598 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[January i, 1883. 



REVIEW OF 20 YEARS' PLANTING IN 

 NATAL. 



Mr. Manning, in retiring from the chair of the 

 Victoria (Natal) Planters' Association, referred as 

 follows to past and present experiences in that colony: — 



At the beginning of that time (20 years ago) we 

 were all very sanguine about coffee; everyone thought 

 that if a man could only get planted his 100 or IfiO 

 acres of coffee he ought by a few years of frugality 

 and intelligent work to secure to himself a sufficient, 

 honorable, and manly competency for the remainder 

 of his life, and- a great many people settled them- 

 selves upon the coast in the endeavour to realise this 

 hope ; and there were a great many fine young fellows 

 along the coast who planted coffee, well educated, 

 well connected, intelligent, energetic young men, men 

 too of money, men with a thousand or four or five 

 thousand pounds, who set to work with a will, clear- 

 ing ground, and planting coffee, studying seasons, 

 comparing experiences, and doing everything that 

 determined and energetic young fellows should to make 

 their venture a success ; and yet that is an episode 

 we must look back to with regret. At that time we 

 grew a great deal of cotton, and had frequent meet- 

 ings and discussions as to the best kinds to grow 

 and best methods of cultivation. A very noticeable 

 feature too at the time, which all will remember 

 who have been here so long, was the very frequent 

 influx of Amatogna and Basuto native labourers which 

 took place ten or twelve years ago, which was so 

 great that a great many planters opposed the con- 

 tinued introduction of coolies, which gave rise 

 to the question of the registration of all kafirs, but 

 which came to an abrupt close upon the turning 

 aside of this stream of immigration to the Diamond 

 Fields, an<l afterwards its stoppage by the Zulu and 

 other native wars. One cannot refer to this tupic 

 of labourers and immigration of native tribes with- 

 out being reminded of the remarkably amic- 

 able relations which always existed between planters 

 and their coloured servants (hear, hear). There are 

 agitators who represent that they do injustice to them; 

 but we remember that they are always eager for 

 serfice, and how amicabl« are the relations existing 

 between them. About that time too we were all very 

 anxious about redwater amongst the cattle, and planters 

 losses were enormous, but happily that has so entirely 

 passed away that now it is almost forgotten, and they 

 at that time ascertained facts which were made public 

 by this Association, and the newspapers which will 

 be found to be useful if ever such an outbreak again 

 occurs. Of a much more recent date, but equally 

 important is the settlement of the time-expired Indiana 

 on the land to an extent altogether unlooked-for, 

 and yet very important and bringing with it good 

 and evil intermixed, so that one should hesitate to 

 pronounce authoritatively upon it. It has pres- 

 ented itself to our notice in various aspects, 

 and the Association has thought it necessary to take 

 action upon it in some of its developments. Their 

 settlement upon the land in such great numbers and 

 their cultivation of certain articles has been a very 

 l)ad thing for me individually ; bnt they may perhaps 

 be induced to produce something that can be exported 

 and thus uodoubtedly add to the good ot the colony. 

 But through all these periods, through all these 

 fluctuating and changing interests, there has been one 

 ;i biding and standing industry of which we were 

 hopeful 15 years ago at the time of the commence- 

 ment of this Association and of which we have good 

 reason to be hopeful now, and that is the produc- 

 tion of sugar (hear, hear, and applause). It is est- 

 ablishing itself, I think, we m.-iy say without hesita- 

 tion, year after year more and more, and is becom- 

 ing more and more a speciality of the coast lands of 

 Natal. The advent of our many experienced friends 



from Mauritius did not have the effect of changing 

 so utterly, so entirely our systems of cultivation and 

 manufacture as was expected by many ; but I think 

 it may be safely admitted to the coniplimeut of them 

 that their good example has led to greater carefulness 

 in both manufacture and cultivation (hear, hear, and 

 applause). The development of the system of central 

 mills, I think we may hope much good from with 

 respect to the estalilished industy of the cost of Natal ; 

 when they can be hound in same interest with the 

 railway they must lead to a great increase of acreage. — 

 Natal Mercury. 



BER-CMLTURE. 

 (From the Madras Mail, Dec. 13.) 

 vSlR, — I have not heard of a single instance of the 

 domestication of the Indian honey-bee. I entertained 

 the idea of doing so some years ago, but having failed 

 to obtain a swarm in this country, I had two swarms 

 of Italian bees imported from London, one in Janu- 

 ary 1S74, and the other at the end of 1875, both of 

 which thrived till the middle of 1S76, when I missed 

 the queen-bees. They either left their hives with the 

 emigrants at the swarming season, or were destroyed 

 by some accident. Anyhow, the remaining bees failed 

 to raise a new queen, and as I had not the time 

 nor the means then of getting a new queen elsewhere 

 for them, both swarms dwindled away gradually and 

 became extinct. I had fixed the hives in a verandah 

 on the roof of my house here. I was constantly absent 

 from home and could not pay them the necessary at- 

 tention myself, and as my servants disliked them 

 intensely, they neglected my orders and probably failed 

 to give them water during the hot weather. Whether 

 any colonies quitted the stock-hive I cannot say, as 

 I used to be absent for months at a time. I remem- 

 ber once removing a .super that I had placed over 

 the first hive and which contained forty-five pounds 

 of honey which was very luscious. I kept the first 

 swarm in one of Woodbury's straw-bar and frame 

 hives, of which I have eight at present with me 

 in very good condition, and the second swarm 

 I removed from the stock-hive in which it came into 

 one of Neighbour's unicomb observatory hives where 

 I could watch the whole process of their labours, 

 which was very interesting. My poor liees had several 

 formidable enemies to contend with. The bee. eaters 

 and king-crows used to perch themselves on the top- 

 most blanch of some tree close by, and dart down 

 and seize the unforiunate bees as they flew to and 

 from their home, and thus destroyed vast numbers 

 of them. I employed a servant on purpose to shoot 

 these birds, and though he killed hundreds of them 

 we found it impossible to extirpate them. I have 

 counted as many as twenty bees in the crops of some 

 of these birds, so that you can conceive what whole- 

 sale destruction they wrought. Nor were they left 

 unmolested at nights. They had night-enemies also, 

 among which moths were the most conspicuous. They 

 came to steal the honey and paid dearly for their 

 rapacity, for I have counted many as eighty killed 

 by the b^es near the hive in the course of three months. 

 Ouce, on examining the hive, I found a moth had 

 succeeded in actually forcing its way into the hive. 

 They bad killed it there but as they could not cast 

 it out they enclosed it in a wax tomb. I am of 

 opinion that eiiher Indian or foreign bees will not 

 thrive in the plains. Tliey have many enemies to 

 contend with. The natives have a strong prejudice 

 against them, and will on no account go near them. 

 They will have scare. dy any pasturage during apart 

 of the year, and the heat of the climate ii also against 

 them. It is in our mountain ranges that the honey 

 bee has its home, ai d as I know of no method by 

 which wild swarms could be captured in this country 

 for the purpose of domestication, I would advise the 

 importation ot foreign bees, which could be easily 



