together with the violent slope of the country, renders numerous
irrigation schemes impossible. But the karoo bushes need and are worth
development, otherwise they will in time be exterminated. Our authority
gives in detail a scheme by which this development may be accomplished,
and declares that if the right method of preservation were adopted, it
would probably be possible to feed three sheep where one can be fed
to-day.
[Illustration: TEA FARM, SHOWING COOLIES PICKING
Reproduced by permission from the Natal Government Collection]
The Oudtshoorn district is the garden of the Cape Colony. It enjoys a
splendid climate and water-supply. The speciality of the Oudtshoorn
Valley is ostrich farming. The birds in thousands feed in the lucerne
fields on the banks of the Oliphants River. Crops of tobacco and
potatoes, orange groves, vineyards and orchards are everywhere to be
seen. There are still some 70,000 acres of land in the valley capable of
development by irrigation if water could be found for them--and here
many schemes are possible. "Unirrigated land in the valley, on which
there falls annually from seven to ten inches of rain, is worth scarcely
£1 an acre; while the same land, when irrigated, is worth from £30 to
£100 per acre." It is impossible here to describe the practical remedies
and improvement schemes suggested; the object of quotation is merely to
give on authority, a concise outline of the rich vista that has been
extended before us, and the perpetual prosperity that may be secured to
the South African Continent if the Government should consent to adopt
the measures suggested.
In the advanced farms stock are watered from tanks fed by subsoil water
raised by windmills. Wherever there are no permanent springs these
mills, Mr. Willcocks thinks, might be made compulsory. He says: "I have
seen stock drinking from shallow pools which contained mud rather than
water, and in which dead sheep were festering. It might be possible to
legislate that, if a reservoir is constructed, it must be fenced round
and protected from entry by stock. The reservoir dam should be pierced
by a pipe discharging into a trough, from which cattle should be given
to drink." This would protect the water from pollution and save the
cattle from contracting rinderpest and spreading it all over the
country.
The farms have a general area of some 12,000 acres each, with about
twelve acres of cultivated land per farm. This means about one acre of
arable land to a thousand acres of pastoral land. The cultivated area is
divided thus--one acre of fruit or vegetable garden to about eleven
acres under wheat, Indian corn, lucerne, and oat-hay. Here, the veldt
will carry one sheep--these are principally merinos--or a goat, to four
acres; or one ox to sixteen acres.[10]
North of Britstown the pan and vale formation begins, a formation
consisting of alternate ridges of rounded dolomite hills and flat
depressions which are either vales or pans. Vales have outlets for the
water which collects in them, pans usually have none. Some are natural
reservoirs of great capacity. The pans, when not brack, are the natural
reservoirs of the country. Mr. Willcocks has shown how both pans and
vales may be dealt with to the best advantage, and how the direct
storage of water and the indirect storage of it should be effected.
Still touring in the Cape Colony, he turned his attention to the Kat,
Kabossi, Keishma, Klipparts, and other streams near the sea, which have
a perennial discharge with a minimum of about 100 cubic feet per second,
yet which are scarcely utilised. On this subject he reported: "The value
of this water near the sea will never be appreciated till the idea is
abandoned that cereals are the only crops worth growing and that manures
are not necessary. The attempt to grow cereals year after year without
manure and without rotation of crops has made the wheat crops so liable
to rust that agriculture is discounted everywhere near the sea. Wherever
perennial water of any kind can be obtained in the important stock
districts of the Eastern Provinces, lucerne, at least, might be planted
to the utmost limits of the water."
[Illustration: PURE NEGRETTI MERINO RAM]
Locusts are ubiquitous; but these in the footganger stage might be
easily destroyed before they could develop into the pest they now are.
Mr. Willcocks thus describes a mode of dealing with them: "At the foot
of some low hills in the karoo bush I came across great numbers of the
footgangers. They were jet black, and were very easily distinguished.
