donkeys, importation of, 317
Doornblad, variety of opuntia, the, 90
Doornboom, the, 96, 123
" Dorbank," a hard i)an called, 481
Dorthesia, the, 10, 94, 197
I3oses of arsenic, 391

INDEX.

535

Douglass, Arthur, of Heatherton Towers,
220, 227, 232

Draai-bosje, the, 86

" Drali," explanation of the term, 235

Drainage system, necessity for a, for the
escape of surplus water from irri-
gated land, 419

— of salt or alkali soils, 417, 428
Draper, D. , on the Rand conglomerate,

Draught cattle, 253, 262

Drawback to the English Down sheep,

356
Dried fruit, prices of, 205, 206
Drift-sands, commencement of, 73

— dangers, 3, 69
Dripper, the, 351
Dromx'us, 219

" Dronk-gras," 95, 100

Drought, a fine tilth a safeguard against,

8, 143. 413

— devices of plants for resisting, 77

— effect of, on animal food supply, 353
Dry wines, the manufacture of, 156
Drying of fruit, 205

Dub grass of India, 100, 1 1 1

Dubbletje, the, 115

Dufferin, Lady, a South African, needed,

408
Dunn, E. J., of the Geological Survey

of Victoria, 51
Duplessis, Andries, crops grown by, 422
Durban, 23, 28
Dust-baths for ostriches, 229
Dust-storms, 18, 24, 27
Dutch cattle, 259

— East India Comiwny and the inijior-

tation of horses, 30S

— farmers, 28, 47, 86, 254
Dwyka, or trap conglomerate, 55

EARTH-WORMS, enormous sizes
of, 43, 46
Earthy flavour of Cape wines, 146
Early maturity in sheep, 355, 357
— pruning of the vine, 144
East London, district of, 23, 28
" Eastern Monarch," dimensions of the,

121
Eau celeste, 215

Ecca beds, the Lower Karoo or, 55
Edington, Dr, on horse-sickness, 320
Edington's researches, result of, 124
Education, desire for, among na^tives, 36

— in Cape Colony, 4, 398, 407

Eggs of ticks, hatching of the, 300, 302

— of locusts, 492, 494

— ostrich, 225

Egyptian method of shearing sheep, 340

— method of washing salt land, 427
Eland, the, 240

Elephant rock, 54

Elephas africanus, 247

Ellesmere, well - known place of E.

Hughes, 39
Elliot, G. F. Scott, on African cattle,

256
Elsenburgh, Frank Myl)urgh"s farm of, 9
Elytropappus rhinocerotis, 80
Emerald green, 211
Emex centropodium, 115
Emigrants for South Africa, 161, 163,

405
Emu, the, 219
E)i gobelct, system of sliort pruning,

134, 143
English farmers, 28, 31, 43, 46, 47, 86
Englishman's notions of the Cape, tlie

average, 162
Ensilaging, system of, 355
Entomosporium, 216
Equidi"e, 308
Eradication of tuberculosis, proposals

for the, 281
Erasmus, family of, 25
Ergot, 103, 106
Eriobotrya japonica, 199
Erodium moschatum, a valual)le plant

in pasture, 104
Erosion, effects of the natural process

of, 38, 56, 57, 58, 84, 86, 324
Eucalyptus, growth of \arious species

of, 24, 127
Euphorbia, occurrence of a large, 32, 80
Eupodotis afra, 13
European population of Cape Colony,

397, 398

— vines and phylloxera, 150

Evans, J. B., an importer of Angoras,

324
Everlasting flowers, 79

536

INDEX.

Every, J., manager of the Union Works

at Uitenhagc, 364
Ewes and lambs, 45, 344, 352, 355, 356,

.357

Excess of irrigation water, 180, 197, 412,
414

Excise duty on brandy, necessity for an,
160

Exhaustion of land, 22, 30, 48

Expenditure of the Department of Agri-
culture, 510

Experimental stations, proposed Oovern-
ment, 8, 9

Experiments at Newton-le-Willows, 456

Export connection, advantage of an, 271

— trade of Cape Colony, 380

FACT of antiquarian interest, 239
P'airvievv, locusts in the district
of, 17, 41
Farm mortgages, 10
Farming, ostrich, 219
Farms,- too large, 37, 40

— too small, 22, 28, 47, 48

— unnecessary at agricultural schools,

503, 506, 508

Fasciola hepatica, 383

Fasting of animals, before giving medi-
cine, 391, 392

Fat lambs, 355

Fat-tailed sheep, 331

Fathen, or mealy goose-foot, 115

Feadher-beds, 236

Feathers, prices of ostrich, 221, 230, 234

— sorting of ostrich, 235

Feline animals, colours of skins of, 244
" Femina," explanation of the term, 235
Fencing of land, 24, 32, 35, 42, 45, 47,

83» 93, 96, 193, 223, 279, 314, 336,

339

— of sheepfolds, 350
Fermentation of wines, 139, 155, 156
Fertility in mules, 317

" Fever-tree," 24
Fig, the, 193

— a thorny, 94

Fine tilth, a safeguard against drought,

143. 413
Fiorin, or white bent grass, 102
Fires, result of, in Slellenbosch, 6

Fish, as scavengers of streams, 6

— breeding of, at Jonkershoek, 6

— blind, 7

Fixing of drift sands, 70, 72, 73
Flax, New Zealand, 92
Flesh of the goat, 324

— of the pig, prominent ])lace occupied

by the, 394

— of the wild pig, 392
Fleshy leaves of plants, 78
Flooding the veld, 84

Flora of Cape Colony, belief concerning

the, 74
-— of Cape Colony, relationship to that

of S.-W. Australia, 77

— peculiarity of the S. African, 80
Floral regions, four distinct, 75
Florence Nightingale, need for in South

Africa of ladies like, 408
" Floss," explanation of the term, 235
Flowers at Matjesfontein, 14
Fluke in sheep, 39, 45, 85
Fly-blowing of sheep, 338
Foci of enterprise, two great, 163
Fold, the "hand-sorting," 350
Foliage of Australian and Cape plants,

78
Food for stock, green winter, 34, 42,

43> 44> 46, 105, 259, 267

— of native servants, 402

— succulent, for ostriches, 222
Foreign experience, lessons from, 178
r\)rest Department, natural as]:)irations

of the, 130

— aspects near Cape Town, 124

— growth, three kinds of, 119

— management, 123, 129

— nurseries, 130

— station. Government, 45
Forestry, system of, 129

Formula; for making insecticide Huids,

212
Fort Beaufort, district of, 35

— Cunynghame, Government forest sta-

tion at, 45

— Cunynghame, quarantine station for

imported vine stock at, 153
Fosterton turnip, the, 354
Fouloir egrapjioir, 139
Fourcroya, the fibre, 92
Frame, William, 104

INDEX.

537

France, fixing of drift-sands in, 70
Francolins, several species of, 15
Free State, the, 23
Friesland cattle, 25, 253, 258
Frozen meat trade, estalilishment of a,

358
Fruit acid, an excess of, 156

— enterprising and skilled growers of,

needed, 164, 174

— export, advantage due to seasons the

Cape possesses for, 166, 177

— exported during the season 1893-94,

175

— farm of Cape Orchard Company, 14

— for foreign markets, 177

— growers' associatiops, 206

— growing, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, iS,

25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 164, 166, 177

— growing industry, Ijackward condi-

tion of, 164, 177

— of English hothouses versus Cape

fruit, 168

— packing and transit of, 165, 200, 203

— pruning of the vine, 144

— trees, pruning of, 183

Fruits grown and times of ripening, 168,

178
Fuel, agave leaves as, 93
Fumigation of horses, 315
Fungicide spraying formuhi:, 214
Fungoid diseases of vines, 147, 153

— parasites of grain, 453, 455
Fusicladium, 216

" Fustage," jirices of, 156

GAD-FLY, the, 289, 291
Gaikaland, 45
Gall-sickness, 288
Gallic acid in wine, 146
Gamasidre, 373

Gamble's diagrams of rainfall, 167
Game, migratory and non- migratory,

238
— remnant of the large, saved l)y ihe

tsetse fly, 251
Gardeners, skilled, needed in South

Africa, 164, 169, 170, 173
Gardening, market, 3, 25, 28, 31
" Garrapata," the tick known as, 304
Garton, work of R. & J., 456

Gastrophilus eejui, 289, 290

Gavin, Richard, an extensive cullivator

of lucerne, 1 10, 224
Gazella euchore, 45, 238, 245
" Gebroken " veld, 81
Geese, the plucking of, 236
Gemsl:)ok antelope, the, 244
Generation, the question of spontaneous,

368
Geological map of Cape Colony, 51

— Survey Commission, 50, 65
Geranium dissectum, 99
German farmers, 28, 48, 254

— settlers, daughters of poor, 406, 407
Germs oi anthrax, 284, 286

— of pleuro-pneumonia, 284
Gift-ziekte, or localised anthrax, 284, 483
Gilbert, Sir Henry, 106

Gill College, at Somerset East, 33
Gill, Dr, H.M. Astronomer at the

Cape, 50
Gienavon farm, 33
Glossina morsitans, 247
Gnu, the, a connecting link, 238 ■>
Goats and goat farming, 323

— in Cape Colony, 33, 37, 83, 86, 87,

94, 95, 96, 124, 138, 353

— seal) in, 367, 372

Gold, Hon. J. C. F. Johnson on the
deposition of, 52

— where found, 52, 163
" Good karoo," 86
Goose grass, the, 104
Gooseberry, the Cape, 199

Gordon, Colonel, as a breeder of sheep,

332
" Goudsbloem," the, 118
" Gouph," by .rail through the, 15
Gout du terroir, 146
Government and the sale of guano, 484,

486

— vine plantations, 152
Grafting of vines, 140, 151, 154
Grain, effect of climate on, 26, 39, 43, 46

— rust or blight in, 26, 31, 41, 46, 47,

449, 453. 455

— steeping or pickling the seed of, 455,

468
Grapes, varieties of, grown, 155
Grass in the veld, position occupied

by, 98

538

INDEX.

