Departmental Ac;tivities. 29 



Hafvesting Cotton. — Begin picking when the field is fairly white, 

 when one-third to one-fourth of the bolls are open, about three weeks 

 after the first bolls burst. Three to four pickings are necessary to 

 clean the field, and these pickings come about ten to twenty days 

 apart, depending on the heat. Any dirty or stained cotton should 

 be kept separate. Do not harvest iminediately after a rain or while 

 the dew is still on. The cotton should be dry when picked; if not, 

 spread it. out on a bucksail for a few hours, till it is dry. Tramp 

 the seed cotton into a wool pack, 400 to 450 lb. in each pack, sew up 

 the end of the pack, and write your name on it before sending it to 

 the gin. This machine separates the seed and lint. 



One native should harvest about one muid bag well filled (50 lb.) 

 in a day, at a cost of Is. to 2s. per bag. Hiring labour ])y piece work 

 for the harvest is the best method. 



Approximately one-third of the weight is lint and two-thirds 

 seed. The present price of lint in England of American middling- 

 quality is about 11.5d. per lb. ; our lint usually runs 50 to 150 points 

 on American middlings (i.e. lA. to lid. per lb. above middling 

 prices) . 



After the cotton is ginned the lint is put into compressed bales, 

 then it is ready to be shipped to the oversea market. The seed may 

 be used for reseeding purposes, sold to an oil mill, or ground and 

 fed to cattle. 



THE SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE AND EXPERIMENT 



STATIONS. 



GROOTFONTEIN, MIDDELBURG (CAPE). 



Sheep-feeding Experiments. — The experiments with prickly 

 pear are being continued and extended to include the feeding ot 

 prickly pear to small stock running on poor dry veld. A summarized 

 account of the experiments to date Avas sent during the month to 

 those daily papers which circulate in the present drought-stricken 

 areas, with a view to advising farmers how to make the best of what- 

 ever prickly pear they may have on their farms. Hamels were kept 

 alive for about 250 days on nothing but prickly pear; but during 

 that period they lost much weight. Another outstanding feature 

 of the trials was found in the wonderful way in which a small dai 

 ration of lucerne improved the availability of the nutritive consti- 

 tuents of prickly-pear ; another feature was the rapid recovery to 

 prime condition of prickly-pear-fed sheep when turned on to the 

 veld after the early summer rains. Perhaps still more interesting is 

 the fact that for over 400 days certain of the animals had no other 

 source of water than prickly pear '" leaves." 



Cattle and ostriches are also being fed on rations in which 

 prickly pear is a very important item — the sole one in some cases — 

 but it is yet too early to report progress. 



