256 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATION. 



By H. A. Melle, B.A., Division of Botany. 



Up to twenty years ago South Africa was regarded as the most back- 

 ward dominion in the British Empire. A writer in 1901, comparing- 

 it with the others, showed that South Africa was the second oldest 

 dominion and yet lagged far behind the other British colonies in 

 every industry with the exception of those of gold and diamonds. 

 He attributed this backwardness to the adverse conditions prevailing 

 in South Africa, and went on to say that if the early settlers of South 

 Africa had gone to any other British colony they would have fared 

 infinitely better. Thanks, however, to the unremitting efforts of the 

 farmer and the Department of Agriculture, numerous plagues, pests, 

 and droughts have been mastered and many economic problems 

 solved, establishing our agriculture on a firm basis and removing the 

 element of gambling formerly associated with farming in South 

 Africa. Agriculture is now recognized as the premier industry of 

 the Union, and farming in South Africa has made more comparative 

 progress in recent years than any other country in the world. This 

 was evident at the last Royal Agricultural Show at Darlington. 

 South Africa has been notorious for its poor exhibits abroad, but this 

 year, thanks in a large measure to the enterprise of the Trade Com- 

 missioner, Mr. Canham, the South African exhibit was one of the 

 chief features of the show. 



Our agricultural progress is reflected in increased production, 

 decreasing imports and increasing exports of farm produce, improved 

 methods of farming, the rising value of farm land, etc., and one of 

 the most marked features of our forward movement is the recognition 

 of the importance of organization 



For convenience we can divide agricultural organization under 

 three heads : — 



(1) Organization of the farm ; (2) organization of farmers in 

 regard to the purchase of their requirements and disposal 

 of their produce, i.e. co-operation ; (3) organization in the 

 relationship between the State and the farmer. 



(1) Organization of the Farm. 



It is not the purpose of this article to go into the details of 

 organizing a farm, but merely to emphasize the importance of running 

 a farm on business principles. 



Strict book-keeping is one of the essentials of sound farm manage- 

 ment. The average farmer is primarily an open-air man. He works 

 hard all day and does not concern himself much with account keeping. 

 He likes to be out and about and hates to sit down to figures. He 



