Departmental Activities. 19 



DAIRYING. 



For some time past the grading of cheese for local consumption 

 has been undertaken only through the East Griqualand Cheese Manu- 

 facturers' Association, the Government paying huU the salary of the 

 grader and the balance being paid by the members of the associaciou 

 who, in addition, supply the necessary transport from factory to 

 factory. This scheme in itself served a very useful purpose, but since its 

 inauguration other bodies of cheesemakers, with no such organization, 

 also required their cheese graded for the local markets. Authority has 

 now been obtained, however, to engage extra graders, and the Divi- 

 sion of Dairying is prepared to undertake grading for local consump- 

 tion, in any part of the Union, at a charge of ^d. per lb. for all cheese 

 graded. This is considered a move in the right direction, and, as all 

 officers engaged in the work will be under the direct supervision of 

 the Dairy Division, it is anticipated that the dissatisfaction which has 

 prevailed during the past twelve months or so will disappear entirely. 



It should, however, be borne in mind, that grading for the export 

 trade will be, as in the past, absolutely compulsory, and the question 

 as to whether cheese graded for local consumption will be accepted 

 for export depends entirely on the period at which it was graded, 

 before application for export is made. For example, it is intended 

 to grade cheese for the local markets on similar lines to those adopted 

 for the export trade, so that if cheese has been graded for local con- 

 sumption within three weeks (or, if the report of the grader is 

 satisfactory, within five weeks) of the date on which it is desired to 

 export same, such grading will be accepted; on the other hand, if 

 regrading is deemed necessary, a further charge of ^d. per lb. for 

 grading for export will be made. 



The following are the present headquarters of the staff of the 

 Division: Orange Free State: Dairy Inspectors Veenstra and Allison, 

 Bloemfontein ; Eastern Division of the Cape : Dairy Inspector 

 Wilkinson, Queenstown ; Natal and East Griqualand, Dairy Inspector 

 Gow, Pietermaritzburg ; Transvaal: Dairy Inspector Oosterlaak, 

 Pretoria, assisted from time to time by other officers, when available. 

 The staff of the Division is not at full strength at present, but when 

 it is these arrangements may be subject to alteration, and it is quite 

 possible that an extra officer will be stationed in the Cape Province. 



SHEEP. 



Mr. McCall, Senior Sheep and Wool Expert of the Eastern 

 Province of the Cape reports that the drought there is very severe, 

 causing great loss to the farmers. The mortality amongst sheep in 

 the Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage districts is very high, notwith- 

 standing the fact that food and water were never really scarce There 

 seems to be no particular specific disease, but a kind of fever and 

 lung trouble (including nasal catarrh) seem to be the outstanding 

 causes of Ict-s. He states that as one travels from the coast towards the 

 midlands the country becomes increasingly dry, and the areas sur- 

 rounding Albany resemble a parched desert. The district of Bedford 

 is a little better, but still very dry. Owing to scarcity of grazing and 

 water some farmers have been obliged to move their stock to the 

 coast, East London way, and others to the Sneeuwberg. The situation 

 is very grave, and. unless rain falls early, farmers will suffer severely 

 in those parts of the Union. 