Grasses injurious to the wool of sheep,
99, 104

— MacOwan on poisonous, lOO
Gravesend, use of RoUason wind-motor

at, 63
Gravitation system of applying water to

land, 411
Great Brak River, dam on the, 85

— Fish River, land along the, 38
Green manuring, system of, 487
Grey-winged francolin, 15
Griffon vulture, the, 338

" Groen Druif," or green grape, 134,

155
Groot Constantia, \'iticultural School

at, 137

— Wine Farm, 138

Grubbers or cultivators, the use of, 444
Grubs, destruction of a crop of mealies

by, 46
Guano, the use of, 11, 22, 484

— Islands, position of the, 485
Guernsey cattle, 266
Guinea-fowl, the, 3, 4, 15

Gum arable, whence derived, 124

— disease of the orange, 196
Gunny shake-lmg, the, 147
Gymnothrix hordeiformis, 103
Gyps kolbii, 338

HAANEPOOT grape, the, 147, 202
Haartebeest, the, 239, 245
Habit of the goat, the restless, 323
Habits of Boer settlers, easy-going, 401
Hackney stallions for South Africa, 311
Hail, effect of, on crops, 26, 183
Hair, composition of, 359
Hairy sheep, 331

Halesowen, ';Hilton Barber's place at, 37
Hall of Kikuyu on African cattle, 257
Halse Brothers, farms of the, 38
" Hamels " or wethers, 346, 352
" Hammerko]i " or hammer-head, the,

13
Hampshire Down sheep, a flock of, 356
Hand-spraying machines, 208
Handling of sheep, injury done by, 349,

382^
Hard spring water unsuitable for wash-
ing wool, 363

Hare, T. B. B., a District Forest

Officer, 72
Harm done by transport-riding, 268
Harness, staining of leather, 92
Harpuis, the (resin-pimple), 93
Harrows, the use of the various kind

of, 443
Harting, Mosenthal and, on ostriches,

236
Harvest, the aloes, 92
" Hashish," 118

Hatchery appliances at Jonkershoek, 7
Hay, making of, 30, 104, 106, 109, III,

"7, 267, 314
Heart-water in sheej), 32, ^^, 268, 274,

381
Heather, 82
Heatherton Towers, the country around,

Heaths, 79, 82

Helichrysum vestitum, 79

Hellebore powder, 211

Henderson, Colonel, on goat breeding,

324
Henning, Otto, on liver disease in

calves, 292
Herl)arium, the Cape Government,

516
Herding of goats, 323

— of sheep, 336
Hereford cattle, 263
Hex River Pass, the, 13

Hilgard, Professor E. W., on alkali

accumulations, 415
Hills in the Karoo area, characteristic

aspects of, 56
Hippobosca struthionis, 229
Holbrook, turnip growing at, 43
Holland, fixing of drift-sands in, 70
Holstein cattle, 258
Hooker, Sir Joseph, on the flora of

Cape Colony, 76, 77
" Hoose-worm,'' 390
Horns, enormous dimensions of, 255,

257
" Hornsman " snake, the, 19
Horse hoeing of vines, 144, 149

— lifting l)y natives, 313

— physic balls, 92

— shoe plover, the, 20

— sickness, 308, 315, 514

INDEX.

539

Horse-sickness, Government inquiry into

the nature of, 319
Horses, foundation stock of South

African, 308

— liver disease in, 288, 291

— malignant pustule in, 285
Horticultural Board, proposed, 207

— products for Johanneslxirg and Kim-

berley markets, 163
" Hoshays" or fields, 428
Hottentot ox, the, 252
Hottentots, the, 396
Houses, Boer, 5

— ordinary colonial, 5

Hoven in cattle from eating tulp, 96
Hubbard's formukis, 213
Huguenots, the, as wJne-makers, 134
I lumanity, tuberculosis a danger to, 280
Hungarian method of grafting, 154
Hutcheon, Dr, on bots in horses, 291

— on Cooper's dipping powder, 391

— on gall -sickness, 288

— on heart-water in sheep, 382

— on horse breeding, 31 1

— on red-water in cattle, 293

— on remedies for horse-sickness, 322

— on so-called " scab insects," 373

— on stamping out lung-disease in

Angora goats, 329

— on tick bites, 303

— on well-water for stock, 61
Hutcheon, Mrs D., drawings by, 374
Hutchins, D. E., on " Woods and

Forests," 121
Ilydric cyanide as a "scab" poison,

216
llytadids, formation of in.human 1 icings,

390

1CERYA piu'chasi or Australian l)ug,
94
Ichaboe and Penguin Islands group,

leases of, 485
Ichneumon fly, need of an, 191
Immigrants, advice to, 173, 174
Importation of Angora goats, 324, 325,

328
— of horses to South Africa, 308, 310
In-and-in-breeding of goats, 329
Incisor teeth, wearing of, 82

Incubation of ostrich eggs, 225

— of the germs of pleuro-pneumonia,

284

— of the germs of rinderpest, 305

— of Texas fever, 297
India, irrigation in, 410

— " reh " or " usar " soils of Northern,

415. 417
Indian corn, 462

— remounts, 310, 314
Indigenous timber trees, 12 1, 124

-- timber trees, schedule of reserved,

132
Indigestion in horses, 288, 291
Infancy of the Cape fruit trade, 203
Ingredients of artificial manures, the

three valuable, 487
Injury done by the prickly pear, 90

— done by excessive watering, 413,

414

— done by scab or brand-ziekte, 368
Inoculation as a means of securing im-
munity from the tsetse fly, 251

— for lung disease in goats, 329

— for red-water in cattle, 293

— for rinderpest, fatal results of, 306

— paard-ziekte produced l)y venous,

321

— with tuberculin, 281, 283

Insect enemies of the orchard and green-
house, two sorts of, 210

Insecticide fluids, formula; for making,
212

Intermediate link in red- water, the, 295

Intoxication of animals, lOO

Irene Estate, the, 25, 112

Iron, the effect of too much in the com-
position of soil, 28

Ironwood, 123

Irrigation, Californian " check and
levee " system of, 431

— Department, a valuable object-lesson

to the, 427

— defects of common colonial system

of, 430

— general principles of, 409

— improved methods of, 410

— law in Cape Colony, 433

— of land growing wheat, 449, 451

— result of Boer system of, 14, 205

— three common methods of, 420

540

INDEX.

Irrigation systems, old and new, i8
Irritation caused l)y tick biles, 304
Irvine, the late J. J., 45
Itch insect, the, 372

JAUNDICE, 288
Jackal-proof fence, a, 339
Jackals, depredations of, 45, 225, 337
Jackson's farm, Schilderspan, 17
Jersey cattle, 265

Jew pedlars, usurious practices of, 21
Jigger or South American louse, the,

292
Jockey Club of South Africa, 310
Johannesburg, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 52,

163, 165, 182, 353
Johnson, Hon. J. C. I'"., of Adelaide,

52
Jonkcrshoek, trout hatchery at, 6
Journey by coach, description of a, 26
— of five days by cart, 42
Juar of India, the, 464

KAALBLAD, variety of opuntia,
the, 90
Kade, the slieep, 340, 342
Kaffir servants, cattle of, 268, 402
Kaffirs and horses, 315

— as farmers, 34, 46
Kalahari region, the, 76

" Kameel-doorn," the, 18, 124
Karnemelk Spruit, stock farm near, 41
Karoo, the, 14, 76

— area, the, 56

— beds, formed l)y glacial action, 55

— bushes, aromatic character of, 80

— value of salt bushes in the, 87
" Karosses " or skin rugs, 245

" Keeweets," 12

Kei Road, turnip growing in the vicinity

of, 45-
Kemp in the wool of sheep, 362
Kicking powers of ostriches, 225
Kidding, practice during the period of,

329
Kimlierley, district r)f, 17, 23, 163, 405
Klawziekte, 496
Knorhaan or scolding-cock, 13
Knysna forests, the, J 20

Koch's discovery, 281

Koebele's formula for rosin soap wash,

213
Koeberg, district of, 22
Koodoo, the, 239, 242
Koonap, inquiry into liver disease in

calves at, 278, 292
Koper-draad, 43, 103
Kowie Valley, the, 31, 32
Kraal fence, a, 92
— • manure, effects of, 31, 115, 118,

483
Kraals, shutting up of sheep in, 336
Kragga Kamma, 30
Krelage of Haarlem, 79

LAIilAT.E, the order of, 84
Labour, native, 403, 404
Lacustrine beds, fossil reptilian remains

in. 55
Ladybirds, good work of, 94, 198
Lcelaps, the genus, 373
Lake, bed of an ancient, 18

— 'Ngami cattle, 255
Lambing, 344, 352

Lambs, killing of, by liaboons and
jackals, 339

— production of fat, 355, 356, 357
Lam-ziekte, or lame-sickness, 82, 286
Land, cultivation of, by Kaffirs, 34, 46

— excessive subdivision of, 406

— letting of, on the half-share principle,

— need of a survey of, 48

— no free grants of, 163, 173

— resting of, 22, 30, 48

— stocking of, 34, 39, 88, 94, 96, 97,

278, 382

— value of, II, 26, 31, 39, 41, 49, 174

— weeds of arable, 114
Landrey's illustration, 46
Lasiocorys capensis, as a fixer of soil, 84
Laurelwood, habit of growth of, 122
Lawes, Sir J. B., 106

Lawn grasses, 102
Leaves of plants, 78
Legislation with regard to brandy, 159
Leguminous plants, fixation of free
nitrogen by, 44, 112, 113. 117, 467
Leichtlin, Max, of Baden, 79

INDEX.

