320 Journal or the Dep-vktment of Ageiculture. — Oct., 1922. 



liis courage to tlio f'oic wlicii he views llie magnitude of the task tliat 

 lies before liini, especially aftef reading the above reconiniendations 

 that portray the need tor greater facilities in a coiiiihy which already 

 possesses much that wv have yet to attain. As in America, so in 

 South Africa, the (jovernment cannot wave a wand that will set in 

 motion the various steps that bring" stability. There will be nniny 

 to exclaim : — " AVe ask for bread and are given a stone ! " But what- 

 ever the (iovernment may do, nothing' worth while can Ijc achieved 

 without the self-help of the farmer. There is no short and royal road 

 out of tlie morass of our difficulties: with patience, fortitude, mutual 

 tiust, and an intense desire to h^arn and improve, the farmer must 

 })ress on. His mainstay and h()j)e is co-operation, and of the true 

 kind. Let it g-row rather from small but thoroughlv sound and 

 business-like beg-inning\s. The reward will surely follow, perhaps 

 more speedily than at present we can !ioi)e for. If every farmer 

 realized this, the task, indeed, would be easy and imi)rovement of 

 conditions marked and abiding". 



There is another consideration, and it affects the town dweller 

 ])erhai)s more than the farmer, and that is a keener, national spirit 

 in the consumi)tion of the coimtry's products. The locally produced 

 article should come first in every case, and in perishable products such 

 as fruit and veg-etables, c.msumption should be stimulated The 

 l)laint of the consumer, and he has reason for it, is that fruit and 

 veg'etables, for instance, are too expensive, and that their consumption 

 has to be reduced to the barest limits consonant with g"ood health; 

 on the other liand the producer suffers from an inadequate market 

 and ])oor ])rices Here exists a condition that proper org-anization can 

 remedy : co-operation ag-ain is the means of bringing" producer and 

 consumer into more direct tf)Uch than the present system offers. And 

 so in othei' ways, the rock on whicli the farmer must found himself 

 is that of c()-o])eration which ensures both material and spiritual 

 benefit. With this sure aid, and confidence in an industry that has 

 siirvived other crises and has almost forg'otten obstacles that at one 

 time seemed unsurmountable, farmers, even in the most depressed 

 districts, have pros])ects that few other countries can better. 



Plant Nurseries in Quarantine as at 1st September, 1922. 