Indeed it appeared as though some giant had just walked over the veldt
and sprinkled it with great splashes of jet-black ink. If I had been a
Kaffir, and had known that a reward would have been given for the
location of locusts in this stage, it would have been a simple matter to
have gone to the nearest magistrate and reported the appearance of the
footgangers. A few men, with washing soap and water and sprays could
have killed many millions in a few hours." He proposes that the States
should combine and annually devote £20,000 to the extermination of these
creatures before they take wing and become uncombatable. The idea is an
excellent one; but the method of carrying it into effect will need to be
"slim" in its strictures, otherwise the remedy, in homeopathic fashion,
may be productive of the disease! In India, for instance, where several
annas are offered for every deadly snake destroyed, these pests are
occasionally cherished and bred as a comfortable source of income. In
the Deccan, a few years since, a nest of these reptiles was discovered
near the writer's bungalow, and the farming process was explained by an
Anglo-Indian friend. Every dead snake being worth three or four annas,
it was to the interest of the enterprising native to rear as many as
possible, so that when hard up he could slay one of his "stock" and
receive the coveted reward!
The Aliwal North, Herschel, and New England districts lie between 4500
and 6000 feet above sea-level, and have a rainfall of some thirty inches
per annum. A good Indian corn crop may be counted on every year, and
wheat in five years out of six. Only a third of the cultivable area is
put under cultivation, though the grasses are good and one acre can
support a sheep. Agriculture is generally backward, rotations of crops
and manuring being unknown. Turnips and swedes for winter feeding of
stock have been raised with success.
BASUTOLAND
Basutoland has a better rainfall than any part of South Africa, except
Natal and the south-western corner of Cape Colony. The maximum fall per
annum, save in years of drought, may be put at thirty-five inches, the
minimum at twenty-eight. It is nearly always sufficient to allow of
wheat being sown between July and August, and reaped in December without
irrigation. About one-third of cultivated land is devoted to wheat, a
third to Indian corn, and a third to millets. These last are sown
between the middle of September and the middle of November, and are
reaped in April. No rotations of cereals with leguminous crops are
practised; no manure is used. Cultivation has been going on for thirty
years, and the soil is by no means as productive as it was originally.
According to the authority of Mr. Willcocks, if suitable manures were
employed and careful cultivation gone in for, this country with its
friable soil should be eminently suitable for all root crops, such as
potatoes, onions, and turnips, while beetroot would answer admirably in
the valley of the Caledon River up-stream to Ladybrand, and in the main
tributaries of the Caledon. The denudation of the country--owing to the
numerous ravines which cut it up--is serious, and, if allowed to
continue, it will mean incalculable loss. The scouring action of the
water is aggravated by the fact that the Basuto villages are built on
the tops of the hills. The steeps are constantly worn into tracks by the
women-carriers of water from the springs, and these tracks become during
the rain a series of rivulets which contribute further to the general
denudation. To save the land from the fate of Palestine, which, in
somewhat the same way, became denuded by hundreds of years of
cultivation and intense habitation, an ingenious arrangement for
planting willow and poplar cuttings in damp ravines, and wattles and
aloes in the dry ones, has been described by Mr. Willcocks--a remedy
which at the outset seems costly, but will finally become
self-supporting. The young trees will be pollarded and produce fuel,
which is badly needed in this at present extraordinarily treeless
region; and it is even possible that if the ravines were filled with
trees it might result in an increased rainfall during the critical
months of August, September, and October.
Nothing in the way of irrigation can here be done without reservoirs,
and these would pay nowhere but near the important centres. But more
important than irrigation, and much less costly, would be a better
system of cultivation, the introduction of leguminous crops and roots in
rotation with cereals. Experimental ventures by means of model farms
would soon prove what were the most suitable legumins and roots for the
country, and the best manures. Once initiated, the intelligent Basutos
would rapidly improve upon their limited experiences; but whether they
would acquire a taste for a diet of pulses, on the cultivation of which
the future development of the country depends, is another matter.
Patriotically, it seems reasonable to demand the education of the
appetite of a people in accordance with the output of their native land.
The young of a nation should be taught to acquire a taste for healthy
home-grown fare, and the women-folk should be instructed in the art of
manipulating it to the profit of the household. What is applicable in
Basutoland is applicable all over South Africa. The urban population
must assist agriculture or it cannot be made to pay. The produce of the
farms must find a market at its elbow, so to say; for there can be no
profits if enormous charges for rail have to be met and the farmers are
thrust into competition with the American and European markets.
