Departmental Activities. 215 



Unfortunately, owing to the prolonged drought, little practical 

 v.ork was possible and consequently the 1920 course was, in the main, 

 a theoretical one, the major portion of the time being devoted to 

 lectures. 



By courtesy of the management of the Tweespruit Dairies and 

 the Bloemfontein Creamery, the students were allowed to see the 

 working of a butter and cheese factory under commercial conditions ; 

 and were further given an opportunity of making cheddar and Gouda 

 cheese, and also practice in cheese and cream grading. Such visits 

 are of great educational value to the men, and this opportunity is 

 taken of thanking Messrs. Fischer and Dalldorf for making the trip 

 the success it undoubtedly was. 



The final examinations began on 1st December, and the results 

 are as follows : — 



Diploma, with Honours. — G. Pote. 



First-class Diploma. — E. T. St. George, A. Jones, W. Dalldorf. 



Second-class Diploma. — G. Lake, C. G. Taylor, P. van der 

 Merwe,A. Morton, C. S. van der Walt. 



Eight of the men have already begun their practical work in the 

 various factory dairies. 



There can be no doubt that these courses are of immense value 

 not only to the men who attend the course, but to the dairy industry, 

 since the trained man can assist the farmer by giving him technical 

 advice which brings benefit to both producer and consumer. 



The dairy course will be held this year at the School of Agricul- 

 ture, Glen, Orange Free State, commencing on the 15th February. 



CEDARA, NATAL. 



Ea;periments ivith New Varieties of Sugar Cane. — The first six 

 ^arieties dealt with in this investigation are those introduced about 

 two years ago from the Argentine Republic by the Natal Sugar 

 Association. These were planted out on the Winkle Spruit Experi- 

 ment Farm on 7th November, 1918, and harvested on 8th December, 

 1920. 



All the Argentine varieties made very vigorous growth and 

 compared well with the stands of Uba and other varieties growing in 

 the immediate vicinity of the plots. All these varieties of cane, 

 however, were more or less inclined to lodge, although they were 

 raised in a well-sheltered spot on the farm. The plots were com- 

 paratively small, so no undue importance should be attached to the 

 figures in the following tables giving the yields per acre for each 

 variety, but the figures are sufficiently accurate to warrant the state- 

 ment that each variety is a good cropper. Since these Argentine 

 canes have been haiwested it has been observed that they are all 

 ratooning fairly well. 



The cane known as Agual is about the only one left of the nine 

 varieties imported from India in 1911. It seemingly belongs to the 

 same group as the Uba, and like the latter thrives very well indeed 

 under local climatic conditions; it ratoons well, does not lodge, and 

 is not subject to attack by the " borer " insect. 



The Cheribon cane is one of the three varieties received in March, 

 1909, from Egypt, and is the only one that thrived sufficiently well 



