Notes. 105 



expensive than air-curing) have not met with a sufficiently encourag- 

 ing response from the buyer to compensate them for their effort's. 

 Therefore air-curing continues. But at the best it is speculative, for 

 the grower is at the mercy of the elements, while with flue-curing he 

 can control them and cure his crop successfully notwitlistaudmg the 

 state of the weather. In his article Mr. Oosthuizen explains the 

 various methods of curing, and how they may best be employed. 



The tobacco crop calls for skill throughout its various stages and 

 is subject to so many vicissitudes, that of all farm crops it is entitled 

 perhaps to the greatest margin of profit. Not the least of its exactions 

 is met with after the crop is harvested, for then the leaf must be 

 prepared for market, and however successful the grower may have 

 been up to that point, bad management may render his product prac- 

 tically worthless. Mr. Oosthuizen deals also with this phase of the 

 industry, and shows how success is to be met in the very important 

 part of preparing the leaf for market. 



Irrigation Dangers and their Avoidance. 



It may be unnecessary, perhaps, to lay emphasis on the all- 

 important part that irrigation must perform in the future develop- 

 ment of the country, but its success lies in the hands of those who will 

 depend on irrigation-water in their farming operations; and they 

 have much to learn. To the casual onlooker it may appear that grow- 

 ing crops under permanent irrigation is much simpler than under 

 a good rainfall. History shows, however, that the production of crops 

 unaer irrigation demands much more skill and knowledge than their 

 production under rainfall only. Vast sums of money have been lost 

 through the ruination of land as a result of faulty irrigation. To 

 those concerned it is a matter of supreme importance that they should 

 be advised at the outset of the dangers that surround a practice that 

 if wisely applied provides the most enduring kind of farming, but 

 that otherwise is a danger with far-reaching results. An articJe brim- 

 ful of irrigation truths is publislied in this number of the Journal. 

 It is written by Dr. Turpm, the Lecturer on Crops at the Grootfontem 

 School of Agriculture, and deals with irrigation in its relation to 

 crop yields, soil, and brak. It is not proposed to particularize any of 

 the many points so clearly made by the author; suffice to say that 

 the farming public as a whole has yet to realize that it is not quantity 

 of water that counts. Its injudicious application, indeed, leads to 

 evils that may bring disaster both to the guilty and innocent. " If 

 all farmers," writes Dr. Turpin, " will use their witer sparingly, and 

 will see to it that their lands are well drained naturally or artificially, 

 I feel sure that most of our irrigation problems will disappear." This 

 is surely an appealing fact in a country where water and not land is 

 the limiting factor in plant growth. And as the crowning feature of 

 irrigation, mention is made of its need for that spirit of co-operation 

 which enables the farmer unflinchingly to consider his neighbour's 

 interests with his own, and leads to the advancement of the national 

 character. 