[Illustration: A SUGAR-MILL IN NATAL (CENTRIFUGAL ROOM)
Photo by Wilson, Aberdeen]
"THE CONQUERED TERRITORY"
The south-eastern corner of the Orange River Colony, in the region of
Harrismith, Ficksburg, Ladybrand, and Wepener, is considered the best
suited for European settlers. Springs are numerous. Wheat and Indian
corn are the principal crops. The flour-mills on the Caledon can be
worked for nine months yearly, and the land on both sides of it is full
of promise to the agriculturist. Improvements in the form of weirs, &c.,
are suggested, by which one-fourth of the area would be insured in nine
years out of ten. "It would be possible to put some 50,000 acres under
lucerne; 12,000 acres, or, if necessary, the whole 24,000 acres under
beetroot, for which soil, climate, and seasons are most favourable."
Thus would be introduced an important sugar industry into the country.
In the north-eastern half of the Orange River Colony perennial
irrigation would ensure as good crops, but at a greater expenditure of
water. Here the value of perennially irrigated land to land depending on
rainfall may be taken as £1 to one shilling in this district, on the
high veldt of the Transvaal, and in the south-eastern corner of the
Orange River Colony. In the south-western half of the Orange River
Colony, it may be taken as £1 to sixpence; in the Eastern Karroo as £1
to threepence; and in the Western Karroo as £1 to a penny. In the
north-eastern half of the Orange River Colony the good veldt may be
taken as £1 per acre, and perennially irrigated land as £20 per
acre.[11]
After inquiry, observation, and comparison with other countries, Mr.
Willcocks' estimate of the price which could be paid for perennial
irrigation is as follows: In parts which lie below 1000 feet above
sea-level, situated in the arid or semi-arid region, a water-rent of £2
per annum could be easily paid anywhere near a railway. In semi-arid
regions, between 1000 and 2500 feet, a water-rent of £1, 10s. could be
paid. Over 2500 feet in height, £1 per acre per annum could be paid.
Near important centres the rent could be higher.
THE TRANSVAAL
The Transvaal, for agricultural purposes, may be divided into the
dolomite region,[12] the high, low, and bush veldt, and the
south-eastern tracts. The most important is the dolomite region, which,
roughly speaking, covers the country within lines joining Vereeniging,
Heidelberg, Bethel, Pretoria, Rustenburg, Zeerust, Lichtenburg,
Klerksdorp, and the Vaal River from Klerksdorp to Vereeniging--an area
of about 15,000 square miles. Johannesburg's rainfall--from twenty-eight
inches per annum in the east to twenty-two inches in the west--is the
best in the district. Though uncertain in September, October, and
November, in January, February, and March rain can always be counted on.
The country generally is capable of great agricultural development, an
area of some 350,000 acres being capable of perennial irrigation, in
addition to the areas irrigated by the existing springs. In addition to
the agricultural value of perennially irrigated land, there is the land
which without the aid of irrigation can be so cultivated as to give
excellent yields, for it is proved that well-manured and tilled crops
need only half the rainfall that ill-manured and untilled crops require.
[Illustration: ANGORA GOAT (YOUNG EWE)]
In the high veldt the rainfall, taken at twenty-one inches, occurs in
January, February, and March. The veldt grass will support one sheep per
acre. Mr. Willcocks thinks that in this region--it is enclosed by lines
drawn from Vereeniging to Heidelberg, Pretoria, Belfast, Amsterdam,
Vryheid, Volksrust, Standerton, and the line of the Vaal River--it would
be more profitable to thoroughly develop the unirrigated crops than to
go in for perennial irrigation. The higher the altitude in South Africa
the less the value of perennial water, except under special conditions.
Perennial irrigation should first be confined to centres such as
Middelburg, Standerton, and other towns which, with this aid, would give
handsome profits.
