120 



i^k 'rkOPlCAL AGR icOLtXjK^st. 



{AfcifeuST i; i^aj. 



The pomegianate-tree, too, thrive? exceedingly well where- 

 ever it is plauteil, without the aiJ of raauure. The utility of 

 the tree needs no coQimeut. A plantation of such trees 

 would, in my opinion, pay well, and is jiracticable any where. 



But then the blue gum-tree has a gre;it future in the North 

 of the Transvaal. In the fl^strict ot' Waterberg (as large as 

 Netherhaud) there are a multitude of O] ei space."!, with excel- 

 lent soil and abundance of water, hat iangerous to health, 

 on account of prevailing agues. No.v t'lis tree possesses a 

 febrifugal property; a trial made to s -i if the tree would 

 thrive there, was completely successful , it throve as well as 

 in its native soil. 



Now to return once more to colonial productions. It Das 

 been foimd that coffee, sugar and cotton, as likewise oranges 

 ajid lemons are of au inferior quality to those of all the 

 other colonies. It is only in tobacco that South Africa 

 can bear away the palm and compete with the best as to 

 quality. However this can be said only of tobacco grown 

 North of the Vaal, as the Cape Colony also grows tobacco. 

 The soil of the Cape Colony being much heavier and less 

 saltpetrous, the tobacco produced there is much stronger 

 and less odoriferous, and more fit for chewing; while the 

 light, sandy soil of the North produces a tobacco, which if 

 it does not surpass that of the West and East-Iudiau islands, 

 is at any rate equal to it. MoBt places in the Transvaal 

 yield three crops in one season. Thetobacco of the last crop, 

 which is of course of an inferior quality, stands on a par 

 with inferior sorts of the Kimbolingo of Java. 



The only colonial pi-oduce that South Africa cannot pro- 

 duce is rice, but maize can be regarded as its substitute; it 

 has also been jestingly termed African rice. 



In the future, exports from South Africa may be thus 

 divided- Cape-Colony wool, hides and ostrich feathers; Gri- 

 gaallaud-West diamonds ; Orange Free-State wool and hides; 

 Natal coffee, sugar and cotton ; Transvaal coffee, sugar and 

 cotton, but chiefly tobacco. 



These cultures can only be effected by a good co-oper- 

 ation of trader and husbandman. About this we shall have 

 more to say in a following chapter after a short notice of 

 the disasters to which, especially there, agriculture is exposed. 



DISASTEUS TO WHICH AGEICULTlIEE IS SODTH AFRICA IS 

 EXPOSED. 



The first disaster to be dreaded is the failure of rains at the 

 usual period. The best remedies against droughts are, of 

 course, preventing ones; such are, the making of Large 

 dams' which will for along time preserve a sufficient supply 

 of water; or, if the ground is situated near a constant 

 watercourse, then a pumping machine is more expedient, 

 as the waterlevcl will, during a long drought fall far below 

 the banks (the Mooi-rivieri.s the only exception). The next 

 drawback is that game, such as spring-bucks, bles-bucks, or 

 the cattle of neighbours, may consume the crops, but a 

 brick wall about 6 ft. high, -will suffice to keep them off. 



Sometimes, though but once in ten years, locusts come 

 swarming from the North, and devour all the verdure. 

 Nature has provided her o^vn remedy in the locust-birds, which 

 follow in their wake and sometimes succeed in exterminating 

 them. The only human remedy is to have recourse to an 

 insurance company. 



More frequent is the plague of caterpillars ; these, however, 

 mostly confine themselves to low herbage, such as gi-ains, 

 greens or vegetables, etc. The gi-eat difference is that the 

 locusts devour everything, whereas the cateipillars leave 

 the stalks and nerves of the leaves. This calamity only 

 ceases when the caterpillars assume their larval form.^ so 

 that it lasts about two months; after the lapse of this time 

 the plants have still a chance of recovering themselves. If 

 practicalile, strewing powdered brimstone is a capital remedy. 

 Further drawbacks such as mildew, blight, etc. are common 

 to this as any other country. 



In the North, an animal called the fniin/i-haas (spring-hare) 

 gives the most trouble to the planter, by browshig on all 

 the tender plants shooting .above : ... ».-.rfaf;e. The remedy 



is traps. „ , , . ■ -r. 



But the gi-eatest calamity for the farmer is, as in Europe, 

 hail As an illustration of its des(ruetiveaess, we read in 

 tlir- South African weekly paper "de Pahiet" of the 23rd of 

 February 18" 3: — 



Bethaly (O. V. -5.) Hth February. 