541

Lessons from foreign experience, 178
Leucadendron argenteum, 80
Levures or yeasts of wine, 139
Light wines, 134
Lime, the, 194

— and sulphur wash, 214

— in the soil, benefits of, 16, 19, 31,

59, 106, 109, III, 148, 287, 352
Limnsus truncatulus, the minute shell

snail, 383
Lincoln sheep, 42
Liquors, intoxicating, as part wages,

404
List of predatory animals, 251
Lister, J. S., on drift-sands, 69, 72
Liver disease, causing mental derange-
ments in anini4ls, 289

— disease in horses, .288, 289, 291

— disease or liver-ziekte in calves, 291

— fluke in sheep, 39, 45, 85, 383, 385
Livers of animals, congested condition

of the, 288
Livingstone antelope, the, 19
Locusts, 4, 17, 41, 46, 99, 106, 487

— different species of, 488
Logan, J. Douglas, 14
Lolium italicum, 104

— percnne, 104

— temulentum, 100

London feather auction sales, dates of,

233

— purple, 211
Loquat, the, 199

Loss caused by scab or brand-ziekte, 367
Lourensford, Sir James Sivewright's

estate of, 3
Louse, the Angora goat, 346

— the common goat, 346

— the ostrich, 228

— the sheep, 340, 344
Lovedale mission station, 35
Lucerne, 21, 34, 102, 104, 106, 222,

413. 421
" Lucht," lye of, 480
Luffa or "loofah," 482
Lung disease, contagious in goats, 329

— sickness, " long-ziekte," or pleuro-

pneumonia, 282
Lustre wool fibre, 362
Lydenljurg Ijeds, 51
Lymph for inoculation, 283

MAANHAAK, the, 338
Macdonald's, Alexander, visit
to Europe, 270
M'Dougall on poisonous leguminous

plants, 95
M'Oowan's Nozzle, 208
Machines, spraying, 208
MacOwan on South iVfrican grasses,
100, 103

— on the Cape Flora, 75, 86,- 88
Macrosporium solani, 474
Maggots on sheep, 338

Mail coach, description of a journey by,

26
Malarial fever type, diseases of the, 274
Malays in Cape Colony, 398
Malignant pustule in horses, 285
Malmesbury beds, so-called, lO, 51

— district of, 21, 104
Maltese ass, the, 318
Management of cattle, 266

— of sheep, 352

Mangel wurzel, growing of, 34, 46
Mangels, destruction of, by caterpillars,

46
Manure, kraal, 31, 115, 118

— merchants, dishonest, 487

— mites, 373

— town, 70, 72

Manures, artificial, 11, 22, 482

Manuring the vine, 144

Margarine, imported, 271

Market gardening, 3, 25, 28, 31, 405

Marking sheep with paint, 346

Marram grass, "JO, Jl

Marvellous jumps of ostriches, 224

Masai cattle, 258

Masailand, cattle disease in, 305

Mashonaland, 174

— and Matabeleland, rinderpest in, 305
Massey - Harris steel - tined cultivator,

the, 444
^Latjesfontein, J. D. Logan's place at, 14
Maturity of common fruits, times of,

168, 178
Mealie or maize crop, 26, 38, 46, 113,

462
Measly pork, result of eating, 393
Measures, colonial wine, 136
Mechanical milk separators, 272

— milking machines, 273

542

INDEX.

Mcdicago dciiliculala, io6, 1 13

— nigra, 113

— sativa, 106, 421
Meer-kat, the, 20
Melica dendroides, 95, 100
Melilotus officinalis, 112
Melk-bosch, the, 80

Mellish's mixed stud of horses, 312
]\Ielophagus ovinus, 340, 342
Meltziekte, 284, 483
Merino sheep, 46, 332, 333
Merriman, The Hon. J. X., enterprise

of, 8, 50
Mesembriacere, the family of, 78
Mesembrianthenium, several species of,

88, 94
Metis-merinos, 334
Michael, Albert D., on manure mites.

Micro-organism of anthrax, the, 284

— of horse-sickness, 320

— of Texas fever, 298
Migratory locusts, 488
Mildew of wheat, 453

Mildura and Kenmark irrigation

scheme, 411
Milk emulsion of parafifin, 213

— kind preferred by natives, 267, 272
Milking of cows, 266

— qualities of cows, 247, 253, 259, 260,

261, 263, 264, 265
Millais, J. G., 242, 245
Millets, the so-called, 464
Mills, grinding, 483

— wind, 61

Mimosa, caterpillars attacking the, 44

— trees, 32, 35, 58, 96, 98, 119, 123
Mineral treasures of South Africa, 163
" Miner's inch," the, 412
Miniature breed of cattle, a, 255
Mission station of Lovedale, 35

" Mist," cakes of, for fencing sheep-
folds, 350, 482

Mistletoe on the mimosa, 124

Mixed special manures, 487

Model farms, proposed Government, 8,
9, 26, 45

Mohair, 325, 327, 330, 353, 365

Mongolia, the slipa of, lOO

Mongrels, breeding from, 313, 328

Montague, the chief industry of, 13

Moroea polyanthos, 95

Mortgages on farms, 10

Mosenthal and Harting on ostriches, 236

Mosquitoes attacking ostriches, 228

Mother Seigel's Syrup, 92

Motors, air, 61

Mountain chains of the Colony, 57

Mowbray Park, John Landrey's place

at, 46
Mozambique current, beneficial effects

of the, 42
Muir, Dr, Superintendent-General of

Education, 50
Mules, 314, 316, 440, 443
Murrain of cattle spread to game, 240
Mutton of Merino sheep, 355
— ■ production of, 356
Myburgh, Frank, 9
Myzus persicK, 196

NAARTJE, the, 194
Namaqualand jiartridge, the, 20
Natal, 23, 27

Native labour, quality of, 403
Natural habitat of the ostrich, 220

— laws governing the work of irrigation,

419
Nectarinfes, pruning of, 205
Neething, Charles, plan of, 150
Negretti merinos, 335
Nelmapius, A. H., the late, 25
Nelson's Nursery Grounds, thorough

cultivation at, 182
Nerve irritation produced by tick bites,

303

Nests of ostriches, 225

New England, turnips grown for sheep

in, 354

— Mexico, the sleepy grass of, 100

— Zealand, fixing of drift-sands in, 70

— Zealand flax, 92

— Zealand, thistles in, 114
Newlands, George Paton's farm of,

18, 66

Newton-le-Willows, the Gartons' experi-
ments at, 456

Nicotiana glauca, 95

Nieuwe Veld, bushes growing on the, 16

Nitrogen, fixation of free, 44, 1 12, 113,
117, 467

INDEX.

543

Nixon's Climax Spray I'limp, 208

— Nozzle, 208

Nooitgedacht, object-lessons to be seen

at, 7
Norfolk Island pine, the, 128
Number of goats and sheep in the

Colony, 353

— of horses in the Colony, 316
Nurseries, 7, 9, 30, 130, 152, 153, 177

OAK, the, 125
Oat, the wild, 117
Oat-hay, 30, 113
CEdema mycosis, 319, 321
Officials of the Agricultural Department,

the chief, 511
"Olifant Klip," ^,'5
Olive, the wild, 10
Oliver's single-furrow chilled plow,

advantages of, 442
Operation of wool washing, 364
Opuntia tuna, ^^, 37, 77, 88
Orange tfy, the, 196

— Free State, 23

— trees, canker in the root of, 35

— trees, red scale on, 31, 196

— varieties of the, 194

Oranges, destruction of, by the dorthesia,
10, -94, 195

— price of, 195

Orchard at Groot Constantia Wine
tarm, 141

— the De Beers, 18

Orchards, pigs and poultry kept in,
191

— planting of, 1 79
Orchids, terrestrial, 79
Oreas canna, 239, 240

Original investigation into the nature of

cattle diseases, need of, 278
Ormerod, Miss, on the codlin moth,
187, 188

— on " South African Insects," 301
Ornithoglossum glaucum, 18, ^y, 96
Orpen, Reginald, 4

Orsmond, A. J., 41

Oryx gazella, 244

Ostrich, description of the various

species of, 219
— farming, books on, 227, 233, 236

Ostrich feathers exported and their
value, 233

— By, the, 229

Ostriches in South Africa, 3, 12, 21,
j3, 37, 88, 93, 95, 109, III, 115,
117, 219, 227, 229, 233, 236

Oswell, W. Cotton, on African cattle,

255
Oudlshoorn, ostriches dying at, 88

— proposed irrigation scheme at, 21
Ova, treatment of, at Jonkershoek, 7
Overman, Professor, on Dutch cattle,

259
Overstocking, evils of, 278, 382
Oxalides, numerous species of, 78
Oxen, cost of a span, 269

— draught or transport, 253, 262, 268,

288, 292

PAARD-ZIEKTE, outineaks of,
319

— two varieties of, 321

Paarlj Government vine-stock nursery

at, 9
Packing, &c. , of fruit, 165, 200
" Pap," 464
" Papaw-tree," the, 29
Paraffin emulsion, 212
Paralysis in lambs, 303
Parasites attacking animals, 278

— internal ostrich, 221, 227
Parasites that destroy locusts, 494
Parasitic attacks on the vine, 148

— fungus on lucerne, 109

— fungus on wheat, 453

Paris Exhibition in 1889, colonial wine
consigned to the, 137

— green, 211
Parson crow, the, 40
Partridge, the Namacjualand, 19
Pass, Hex River, 13

— Sir Lowry's, 10, 79

— Zwaarte Berg, 20

Pasture, benefits of a change of, 279, 390

— held in common, 13, 32, 47, 267
Paths made by cattle, 257

Paton, George, of Newlands, 18
Payne, George, a connoisseur of w ine,

139
Pear-trees, gigantic size of, 37

544

INDEX.

