8 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. — July, 1922. 



The Great Problem of Drought in South Africa. 



It was in the October, 1920, issue of the Jmirnal that meiiiion was 

 made of the appoiutmeut of a Commission to inquire into the best 

 means of avoiding' losses by drought, and of the wide scope of inquiry 

 embraced in its terms of reference. Since then the Commission has 

 l)een steadily pursuing its investigations, and its members have tra- 

 velled far and wide, visiting in the course of their journeys the remote 

 areas as well as the nearer districts of the Union where the grip of 

 drought has left a clearly discernible mark in the stretches of deterior- 

 ated veld that are encountered. The subject does not onlj^ concern the 

 farmer : it is of national importance, for the continuance of present 

 conditions which give rise to the recurring droughts that afflict this 

 country will leave a heritage of loss to the whole community disturb- 

 ing to contemplate. To the Commission the trail of consequences 

 leading to our present unhappy position is plainly visible. The 

 prevailing system of kraaling sheep due cheifly to the jackal danger, 

 and also to the inadequacy of drinking water facilities, the consequent 

 destruction of vegetation and the resulting soil erosion, leading in 

 turn to a serious diminution in the efficiency of the country's rainfall, 

 constitute a chain of misfortunes that in the comparatively short space 

 of our history has brought the country to a point where it is imperative 

 to take steps to stay the process now graduallj" eroding the foundation 

 of oiir material existence — the soil. The causes leading to the aridity 

 of the country that is giving rise to so much misgiving, are told in the 

 Interim lieport* of the Commission, and we would urge every farmer, 

 particularly those engaged in sheep farming, to obtain a copy. It is 

 a report of absorbing interest. To cope with the growing danger the 

 Commission is of opinion that certa.in steps are essential. In the first 

 place the organisation of the farming community must be advanced 

 with all possible dispatch ; the abandonment of the present system of 

 kraaling for one under which the sheep can live a natural life is an 

 essential and it connotes the extermination of the jackal, that animal 

 of ill-omen to whose continued presence must be attributed so much of 

 our present trouble. Then it is recommended that cheap fencing- 

 material be provided in order to enable farmers more speedily to adopt 

 a system of paddocking the value of which cannot be enijiha sized 

 sufficiently, and which has already been advocated in the Jovrnal (The 

 Value of the Paddock System, August, 1921) ; with it stands the need 

 for farmers to improve their facilities for watering stock in which the 

 Commission recommends that the State should give every encourage- 

 ment. One of the most important principles recommended is the 

 adoption by the State of some system of controlling soil erosion. The 

 prosecution of investigations into certain grazing and fodder problems 

 the Commission finds a matter of necessity. And with it all the Com- 

 mission advocates the inauguration of propaganda which will spread 

 throughout the wide reaches of the country, bringing enlightenment 

 to the farmer of the facilities already provided by the State for the 

 purpose of assisting him in his farming pursuits, and, above all, 

 urging the need of reformation in farming methods to combat the 

 drought menace, and enable him to succeed where otherwise failure 

 is certain. 



* "Interim Report of the Drought Investigation Commission, Aj.,ril, 1922." Obtainable 

 from the Government Printer, Pretoria. Price 2s., post free. 