"We had on Monday r.th F^-b. a f. arf-.il hailstorm. Many 

 gardens are destroyed; in some places the diimage amounts 



to £4iX). In tho village a blue gum-tree ^n"-. b-^di was up- 

 rooted. I hear that the hailstorm exten ' istance 

 of ten hours' ride. 



"The hailstorms are remarl^able for their ri;t-. uw limits. 

 Over a tract where they have pass.-d, a path 400 yards 

 broad is formed, between the limits of which every thing 

 is beaten down the hail." ^ 



In conclusion it may be remarlced that cattle, horses and 

 mules, are all subject to the same maladies as in Europe ; 

 asses alone the of o'd age, or by the accident. 



After this .short sketch, we must examine what the co- 

 operation of the trader and the hasbandman can do for the 

 extension of cultures. Last yeav sundry magistrates in the 

 colony and in the chief places of their districts, convened 

 meetings of the shop-keepers aud traders of the district, 

 to set on foot for next year an Agricultvual Kxhibition, and 

 to discuss the best means for the encom-agement of com- 

 merce and agriculture. Indeed these are much in decline 

 in South-Africa. — India Mercury. 



Obaxge Ccxture. — Does orange cidture pay on pine land? 

 Yes. Mr. J. L. Chandler li-ving three miles from town netted 

 from half an acre, consisting of 32 trees, between S400 

 and $500 the past season, aud yet the crop was a short 

 one. Sixteen of his trees are twelve-year old seedluigs, 

 aud the remaining sixteen, seven-year old buds. The 

 croakers who say that oranges will not pay on pine land 

 may digest this if they please. — Florida Ayriculiuriit. 



Labouh IX Fiji. — It is very evident that the planters of 

 Fiji are now experiencing a crisis in tlieir labor supply that 

 must entirely revolutionise the working of plantations. The 

 cost of Polynesians has, within three years pa.st, increased 

 so rapiiUy in every particular, th,-it it is impossible to grow 

 produce at the rates which, as an example, were contracted 

 for on the P>ewa a year or two ago with the Colonial Sugar 

 Company. Even then the price given for cane was not con- 

 sidered quite just to the planter, and now, with the in- 

 crease<l cost which a fresh supply of laborers at current rates 

 involves, it is hopeless to think of making auv return, 

 out of even large areas, at the prices then fixeil on. It 

 is almost beyond a doubt that Fiji employers will he dri- 

 ven to try to obtain laborers from some other country. 

 The experiment of bringing coolies from India has not 

 been thoroughly satisfactory, and the cost is now as fully 

 proliiliitory as it Ls for Polynesians. The trial of Cliinese 

 has yet to be made, and it seems not miUkely that they 

 may be, after all, really the best and cheapest for Agric- 

 ultural work. The letter, in another column, from Jlr. 

 Boyd, whom our readers -will remember as not long ago 

 a resilient in Fiji, gives some information, derived from 

 practical knowledge, which seems to indicate that they 

 may .be found well fitted for Fiji. At all events, if, by 

 employing these, the harrassment from Government inter- 

 ference could be avoided, that of itself would be a great 

 gain in every way. — Fi^ji Times. 



Okanges iMPOETED AND Geq-wk IN' FLORIDA. — The im- 

 portation of Mediterranean fruit at the port of New York 

 from Sicily, Italy and Spain during the year 1882, com- 

 prised 9.')3,8o7 boxes and cases of oranges ami 1,052,874 

 boxes of lemons. The importation of oranges from the 

 West Indies, Central and South America consisted of five 

 full cargoes aud parts of several cargoes by saihug vessels. 

 and 83,587 barrels by 111 steamers. The total number 

 imported comprised 31,260,587 oranges, of which 11.217,811 

 perished on the voyage, a loss of 36 per cent. The him- 

 dreds of thousands (it may he millions of trees heretofore 

 transplanted are annually arriving at a hearing state, and 

 a large crop of fine oranges the past season has amply 

 rewarded the labor bestowed upon their cultivation. Per- 

 .severance and more experience -will insure lasting rer.dts, 

 so far as the permanence of the fruit-grovring industry is 

 concerned, and constantly increasing ri turns to its promoters. 

 The writer pr^licts that the produotb of the orauge groves 



of Florida in a .sing'e decade -will '■•■ ■■■* *■ ly 



the whole T'nited States with an :' s. 



About 2''0,'"-n<) hniea and barrels > ' .1 



to this city this seascm fioiu Fl -,' a, i-.i..! t-uinl u ready 

 market, aiid about 300,000 boxes and barrels of oranges 

 were distributed through the West, South mid South-west 

 from the s:i:ii s^nrce,. The tr^V, in W ■' India oranges 

 ^e. p^st .ypr provesji^botU un^tisfactory and unprofitable. 

 —Ftoftia Agriculturist. 