The annual trek from the high to the low veldt in winter might be
dispensed with if sufficient winter food crops were grown with the aid
of the rainfall, and the stock herded in winter in cattle and sheep
folds sheltered by groves of blue gum or pine trees. The practice of
trekking from high to low veldt in winter, is due to the fact that
winter frosts kill the grass in the high veldt, and the farmers, in
default of other food-stuffs for flocks, are forced to travel to the
regions where frost is unknown. Naturally, the trekking results in
10,000 acres of veldt having to do the work of 5000. To double the value
of their holdings in the high veldt, and save the trouble of the trek,
the farmers need only to plant a few belts of sheltering trees, and
cultivate roots and feeding stuff for flocks and herds.
The low veldt, being well supplied with water, could finally become a
possession of great value. The climate being unsuited to Europeans, the
place has remained undeveloped; but the land, if set apart, might be
made self-supporting, indeed a source of appreciable revenue to the
country, if British Indians and Kafirs were encouraged to produce rice,
tropical plants, &c., which would in no way compete with the temperate
and sub-tropical crops of the European farmers in the other regions.
"If," says Mr. Willcocks, "Indians and Kafirs were confined to the
tropical belts, and the Europeans to the temperate belts, we should not
see the absurd spectacle which we see to-day of the best parts of the
temperate zones being inhabited almost exclusively by Kafirs, while the
Europeans with great jealousy are keeping the Indians and Kafirs out of
the tropical belts."
No wholesale improvements in arid or semi-arid regions can be carried
forward without land and water taxes, for individuals that are exempt
might neglect to improve the land with impunity, and the State would be
powerless to interfere to prevent whole regions lying waste and barren.
There is said to be scarcely a part of South Africa where agriculturists
cannot afford to pay £1 per acre per annum for perennially irrigated
land, and the system of irrigation as put before the Government shows
that this uniform rate would enable extensive projects to be undertaken
everywhere with profit.
Land tax is another question to be considered. Land in Orange River
Colony may be considered as having a mean value of 15s. per acre. The
suggested tax is 6d. per acre per annum. The effect of such tax would be
to weed the country of useless landowners, and replace them by
industrious and progressive farming men. On a basis of 6d. per acre per
annum, the Orange River Colony could pay £300,000 per annum.
In the Transvaal the dolomite region, the high veldt, and the
south-eastern corner--taken as worth 10s. an acre, and taxed at 4d. per
acre--would bring in annually some £350,000. As in the Orange Colony,
irrigation works would add materially to the revenue. There would at
first be protests from all quarters, but eventually this systematic
taxation would prevent worthless landlords from accumulating property to
the detriment of progressive practical men.
In order to protect and improve the position of the farmers, Mr.
Willcocks recommends the formation of a Bureau of Agriculture after the
pattern of the Agricultural Bureau at Washington. Its representatives
collect information from far and near, and of every possible kind,
sending to headquarters all manner of agricultural produce. Experimental
farms are started in the various states, curious seeds are sown, and if
any variety proves adaptable to any particular region, the farmers are
promptly provided with seed corn, and thus assisted to keep at the head
of the world in agricultural production. Such a bureau in South Africa
would cause its agents to import legumins from Egypt, and labour-saving
machines from America, which last would halve the expenditure on
watercourses and earthwork of all classes.
Taken all round, South Africa with the addition of 3,000,000 acres of
perennially irrigated land (gained at an expenditure of £30,000,000, and
valued at £100,000,000), and also with 10,000,000 acres of land under
crops depending on rainfall (which might be valued at another
£100,000,000), would be a very different country from that which it is
to-day. In view of this immensely rich outlook, no South African
statesman should rest content with the transitory mineral wealth of the
moment, or the golden glories of a possible fifty years. Irrigation, and
irrigation alone, can secure permanent wealth to any part of the South
African continent, and the Government that refuses to recognise the
vital importance of a sufficiently comprehensive land and irrigation
scheme, and that hesitates while the land is ripe for regeneration--that
Government will deservedly go down to posterity as the Government of
lost opportunities.
[Illustration: PEELING BARK ON A WATTLE PLANTATION IN NATAL
After Photo by G. W. Wilson, Aberdeen.]