I'ear-trccs in South ^Vfrica, i8S
Peach maggots, 189, 205

— varieties of the, in South Africa, 189

— yellows, Pillans on, 181
Pedlars, usurious practices of Jew, 21
Pentzia, the, 86, 97

Penzig on the orange fly, 191
Peronospora viticola, 153
Peruvian grass, a poisonous, 100
Pests, decided advantage of fungoiil

and insect, 177
Petite cttltitre, 163
Phacochit-rus a'thiopicus, 392
Phasianida.-, 15
Pheasants, the Cape, 15
Phenomenon, an interesting natural, 40
Phleum pratense, 104
Phlyctimes callosus, 148
Phormium tenax, 92
Phosphate of lime in soil, 59, 82, 287,

352, 483

— slag powder, Thomas's, il
Phyllotreta nemorum, 44
Phylloxera vastatrix, 3, 4, 8, 140, 148,

176
Physalis peruviana, 199
Phytophthora infestans, 210, 474
Picturesqueness of Stellenbosch, 4
Pietermaritzburg, 27, 128
Pigs in South Africa, 392
Pine-apple, the, 28, 30, 32, 198
Pinus pinaster, 70, 126

— pinea, 126

Pioneer Fruit - Driers' Company, 7,

206
I'ithecolobium dulce, success of the

growth of, on " usar " soils, 421
Pits for mealie cobs, 462
Plagues of locusts, 487
Plantain cultivation, 32
Plants, conspicuous orders of, 78

— devices of, to resist drou;4ht, 77

— nieans-of protection of, 80

■ — numerous species of bulbous, 78

— period of rest for, 77
— - rage for Cape, 78
Plantations, Government wine, 152

— sugar-cane, 28

Planting of trees, 8, 9, 11, 14. 16, 24,
25, 28, 45, 70, 73, 125

— of the vine, 142

Planting of wheat, times of, in different

districts, 449
Pleuropneumonia, 282
Ploughs, various kinds of, 440
Plucking the feathers of ostriche-, 236
Plum, varieties of the, 193
I'oinsettia, or Indian Landmark, 29
Points of an ostrich, Douglass on the,

232

— of a well-l)red Angora, 326
Poison .bulb or "tuli^," 37, 95

— onion, 96
Poisoning by dip, 378

— wild animals, dangerous practice of,

337

— of insect pests, 21 1
Poisonous grasses, 1 00

— leguminous plants, 95, II2

— weeds, 115
I'oitou mule, the, 318

Political question, scab uiade a, 368

Polled cattle, 256

Pomegranate, the, 193

Pondo breed of cattle, 256

" Poor whites," 28, 406

Poppy, the Texas, 114

Popular dips, eight most, 377

Population of Cape Colony, 397

Populus alba, 126

Port Elizalieth, 23, 28, 30, 69, 72, 73,

128
Porlulacaria afra, 88
Potamochoirus africanus, 392
Potash as a manure for vines, 146
Potato, cultivation of the, 38, 41, 47,

474

— disease, 210, 474

— new varieties of seed needed, 48, 475

— " ring disease " in the. 38, 474
I'oultry keeping, 32

Prairie grass, the so-called Australian,

103
Predatory animals, 251, 336, 337
Pretoria, 23
Prevention of phylloxera, 149, 150, 152

— of rust in wheat, 456
Preventive measures for attacks of the

codlin moth, 187

— medicines z'^r.f/w remedial treatment,

276
Preventivesof heart-water in sheep, 382

INDEX.

545

Preventives of rot in sheep, 383
Prices of brandy, 159

— of cattle, 253, 254, 261

— of goats, 3,25, 328
•^ of guano, 4S4

^ of horses, ju, 3I3> S'S

— of mules, 316, 317, 318

— of ostriches, 231

— of raisins, 205

— of tan bark, 129

— of tobacco, 480

— of wine, 142

Prickly pear, the, 33, 37, 77, 88

Profits of ostrich farming, 231

Prolific tendencies of the Bantu race,

396
Propagation of sheep scab, 372
Proposals for the eradication of tuber-
culosis, 281

— for stamping out pleuro-pneumonia,

282
Proteacese, three types of, 80
Protection against the tsetse fly, 251
Proteles cristatus, 338
Pruning of fruit-trees, 183, 184

— of the peach, 192

— of the vine, 143

Prussic acid, or hydric cyanide, use of,

as an insecticide, 216
Psoroptes ovis, 371

— communis, 376
Pternistes swainsoni, 15
Puccinia graminis, 453
Pulveriser or disc harrow, 443
Pumpkin pips, effect of ostiiches eating,

222
Pumpkins, cultivation of, 470
Pype grass, 73

QUAGGA, the, 238, 308
Qualities of wool, different, 362,

365. 366
Quarantine regulations with regard to

red-water, 295
— stations for imported vine-stocks, 153
Queen's Park at East London, the, 29
Queensland, cost of sinking deep bores

in, 60
Queenstovvn, the district of, 43, 94, 103
Quercus pedunculata, 125

Quick grass, 100, in, 441
Quince, the, 193

RABIE, P., distilling apparatus of,
158
Races of people in Cape Colony, 396
Railway charges, reduction of, 486

— grievance at East London, 29
Railways, wages of workmen on, 404
— , where needed, 11, 21, 203
Rainfall at Carnarvon farm, 38

— at Halesowen, 37

— at Matjesfontein, 14

— at Newlands, 19

— Gamble's diagrams of, 167

— in the Cape Flats, 3

— in the Cowie Valley, 35
Raisins, price of, 205
Rambouillet or French Merino, 335
Rams, selection and treatment of, 352,

356
Rand conglomerate, D. Draper on, 51

— gold mines, the, 52
Reapers, self-binding, 445

Rearing of ostriches, parts most suitable

for, 221
Reclaiming of " salt " land, 430
Reclamation of the "poor whites," 407
Recommendations for the improvement

of Agricultural Schools, 507

— for the improvement of the Bacterio-

logical Institute, 514

— for the improvement of the Ca/c

Agricultural Journal, 517
Red jackal, the, 339

— necked pheasant, the, 15
Red-water in cattle, 32, 269, 274, 293
Redwing, the, 15

Refrigerating fruit cars, necessity for,

203
" Reh " or " usar" soils of India, 415,

417
Relhania genistcefolia, 94
Religious beliefs and practices of the

Boer population, 400
Remedial treatment, directed against

the aphides, 197
Remedies for red-scale, 196

— for rot in sheep, 383

— for phylloxera, 149, 150, 152
M

^^v'^^.

546

INDEX.

Remedy most effective for wire-worm,

Replanting of vines, cost of, 152
Report of a Select Committee of the
House of Assembly, 50

— of a Select Committee of the House

of Assembly on the prickly pear, 90

— of the Richmond Commission on

Agriculture, C. L. Sutherland on
mules in the, 317

— of the Inspector of Water-Drills, 60

— of the Superintendent of Scab In-

spectors, 369, 377
^ on horse-sickness, by Dr Edington,
320

— on the drift-sands, by J. S. Lister,

69, 72
Reports of Select Committees on

"Agricultural Schools," 501
Restio scoparius, 96
Restoration of lucerne leas, no
Restrictions with regard to red-water,

293, 295
Returns from goat-farming, 328, 330
Rhea, the, 219
Rhebok, 12, 246
Rhenoster-bush, 3, 11, 33, 80, 81
Rhinocerus birds, or "rhenoster vogels,"

242, 247
Rhizoctonia medicaginis, 109
Rhizoglyphus, the genus, 373
Rhodes, Right Hon. Cecil, and im-
ported Angoras, 325
Richardia africana, 79, 222
Riebeck, country around, ^.^
Rietvlei, residence of S. P. Erasmus,

26
Riley, inventor of the Cyclone Nozzle,

208
" Rims " and " rimpies," 439
Rinderpest, the, 305
" Ring disease " in the potato, 38
Riparia vine, the, 151
River water, for irrigation purposes,

418
Rivers, South African, 7, 58, 75
Roan horses of South Africa, the, 309
Robertson, district of, 12
Rodolia ladybird, the, 94, 198
Rollason wind-motor, the, 63
" Romincs," 117

Rooi-grass, 23, 27, 34, 42, 98, 314

Rosebank, show ground at, 3

Rosin-soap wash, 213

Rot in sheep, 85, 383

Rotation of crops, 11, 22, 30, 447, 449,

467
Rothamsted, experiments at, 106
Rules to be followed in washing wool,

363

Rupestris vine, the, 151
Rural schools and agricultural educa-
- tion, 504
Rust in grain, 31, 41, 46, 47, 176, 449,

471
Rustenburg, Sir Jacob Barry's farm of, 8
Rye, 106
Ryegrasses, the, 104

SACCHAROMYCES eUipsoideus,
140
Saldana Bay rye, 106
Salt bushes of Australia, 87

— for horses, 315, 322

— for sheep, 275, 352, 383

— or alkali soils of California, 415, 417
Salted cattle, 295, 296

— horses, 322

Sand bars at harbour mouths, 29

— drifts, 3, 69

— grouse, 20

" Sand- wasp," the, 494

Sarcophagidce, the family, 495

Sarcopsylla penetrans, 292

Sarcoptes capr^e, 372

Saxon merinos, 335

Scab Act, administration of the, 369

— Act, dissatisfaction with the, 368

— insect infesting the Angora goat,

329

— insects, different species of, 371

— in sheep, 367

— inspectors, 369

— mite, the common, 376

— symptoms of, 368
Scale insect, the, 35

— insect, the, on the harpuis, 94

— insect, the, on the orange^trees, 31,

196

INDEX.

