Restriction on Imports of Maize and Barley. 



The public is reminded that, by virtue of Proclamation No. "oA 

 of olst January, 1920, a permit is necessary for tlie introduction of 

 any maize or barley into the TTnion from oversea and, incidentally, 

 from any part of South Africa outside the Union, except Southern 

 Rhodesia, Bechuanaland Protectorate, Basutoland, and Swaziland. 



Permits are given only in respect of such seed intended for 

 sowing, and it has been decided that no permit shall be given to 

 enable any person to import in any one calendar year more than ten 

 pounds of the seed in any one variety. Any seed admitted has to be 

 disinfected, under the supervision of an officer of the Department, by 

 immersing it for fifteen minutes in a one-tenth of one per cent, water 

 solution of mercuric bichloride. A disinfection fee of 2s. 6d. per 

 hundred pounds or part thereof is charged. 



Applications for permits should be addressed to the Chief, 

 Division of Entomology, Box 51'^), Pretoria; each should state the 

 name of the variety, the country of origin, the quantity desired, the 

 port through which it would arrive, and the full name and address 

 of liotli the proposed consignor and consignee. 



Spineless Cactus Propagation. 



To meet our constantly recurring droughts, the importance of 

 providing reserves of fodder for stock is increasingly being brought 

 home to the farmer, and, as a means to this end, many have in the 

 past found prickly pear to be of considerable value. But the spines 

 make it most difficult of handling, and are harmful also to the 

 animals that eat them. These disabilities in a most useful fodder 

 ])]ant have been overcome, however, by selection and breeding, and 

 the spineless varieties thus produced give every promise of becoming 

 one of the foremost means, in parts of the Union, of safeguarding 

 the stockowner against the onslaughts of drought. In particular the 

 Karroo areas will benefit greatly by the establishment of the spineless 

 cactus, and in this connection it is interesting to learn that experi- 

 ments with the plants under Karroo conditions at the Grootfontein 

 School of Agriculture, Middelburg, Cape, have been very satis- 

 factory, and the following information obtained from Mr. Donkin, 

 the experimentalist there, will prove very useful at the present time 

 to those farmers wlio desire to propagate the spineless cactus as an 

 insurance against seasons of drought and as a reliable fodder crop 

 generally. 



The feeding value of spineless cactus, Mr. Donkin states, is 

 very low, and is approximately the same as "prickly pear," both 

 having about 90 per cent, of water, a low crude fibre content (4 per 

 cent, at most), ash 1 to 2 per cent., protein up to 1 per cent., fat 

 about i per cent., and carbohydrates about 3 per cent. Its great value 

 to the stockman lies in the permanency of its plants : it is always 

 there even in times of protracted drought. Further, it is palatable, and 

 stock can subsist on it without additional water. It grows success- 

 fully under conditions of low rainfall, needing only a good start 

 in life. Its resistance to frost may be judged from the fact that only 