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Interesting details regarding the important industry of
wool-growing have been furnished by Mr. Allen Davison, Chief Inspector
of Sheep for the Cape Colony. See the following Chapter.
[11] The conditions of Vaal River irrigation differ entirely from those
on the Orange River; but irrigation could be provided at an expenditure
of about £10 per acre, and a water-rate of £1 per acre would pay all
expenses and five per cent. capital. To avoid trouble and ill-feeling,
it is suggested that the three colonies should settle their claims in
the respective rivers by the Cape Colony accepting the waters of the
Orange River as its property; while the Transvaal and the Orange River
Colony divided the Vaal between themselves.
[12] The dolomite region consists of the high plateaux on which the rain
falls, of the belt of dolomite in which the water is stored and out of
which the springs have their birth, and of the sandstone and
argillaceous rocks over which the water flows and where it is
principally utilised. Owing to displacement, the older rocks lie
highest, and the younger are less in altitude.
WOOL-GROWING
BY ALLEN G. DAVISON
_Chief Inspector of Sheep for the Cape Colony_
The Cape Colony, including the Transkeian Territories, may, from a
pastoral point of view, be divided into three parts: first, the grass
country of the east and south-east, 37,722 square miles in extent;
second, the mixed grass and karroo, in the north, centre, and
south-west, comprising an area of 57,617 square miles; and third, the
karroo proper, in the west and north-west, which includes 125,747 square
miles.
[Illustration: FLOCK OF FAT CROSS-BRED MERINO AND FAT-TAILED SHEEP
(The stone walls of the kraal are coped with cakes of "mist," or dried
sheep manure)]
Of these divisions the smallest in extent--the Grass Country--is the
most heavily stocked, some portions carrying as many as from four to
five hundred sheep to the square mile. Although the natural pasture may
not compare favourably with that of other stock-raising countries, it
possesses advantages which cannot be surpassed elsewhere in the Colony.
The flocks grazed in this locality are, generally speaking, superior in
breed, and the wool is light, clean, and well grown, commanding the
highest prices realised for Cape clips. Fencing has been systematically
and extensively carried out, and with but few exceptions, every farm is
enclosed, and subdivided into paddocks, at a cost of from £35 to £50 per
mile.
Along the coast, and for some miles inland, the grass grows rank and
sour, and is only eaten by stock when in the young and succulent stage.
Later in the season, when the pasture becomes dry and woody, it is quite
unfit for grazing purposes. In these parts merino sheep are rarely
found, the ravages of a disease named Heartwater having denuded the
farms of all small stock, with the exception of the common or Boer goat,
which thrives fairly well, and is kept in small flocks for milking and
slaughter.
The soil of the grass veldt being deficient in lime, the stock naturally
crave for salt, and in the northern districts farming cannot be carried
on successfully without a liberal supply being provided for large as
well as small stock. The grass country is, as a rule, better supplied
with water than any other part of the colony, the average annual
rainfall being over twenty-seven inches. There are also numerous streams
and springs which rarely fail even in the most severe droughts.
The mixed grass and karroo country of the central districts is
especially adapted for Angora goat-farming, though at the same time
merino sheep are kept in large numbers. The pasture consists mainly of
sweet grasses, interspersed with karroo bushes of various kinds, and
dwarf trees, among which may be mentioned the Spekboom (_Portulacaria
afra Jacq_), a fleshy, round-leaved, soft-wooded tree, which is a most
valuable food for sheep, cattle, goats, and even horses. The thornless
species of the prickly pear (_Opuntia Tuna_) is invaluable in seasons of
drought; and both the wild thorn and the mimosa tree furnish food of a
nourishing and sustaining nature. In the north and south-west, Angora
goats do not thrive so well, but in these localities merino sheep and
Boer goats are kept in large numbers.
Steek grass (_Aristida congesta R and S_) grows in many parts of the
mixed veldt, and is one of the greatest drawbacks to successful farming.
The seeds of this grass do not readily fall when ripe, and are thus
liable to be carried away by sheep and goats in their fleeces. Many
clips are seriously damaged by this seed, which mats the hair and wool
into hard solid masses, and often working through the fleece pierces the
skin, causing intense irritation, and in some cases even death.