547

Schedule of reserved indigenous trees,
132

Schilderspan, Jackson's farm at, 17

Schizoneura lanigera, 185

Scholarships in agriculture, 508

Schweinfurth green, 211

Science classes for teachers, 504

Scientific investigation at the Bacterio-
logical Institute, 514

Schoongezigty, Hon. J. X. Merriman's
farm of, 8

Scolding-cock, the, 13

Scopus umbretta, 13

Scott, J. L., 7

Scour in sheep, 392

Scrub exterminator. 91

— forests, the, 123

Seal and Guano Islands, report on the,

484
Seasons at the Cape in connection with

fruit export, 166, 177
Secale cereale, 106
Secateurs, use of, 183
Secretary bird, the, 19
Seedlings, planting from. 164, 171,

I73> 195

Seeley, Professor, on trap conglome-
rates, 55

" Seepage," results of, 425, 430

Selago leptostachya, 87

Selous, F. C, on animals, 12, 241,
242, 243, 245, 255, 392

Semi-tropical appearance of Durban, 28

— appearance of the Kowie \'alley, 32
Separators, milk, 272

Septoria cerasina, 205
Settlers, British, 28, 31, 43

— German, 28, 47

— ''poor white," erroneous ideas of,

400, 406
Shangaan, the, 19
Sharp, on locusts, 488, 490
Shearing of goats, 326

— of sheep, 340
Shedder, the, 350

.Sheep and sheep farming. 331

— autumn fever in, 35

— blaauw-tong in, 3S2

— Cheviot, 358

— driving of, over locust swarms, 496

— eating off cereals by, 449

Sheep, fat-tailed, 331

— fly-blowing of, 338

— folds, ground plans of, 348

— heart-water in, 32, 33, 268, 274, 381

— Lincoln, 42

— liver-fluke in, 39, 45, 85

— Merino, 46, 332

— parasitic attacks on, 39, 45, 88

— Tasmanian, 46, 335

— rot in, 85, 383

— scab in, 367

— "slak " in, 383

— stealing, 336, 337
Shell tick, the, 301
Shields of buffalo skin, 247
Shipping of fruit, 201
Shorthorn cattle, 258, 260
Shot -hole fungiis, the", 205
Shropshire Down rams, 356
Side irrigation, 420

Sikonyella, a chief noted for feats of
horse-lifting, 313

Silage, 34, 46, 82, 83, 109, 355

Silo, or pit, a, 83

Silver tree, the, 80

Sinapis arvensis, 117

Sir Lowry's Pass, 10, 79

Sites of nurseries for vines, 153

Sivewright, Sir James, 3

Slagtersnek irrigation scheme, 33, 423

" Slak " in sheep, 383

"Slangkop," 18, 37, 96

Sluits in the veld, 38, 43, 59, 84, 324

Small holdings, position of, 10, 28, 47

Smartt Syndicate, property of the, 17

Smith Brothers, nursery garden of, 30

Smut, attacks of, on grain, 455

Snakes, 19

Sneezewood, 122

Soaps, good and bad, for wool and
washing, 363

Soda, salts of, 87. 88

.Soga's experiments with regard to heart-
water, 382

Soil, wearing and washing of, ^S, 43,
56, 57, 58, 59. 75- 84, 120

Solonis vine, the, 151

Somerset East, Agricultural School at,
33. 500

— Lord Charles, thoroughbreds of, 309

— West. 3

548

INDEX.

Soot fungus, the, 197

Sorrels of Cape Colony, the numerous,

114 .
"Sour veld,"' explanation of the term,

81
South African Fruit-Growers' Union, a

proposed, 207

— African Turf Club, 309
Southey, Charles, 37, 85, 311, 312

— William, 85

" Spadonas," explanation of the term,

235
Spawning season at Jonkershoek

hatchery, 7

Special manures, 487

Spek-boom, 88, 222

Sphaceloma ampelinum, 167

Splenic apoplexy, 285

Spotted backs of horses, 303

Spraying of fruit-trees, &c. , 208, 2 1 1

— machines, use of, for killing locusts,

496
Spreo bicolor, 40

Springbuck, the, 45, 238, 239, 245
Springs, brak, 38, 66

— warm, 40, 65

Stagnant water for stock, dangers of,
279, 292

— water, how to purify, 6

" Stamping" of mealies, 464
Stations, proposed Government experi-
mental, 8, 9
Steek-grass, baneful influence of, 99,

331

Steenbok, the, 246

Steeping or pickling the seed of grain,

455. 46S
Stellenbosch, Agricultural School at,

497
Steynsburg, Government scheme of

irrigation at, 38, 421
Stiff-sickness, two forms of, 286
Stills, ordinary brandy, 158
" Stink-blaar," 37, 117
Stink-clover, 112
" Stink-kruid," 222
Slinkwood, 122
Stipa, various species of, 100
Stock food at the Cape, 86
— low condition of, in spring, 34, 39,

42, 45, 46, 91, 291, 357

Stock, mixed, benefits of a, 324

— poisoning, 95

— want of shelter for, 12, 39, 45, 93,

314

— well water for, 61, 279, 314

— winter food for, 25, 26, 34, 42, 43,

44, 46, 105
Stockenstrom, district of, 35
Stocking of some farms, 33, 39, 41
Stoloniferous habit of couch grass,

102
Stone pine, the, 126

— weapons, 239
Stop-sickness in geese, 237
Stormberg rocks, the, 56
Stramonium, 37, 117
Strawsonite, 215

Strawsonizer, the horse-power, 210
Street sweepings and refuse, 70, 72
Strelitzia, 29

Strepsiceros kudu, 239, 242
Strongylus contortus, 385
• — douglasii, 228

— filaria, 390

Struthious birds,- genera of, 219
Stuhlmann's " Mit Emin Pascha, " figures

in, 257, 258
" Stuk-vats," 156
Sub-irrigation, 420
Subterraneous water supply of Cape

Colony, 7, 60, 61
Suffolk Down rams, 356

— punch horses, 312
Sugar-cane plantations, 28

— in wine, 134, 137, 156
Sulpho-carbonate of potash for killing

phylloxera, 150
Sulphur for horses, 304, 315, 322

— for mules, 317

— for ostriches, 229

— for sheep, 275

— fumes, bleaching of dried fruit in,

206

— lime dip, 377

Sulphuring of vines, operation of, 147

Sunflower, the, 466

Surgeons, qualified staff of veterinary,

277
Suricata tetradactyla, 20
Survey and transfer expenses of an acre

lot, 49

INDEX.

549

Sutton of Natal on the planting of trees,

128
Swainson's bare-throated francolin, 15
Swarms of locusts, 490
Swedes, fungoid attacks on,. 354
" Sweet veld," explanation of the term,

81
" — water" in Australia, 418

— wines, 134, 155
Symbiotes caprce, 372
Symptoms of horse-sickness, 321

— of liver disease in calves, 292

— of rinderpest, 305

— scab, 368

— of Texas fever, 297

— of tsetse fly poisoning, 250
System, new, of managing sheep, 354,

357

— old, of managing sheep, 352, 357

TABANUS bovinus, 291
Table Mountain conglomerates,
52
Table Mountain, sheltering influence
of, 2

— showing number of sheep and goats

in the Colony, 353
Tsenia expansa, 292, 388, 390

— solium, 393

Tagasaste, or tree lucerne, 112

" Tampan-tick," the. 304

Tamworth breed of pigs, 393

Tan bark, 128

Tannic acid in wine fermentation, 146

Tape-worm, the, 388

— the, in calves, 292

— in human beings, 393

— the, in ostriches, 227

— in pigs, 393
Tasmanian sheep, 46

— Merinos, 335
Tecoma venusta, 29

Teeth of animals, looseness of, 267

— of animals, wearing of the, 82, 352
Teleutospore stage of rust in wheat, 454
Temperature of animals after inocula-
tion with tuberculin, 281

— of animals in Texas fever, 297
Tennyson settlement, the, 38
Termites, 66

Terrestrial orchids, 79

Texas fever, 274, 293, 296

Theal on the Bushmen, 395

Thistle, the Canada, 114

Thomas's phosphate slag powder, suc-
cess of, 1 1

Thompson, Principal J. L., of Dookie
College, Victoria, 502

Thomson, Joseph, on diseases of cattle,
240

Thorns of the prickly pear, 90

Thorny plants, 80, 94

Thoroughbred horses, 37, 309, 311

Three-awned spear grass, 99

Threshing-mills, travelling, 472

Thunder rains, the result of, 16, 41,
45, 58, 75, 84

Ticks, cattle, 256, 274, 294

— connected with red-water, 294, 296,

300, 302

— in Australia, injury done by, 303

— on ostriches, 301
Tile-draining, cost of, 420
Tilletia caries, 455

Timber trees, most important indi-
genous, 121

— trees, schedule of reserved indi-

genous, 132
Time table at Stellenbosch Agricultural

School, 498
Times of maturity of common fruits, 168
Timothy grass, 104
T'nenta, the, 95
Tobacco, cultivation of, 21, 35, 477

— value of, as a dip ingredient, 378

— tree, the wild, 95

" Togt -gangers " spreading the prickly

pear, 91
Toit, G. du, farm of, S
Tomatoes, 8

Topping of the vine, 144
Town manure, 70, 72
Transport ridersspreading cattle disease,

284

— riding, 30, 32, 91, 248, 26S, 269,

288

— waggons, 437
Transvaal, the, 23, 25, 55
Trap conglomerate, 55

Trees, fruit, 7, 8, 10, 14, 18, 25, 28,
30, 31, 32, 177

— list of naturalised, 126

550

INDEX.

