22 PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 



has taught ( ireat Britain a vakiable lesson with regard to neglect 

 of cultivation, which she is not likely to forget. There, the 

 grasslands have constituted 6y i)er cent, of the total area of 

 arable land as compared with Germany's 32 per cent., while the 

 tons of corn raised per 100 acres have been given as 15 and t,^, 

 respectively. We know that but a small percentage of the soil 

 of South Africa is arable, and that only a fraction of that has 

 yet been developed. We produce 40 per cent, of our wheat re- 

 quirements, and are already large exporters of maize, so that 

 the ])ossibilities of South Africa, as a cereal producing country, 

 may to some extent be realised. It is a hopeful sign that far- 

 mers are lieginning to venture further in new directions ; fruit 

 growing, especially that of citrus fruits, is (levelo])ing rapidly, 

 and a successful Ijeginning has iieen made with cotton growing 

 in the Transvaal. In 1(jt6 seed was purchased, mainly fn^m the 

 Department ui Ajiriculture, for 2,000 acres, and a yield of 

 100,000 to 150,000 pounds of cotton obtained. During the i^ast 

 sea.son seed for 6,000 acres w^as sold, and when one thinks of 

 the bye-i)roducts in the form of cotton-seed oil and fertilisers, 

 it is clearly seen how imi)ortant such an industry as cotton grow- 

 ing may become. In South Africa the Government is exj^ected 

 to do everything; so the cotton growers recently ap])roached the 

 De])artment of Alines and Industries with a view to Government 

 assistance being given for the establishment centrallv of the 

 necessary mechanical plant. Whether the (Government should 

 be exjjected to assist directly in this way is a moot point ; at any 

 rate, the cotton growers were referred to the Land Bank with 

 a view to obtaining a loan on co-operative lines. But the work 

 which -the Government is now doing — obtaining co-ordinated in- 

 (formation — is clearly a (rovernmental duty, which, it is tO' be 

 hoped, it will continue to do. 



While the war has had the effect of stimulating, and in 

 some cases initiating, production, it has also served to draw 

 attention to products hitherto neglected, which could be used 

 as substitutes. But think how little has been done to manufac- 

 ture the valuable products from maize — -alcohol, starch, glucose, 

 dextrine, glycerine, corn oil, etc., apart from the valuable feed- 

 ing stuffs and other bye-products obtained from these industries. 

 At the last annual meeting of the S.A. Maize Growers" Associa- 

 tion the President comi)lained that practically nothing had been 

 done to develop maize products in this country, and urged the 

 appointment of a whole-time officer of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment to devote his energies to the maize growing industry and 

 its many products. A new future is opened up for the maize 

 grower by the possibility of the extended use of alcohol for 

 power purposes. An investigation carried out two years ago 

 demon.strated the practicability of alcohol as a motor fuel, so 

 that now it is entirely a matter of commercial manufacture. In 

 America the greater ])art of the industrial alcohol )jroduced is 

 made from maize. A factory, costing over £50,000, is in course 

 of completion at Durban to produce alcohol from molasses, a 