Trees, planting of, 2, 4, 8, 11, 12, 14,

, 16, 24, 25, 28, 45, 70, 73, 125

— resowing of, 129

— seeds of, sown, to fix drift-sands, 70,

72, 73

— useful for supplying food for sheep,

35
"Trembling" or "louping-ill, 303

Trichodectes climax, 346

— limbatus, 346

— sphcerocephalus, 340, 344
Trifolium pratense, 104

Trout hatchery at Jonkershoek, 6
Truncated tails, animals seen with, 284
Tsetse fly, the, 229, 247
Tuberculosis, 280
" Tulchan " or dummy calf, use of a,

266
" Tulp " or poison bulb, 37
Turnip fly, the, 44
Turnips, insect enemies of the, 44, 46

— growing of, 42, 43, 46, 354

— for sheep, 354

Turpentine, oil of, a remedy for turnip

fly, 44

" Twa-gras," 76, 100
Two travelling dairies, fitting out of, 270
Tygerberg, district of, 21
Tygerpoort, site of an important irriga-
tion scheme at, 17
Type of horse to be sought after, 312
Tyroglyphidre, 373

UITENAGE, a centre of wool-wash-
ing, 30
Umbre, the tufted, 13
University, the, and agriculture, 505,

507
Uredospore stage of rust in wheat, the,

454
Urine, discoloration of, in Texas fever,

297
Urundi, cattle of, 256
Ustilago carbo, the fungoid parasite,

455
Usurious practices of Jew pedlars, 21

VAAL-BOSJE or grey-bush, 87
Vacation classes for school-
masters, 504

Valke vark, the, 392
Van Wyk's Vlei, 87, 426
Varkens Kop, W. Southey's farm, 85
Vat, the close fermentation, 156
Vedalia ladybird, the, 94, 198
Vegetable forms, diversity of, 76
Vegetables, prices of, 32

— for Cape Town, 405

Vegetation of Cape Colony, one of the

great defects of the, 84
Veld, burning of the, 27, 35, 39, 43,

82, 84, 100, 291, 304

— " gebroken," 81

— improvement of the, 82, S3, 84, 85, 97

— proper management of grazing, 59,97

— sickness, 82

— " sour," 81

— " sweet," 81

— the Karoo, 16

— the Nieuwe, 16

" Veldschoons," 333

Vermin, rewards for destruction of, 251,

337
Vermont Merinos, 335
Vermorel's pump, 147, 212
Vetch, a wild, 44, 117
Vetchling, M'Dougall on the, 95
Veterinary surgeon, Boer ideas with re- .■

gard to the, 276
Victoria College, Stellenbosch, 498

— East, district of, 35

Village cattle, a common grazing ground
for, 267

Villiers, Sir J. Henry de, on the irriga-
tion law of Cape Colony, 433

Vine census, returns of, for 1891, 135

— cultivation of the, 142

— grafting of the, 140, 151, 154

— introduction of the, 134

— manuring of the, 144

— nurseries, Government, 152
— • stock nursery at Paarl, 9
Vineyards on sandy soils, 149
Violets, sweet, 8

Virginia Beatall, 481

Virus of rinderpest, the, 305

Visitations of locusts, benefits follow-
ing, 493

" Vitalite" sock, the, 482

Viticultural School at Groot Constantia,
137

INDEX.

551

"Voetgangers," 490
Volcanic action in South Africa, 57
Vultures, decrease in the numljer of,
240, 338

WAAL, J. P. de, manager of Groot
Constantia Wine Farm, 138
Wages, rates of, 402, 404, 405
Wallace, Williamson on locusts, 492
Wallace's example at Holbrook, 43
Water, danger of drinking impure, 390

— danger of applying too much to land,

412, 414

— Drills, report of the Inspector of, 60
" — finder," the, 87

— how to purify, 6

— melons, 80

— methods of measuring the amount

of, applied to land, 412

— 'solid matters held in solution in clear

river, 418

— supply at Matjesfontein, 14

— supply at Stellenbosch, 6

— table, raising of the, 414, 419

— unfit for irrigation purposes, 418

— want of, on the surface, 60, 76
Waterford, estate of the late J. J.

Irvine, 45
Watershed of the Colony, the main, 58
Wattles, various species of, 73, 12S
Ward's " Diseases of Plants," 455
Wart hog, the, 392
Weeds of arable land, 114
Weedy thoroughbreds, influence of, 310
Weights and prices of cattle, 253, 254,

259
Welch, A. C, on the Egyptian method

of washing salt land, 427
Well-water for stock, 61, 279, 314
Wellington, fruit-drying in the district

of, 9, 205

— Fruit-Growers' Association, 206
Westwood on peach maggots, 189
Wet, effect of excessive, 44, 45
Wheat, amount of cut green, 113

— growing districts, most important

divisional, 452

— outline of experiments in the cross-

fertilisation of, carried out at New-
ton-le-Willows, 457

Wheat, rust or blight in, 8, 31, 41, 46,

47, 176, 449, 453
Whims of fashion, effect of the, 235, 236
Whirlwind, facts relating to a, 26
White ants, 66

— poplar, 126

— turnips, 354

Wiesbaden, pasture held in common at,

47
Wild animals, scab in, 372

— birds, 12, 13, 15, 40, 58

— cats, 225, 336

— game of the Colony, 238

— mealie, 29

— mustard, 117

— oat, the, 117

— pig, the South African, 392

— tobacco tree, the, 95

— vetch, 44, 117
Wilde paard, the, 308
Wildebeest, the blue or bastard, 245
Williams, Principal, on " trembling "

or " louping-ill," 303
Winchilsea, Lord, efforts of, 461
Wind-motor, the Rollason, 63

— power in South Africa, 61
Wind-schanzen, rye planted as, 141
Wine, daily allowance of, to workmen,

403

— Government efforts to improve,

i37_

— growing centres, 135

— made at Groot Constantia, 142

— making, 134

— production, 155
Winter dipping, 379

— food for stock, 25, 26, 34, 42, 43, 44,

46, 105, 259, 267

— the South African botanical, 77
Wire-worm, a troublesome, 39

— in sheep, 385
Wodehouse, district of, 38
Women, work done by native, 403
Wooden boxes for the conveyance of

fruit, 202
Wool exported from South Africa,
366

— low prices of, 353

— producing sheep, foundation flocks

of, 331

— structure of, 361

552

INDEX.

Wool washing, 30, 362

Wolfskin fumigator, the, 217, 218

Woolly aphis, the, 185

Worcester, district of, 12, 65

Works carried out by Government,
expense of, 423

Worm parasites, salt and lime as pre-
ventives of, 382, 390

Wormald, W. H., town clerk of East
London, 29

Wyley, Andrew, of the British Geo-
logical Survey, 51

XANTHIUM spinosum, 95, 117
Xosa, a great historical chief,
397

YEASTS of wine, 139
Yellow Boer clover, 113
Yellow liver in ostriches, 22S

— turnips, 354

— wood, two varieties of, 121
Yield, annual, of guano, 484
Yields of wine, 136

ZEBRA, the common, 308
Zebu cattle, 243, 254, 257
"Zoet" veld, 81
Zone, the littoral, 51
Zulu cattle, ticks on, 256
" Zum nilquelle," 257
" Zuur" veld, 81
Zwaarte Berg Pass, the, 20

Printed at The Darien Press, Edinburgh.

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destroy the efficiency of

the Mill.

There are a large

number of "Aermotors"

at work in South Africa,

all giving the utmost

satisfaction.

^P= Lloyds' "Aer-
motor" Windmills are

recommended by the

Irrigation Department of

the Cape Colony as the

most suitable power for llOYDS' "AERMOTOR"

pumpmg water m South j^^j^^^ -TqWER,

Africa, and for the de- . . . . .,.

velopment of water found '" Po^^'^^on for oihng.
by using the Government Diamond Drill, or from open wells. References
are kindly permitted to the Surveyor of Irrigation with regard to these
Windmills. When required, a competent man would be sent to erect
outfit, at cost of travelling expenses only.

Besides the ordinary Pumping "Aermotors," which are used only for
lifting water, we supply

Geared "Aermotors" for Grinding, Pumping, and Driving Farm IMachinery.

Prices and Es/iiiiafcs Post Free on applicatioji to

LLOYDS & COMPANY,

40 BURGr STREET (Opposite Fire Station),

Agencies tliroughoiit Eastern Province, Free State, and Transvaal.

LLOYDS' "AERMOTOR'
FIXED TOWER,

ADVERTISEMENTS.

LONDON. PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.

LLOYDS & COMPANY,

Hmevican ilDevcbants,

40 BURG STREET <°-°$g, station),

CAPE TOWN.

Importers of the Latest and Most Improved Agricultural Implements
and Machinery for Farm, Garden, and Dairy.

SOLE S.A. AGENTS FOR

The Oliver Chilled Ploughs Co.'s World-Renowned Ploughs.

The Deering Harvesters and Binders.

The Adriance Rear Discharge Binders.

The "Planet Jr." Vineyard Ploughs, Horse Hoes, and Cultivators.

Lloyds' " Crown Brand " Sublimed Flowers of Sulphur. Proved by

Government Analysis to be the finest Sulphur ever sold in

South Africa.

American Mealie Drills, Mealie Shellers.

Feed Cutters, Giant Cultivators, Acme Harrows.

Spring-Tooth Harrows.

Spraying Machines.

Sulphur Bellows.

Potato Planters, Potato Diggers.

Bee Keepers' Appliances.

Lawn Mowers, Tree Pruners, Garden Hose, &c. &c.

Fencing Wire, Straining Posts.

AMERICAN CARRIAGES, BUGGIES, CARTS,
and SPIDERS.

PRICE LISTS POST FREE.

LLOYDS & C0M:I>ANY,

40 BURG STREET, CAPE TOWN.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

SUTTON'S SEEDS

SPECIALLY SELECTED AND PACKED FOR

SOUTH AFRICA.

SUTTON'S GRASS SEEDS.
SUTTON'S CLOVER SEEDS.
SUTTON'S ROOT SEEDS.
SUTTON'S SEED POTATOES.

HEW,
CAREFULLY CLEANED,

AND OF THE

HIGHEST GERMINATING
POWER..

From Dr A. S. DREW, Alexandria, near Grahamstown.

"It appears evident that by the use of seeds such as you sent me, vast
tracts of country, now useless, can in a very sort time be converted into new
and splendid pastures, capable of supporting any amount of stock, including sheep."

From Dr JOHN R. LEECH, Ventersburg, Orange Free State.

"I have a small patch of your Favourite Purple-top Turnip, and though
locusts destroyed the leaves completely on three separate occasions, they still
had vitality enough to grow again, and are sound and good. On the Winburg
Market some of them fetched from 6d. to 8d. each on auction."

From JAMES KING, Esq., Lynedoch, Natal.

" I cannot speak too highly of the excellent quality of your seeds, and the
uniformly good results obtained from them."

lprice^ Xists on Bpplicatioiu

Orders may be sent through our AUTHORISED AGENTS in
SOUTH AFRICA or direct to

SUTTON & SONS

THE ROYAL
) SEEDSMEN,

Reading England.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

SUTTON'S

EXPORT COLLECTIONS

Vegetable and Flower Seeds,

FOR ALL SOILS AND CLIMATES.

Supplied at the undermentioned prices.

Complete Collections of

VEGETABLE SEEDS.

Complete Collections of

FLOWER SEEDS.

£
5
4
3

2
I
I

5
4
3

2
II

I
10

7
5

6
6

SDTTON'S COMPOSITE COLLECTION of VEGETABLE & FLOWER SEEDS, 10/6.

The price of each Collection includes an air-tight case, which will be
found useful for many purposes after the Seeds have been sown.

From IC. .H. DVANS, Esq., IMnynniba, S.W. Africa.

" I have been receiving seeds from you for the last six years, and have always
found them to answer well in this climate, not one single packet failing to germinate,
although I have had seeds from England which never came up at all. My garden,
since dealing with you, is always green, in both dry and wet seasons."

Froiu R. FINLAY, Esq., Sen., Venfcniics, Koiixville, O.F.S.

"I have lived in S.E. Africa since 1842. In all that time I endeavoured to grow
suitable vegetables, but only in few instances with success, until I got seeds direct
from your House about five years ago. Since then my table has never been without
vegetables."

From A. >V. Herbert, Esq., Tliornville, Xatal.

" Having some seeds left last year — kept in the air-tight box, and forgotten till
planting time this season — I put them in, hardly expecting them to grow. The result
is that nearly every seed has germinated."

SUTTON & SONS,

Seed Growers
and Merchants,

READINO 'm'"

VIU ADVERTISEMENTS.

DE WAAIi & CO.

Importers of Latest Patterns of

AMERICAN TOOLS & IMPLEMENTS.
INSECTICIDE SPRAY PUMPS.

DE WAAIi & CO.

MARSHALL, SONS, & CO. Limited,

The Largest Makers in the World of

THRASHING )YIACHINES, PORTABLE ENGINES,

IRRIGATION MACHINERY.

DE WAAIi & CO

HOUSEHOLD IRONMONGERY.

BUILDERS' IRONMONGERY.

FENCING MATERIALS.

DE WAAIi & CO.

IRONMONGERS.

Sbow IRooms aiiD IRetail Stores:

BURG STREET and GREENMARKET SQUARE.

Mbolesale Stores:

WAAL STREET and LOOP STREET.

CAPE TOlffN.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

RANSOMES, SIMS & JEFFERIES, L^

MANUFACTURERS OF

THE BEST AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY.

Among the Prizes awarded to R., S. & J. by the principal British
and Foreign Agricultural Societies are included : —

UO GOLD MEDALS, 230 SILVER MEDALS, 278 FIRST PRIZES, &c.
The only Firm to which Two Gold Medals have been awarded
by the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

RANSOMES, SIMS & JEFFERIES, Ld.,

Portable Engines for Coal,
Wood, Straw, or Petroleum.

Thrashing and Straw
Chopping Machinery.

Agricultural Locomotive and
Traction Engines.

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL ENGINES,
HIGH SPEED ENGINES,

CORNISH, LANCASHIRE, AND MULTITUBULAR BOILERS.

Double and Multiple Ploughs.

Corn Grinding Mills.

Iron and Wood Ploughs
of all Sorts and Sizes.

MAIZE SHELLERS, POTATO PLANTERS AND DIGGERS,
CULTIVATORS, HAYMAKERS, HORSE RAKES, &c.

Estimates furnished for any Special Machinery to
suit any particular country or System of Agriculture.

Illustrated Catalogues, in various Languages, post free on apr'

ORWELL WORKS, IPSWICH, ENCLAr

AND 1

9 GRACECHURCH STREET, LOT'

3 N

ADVERTISEMENTS.

THE DISEASES

Horses, Cattle, Cows, Goats, Sheep, Lambs, and Swine.

THE CELEBRATED "NORFOLK REMEDIES" for the Ailments
of all kinds of Farming Stock are based on forty years' practice,
and are now in constant use on the Estates and Farms of Her Majesty
the Queen, their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess
of Albany. The Duke of Westminster, Lord Rothschild, Hugh M'Cal-
mont, Esq. ; Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. ; J. J. Cohiian, Esq. ; Clare Sewell
Read, Esq. ; the Hong Kong Dairy Farm Co. ; Garrett Taylor, Esq. ;
and others, too numerous to mention ; also by more than four thousand
Cowkeepers in England alone. The leading Specialities are : —

PRICES in ENGLAND.

"THE NORFOLK" CONDITION DRENCHES for Cattle, - 9/- per Dozen.

"THE NORFOLK" CLEANSING DRENCHES for Cows, - lO/- „

"THE NORFOLK" EWE DRENCHES for Breeding Sheep, - 3/6 „

"THE NORFOLK" CORDIALINE or PAIN-KILLER for Colic,]

Spasms, Influenza, Pain, Exhaustion, Chills, &c., in all r 1 2/- ,,
Animals, - - - J

"THE NORFOLK" FEVER DRINKS for Horses, - - 9/- „
"THE NORFOLK" HUSK or HOOSE REMEDY for Cattle,! 21- „

Calves, Sheep, and Lambs, j (Sufficient^for loo to iso

READ THE FOLLOWING VOLUNTARY TESTIMONIALS.—

DOWNHAM, WVMONDHAM, NORFOLK,

22nd February i8Sy.
Sirs, — Kindly send me another dozen of " Norfolk" Cordialine at once. I
have had several Ewes down bad with Fever and Scour soon after lambing — quite set
fast, could not stand, and refused all food, until I gave them a quarter of a bottle each
in a little warm gruel. They get all right in about three hours, and do not ail anything
afterwards. I have not had occasion to give a second dose to one of them, nor have
I lost one during the three weeks of Lambing. The first Ewe attacked I thought must
die ; she had been down all day, ears dropping, breathing very heavily, milk gone,
and in great pain. I gave her a dose as a last resource, expecting to find her dead in
about two hours. Wlien I returned, to my great surprise, she was up and feeding.
Her milk soon came back, she began to suckle her lambs, and both she and they are
looking as well as any I have. Two of my neighbours, seeing the marvellous effects
on my Ewes, are now trying the Cokdialine on theirs, with the same result.

Yours faithfully, CLEMENT W. BARKER.

Home Farm, Tring, Herts,
August iSq4.
Sirs, — I have great pleasure in informing you that your Drinks are, especially
"The Norfolk" Cordialine, the best I ever used. I have brought our Champion
Cow "Oxford Dahlia" round twice from a very severe attack of milk fever, and
several others. I have not lost a Cow for three years. I can strongly recommend
your Drinks to all my brother Herdsmen, and to all Cowkeepers.

Yours truly, F. LOCKWOOD,

,To Messrs F. Sutton & Co. Jersey Herdsman to Lord Rothschild.

"'"milar and equal encouraging experience has occurred with COWS after Calving
■It Norfolk, .Suffolk, Cambridge, Middlesex, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, &c.,
E NorI'Olk" Remeiiies are well known.

SOLE APPOINTED MANUFACTURERS

I
J

^ & CO. "=r- NORWICH. England.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

WATER SUPPLY.

DON'T SINK OR BORE "ON SPEC,"

I3u«: Consult;

LEICESTER CATAKER,

EXPERT WATER FINDER

WESTON-SUPER-MARE

(Also at BATH),

Who will indicate the proper place to work at, and if you are doubtful

of his' statement, he will sink or bore with his own experienced staff

of Workmen on terms of

Unsatisfactory Existing Weils and Unsuc-
cessful Borings Tested,

APPROXIMATE DEPTH AND FLOW PREDICTED.

LEICESTER GATAKER has visited a large number of Estates
throughout the United Kingdom, amongst which may be noted
those of —

His Grace the Duke of Westminster, K.G.

His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, K.G.

His Grace the Duke of Bedford.

The Most Noble the Marquis of Anglesey.

The Most Noble the Marquis of Londonderry.

The Right Hon. Lord Windsor.

The Right Hon. Lord Llangattock.

Sir James De Hoghton, Bart.

Sir Robert Affleck, Bart.

Sir Charles Prevost, Bart.

Colonel Crosse. • ^ ■ •

Major the Hon. Charles Alexander. ":^^'

Major LovAT Ayshford Wise. .-^"^

Major Tottenham.

Major Phillips. .(

&c. &c. &c. ,

ADVERTISEMENTS.

THREE WORKS BY THE AUTHOR OF THIS VOLUME.

FARM LIVE STOCK

GREAT BRITAIN,

ROBERT WALLACE, F.L.S., F.R.S.E., &c.,

Professor of Aiiricnlture and Rural Economy in the University of Edinburgh.

A Text-Book for Agricultural Teachers, Students, Stock

Farmers, &c.

Third Edition, greatly enlarged, with 75 Plates and numerous Letterpress
Illustrations, Maps, dc. Price 12s. 6d. cloth, post. free.

SHORT CHAPTER HEADINGS.

Introduction.

I. — 1'rincii'les of Breeding.

11. — Wild Cattle.

III., IV., and V. — Breeds of Dom-
estic British Cattle.

IX. — House-Feeding of Cattle.
X. and XI. — Dairying.
XII.— Pigs.

XIII., XIV., XV., and XVI.— The

Horse.

VI. ^Polled Breeds.

VII. — Milking Breeds of British
Cattle.

VIII. — The Breeding and Man-
agement OF Cattle. I XXIII. — Sheei- Dogs

XVII. — Sheep — British Breeds.

XVIII., XIX., XX., XXL, and XXII.
— Management of Sheep.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE THIRD EDITION.

"The result is that for the first time since the old publications of the Society
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, we have a really complete work on the
history, breeds, and management of the farm stock of Great Britain." — T/ie Times,
27th March 1893.

"The most distinctive feature of this deservedly popular work is perhaps to

be found in the numerous figures reproduced from photographs of representative

animals of the various breeds ; in this respect, indeed, it is doubtful if there exists

- ■ other publication of similar size which can compare with it." — 7 /le Morning-

d March i8q^.

: CROSBY LOCKWOOD & SON,

STATIONERS' HALL COURT, E.G.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

With 3 Maps and 80 Illustrations, 8vo, 21s.

INDIAN AGRICULTURE,

By ROBERT WALLACE, &c.

SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"This work, giving the views of a scientific and able observer of the present condition of
agriculture in India, is of great value." — B<yinhay Gazette.

"An attractive, readable, and suggestive work, which embraces the whole field of modern
agriculture." — The Englishman., Calcutta.

"A work of wide interest and exceptional value." — The Englishiiiaii, Calcutta.

" We cannot speak too highly of its usefulness and interest." — O. Anglo-Lusitatto, Bomljay.

"Professor Wallace has rendered an invaluable service both to India and to England by his
intelligent observations, and the free expression of his views." — Indian Daily News.

"Should be studied by every one who has the development of the resources of the country at
heart." — Times of India.

"A surprisingly large amount of the most valuable information given by one who is most
capable of giving it in the very best way." — Civil Se-rvice Gazette, London.

" English statesmen, and all who are interested in our Eastern Empire, will find much fresh
and original information in Professor Wallace's instructive volume." — Daily Chronicle, London.

" The book is an important contribution to our knowledge of the subject, and its appearance
may be expected to mark the dawn of a new era." — Daily Ncivs, London.

"Containing a vast amount of information of an entirely novel character, and of some facts
that may be of utility to agriculturists of this country as well as of India." — Standard, London.

"A work of conspicuous merit and ability, and one calculated to throw an altogether new light
upon the whole subject of Indian agriculture." — Morning Post, London.

"Professor Wallace is to be congratulated on providing for his countrymen so graphic a
picture of Indian agriculture." — Bell's Weekly l\Iessenger, London.

"Undoubtedly , the work of an intrepid, original, and far-seeing mind." — North British
Agriculturist, Edinburgh.

EdiDburgh: OLIVER k BOYD. London: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, k CO. Ltd.

THE RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

AS SEEN BY

ROBERT WALLACE, &c.

With 10 MAPS, 90 FULL-PAGE PLATES, and 24 TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS.

Demy 8vo, over 500 Pages, Cloth Extra, ONE GUINEA NET.

EXTRACTS FROM PRESS OPINIONS.

" Professor Wallace has accumulated a vast store of information. " — The Standard. _

"Interesting chapters in Mr Wallace's volume are those on viticulture and on irrigation." —
'Athena;u;ii.

" Professor Wallace's excellent book." — Black and White.

"A very complete and very instructive account of the agricultural methods and appliances
in use throughout the fH-incipal Australian Colonies." — The Times. . ,, „,

"The general reader will find it a mine of valuable information and just conclusions."— ///t'
Academy. _ . .

"The book will prove valuable, if not entertaining, to people who take an interest in agri-
culture." — Saturday Review.

" Professor Wallace has written a monumental and standard work." — The Graphic.

"A large book, literally crammed with information, much of which must be indispensable to
many of those connected with agriculture." — Morning Post.

"The facts in this comprehensive volume are derived from personal observation." — The Daily
News.

" It is the book of travel of an enthusiastic specialist." — Scotsman.

"A most valuable volume ; and should become a text-book upon the agricultural resources of
the Australasian Colonies." — British Australasian.

" This deeply-interesting book." — Colonics and India.

"The book is written well and impartially." — Daily Graphic.

"One of the best contributions we have yet received, to our apprehension, of
conditions of our great .\ustralasian Colonies." — Leeds Mercury.

"A most valuable book." — Ne^o Zealand Herald.

LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPAr,)

AND ALL BOOKSELLER'

ADVERTISEMENTS.

PS. KING & SON,

IPubli0her6 ant) ipnnters.

Books and Pamphlets printed and published on Political, Social, and
Economic Subjects.

Publishers of the Reports and Publications of the.

China Impe-pjal Maritime Customs
American Academy of Political and Social Science.
I University of Pennsylvania.

m Political Economy Series. History Series.

Massachusetts State Board of Health.
Russian Ministry of Finance.

AND

The International Railway Congress.

Z/V/ of these Publications, Post Free.

HANSARD'S PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES

In the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland, being the
Speeches and Proceedings in both the House of Lords and
the House of Commons, from 1066 to the end of 1891.

Having purchased the whole of the stock, we can supply complete
sets, 459 vols, odd volumes or various periods.

Catalogues issued by P. S. KING & SON.

Monthly Lists of aU the Parliamentary Papers, Reports, Bills, &c.,
issued by both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and of Miscel-
laneous Books, Pamphlets, &c. , on Questions of the Day — Political, Economical,
and Social. Post free, on receipt of Address.

Annual Lists of the Parliamentary Papers published in each year, 1879
to 1895.

Special Lists—

Army.

Labour.

Education.

10.

Colonies.

Fisheries.

II.

China, Japan, Siam.

Land and AGKicui/ruRE.

12.

Banking.

' \nitary& Publlc Health.

13-

Poor Law and Charities

'». Afghanistan, and

14.

Harbours.

RAL Asia.

15-

Irish Land.

16.

Railways.

Claims, Public

;, &c.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

P. S. KING & SON,

Telegraphic Address;

"PARLIAMENTARY, LONDON." TELEPHONE No, 3324.

12 AND 14 KING STREET, WESTMINSTER,

(Established i8^^, at the corner of Parliaiiient Street),

Iparliamentar^ <X (Beneral Booksellers, Boof?bin&ers,
printers, S. ipubltsbers.

BOOKS (New and Old). PAMPHLETS.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS

REPORTS. BLUE BOOKS.

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS, &c.

Political, Social, and Economic Literature generally.

CATALOGUES MONTHLY, POST FREE.

Letters receive prompt attention. Inquiries invited.

SHIPMENTS TO ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD.

References to Librarians, at home atid abroad, to ivhoni tve have sent
Books, Bindings, o^c.

BOOKS (New and Old).

Speciality : — Economical, Social, and Political Work.s.
Old Books, Second-hand Copies, and Rare Volumes, when not
in stock, searched for and supplied, or Prices reported.

BOOKBINDING.

Books well and strongly bound in all styles.

Good workmanship only. Morocco and Fine Bindings at
moderate prices.

We have largely increased our facilities for Binding, and are
prepared to execute all classes of work. Collections of Parlia-
mentary Papers arranged, bound, and indexed. Having har"
experience in this kind of work, we shall be happ^'
Estimates and Specimens.

Our Workshops being in Westminster, close at
able to do important pressing work immediately.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

"You can fool some people "all the time,
You can fool all the people some time,
But you can't fool all the people all the time."

— President Lincoln.

COOPER'S DIP
NEVER FOOLS ANYBODY AT ANY TIME.

W.C&N.

OPSP^

*OWDER

THIS IS WHY IT HAS BEEN

FOR OYER FIFTY YEARS
THE WORLD'S SHEEP DIP,

AND IS EVERY YEAR USED UPON

'TER .% WORLD'S SHEEP.

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