The Progress of Agriculture in South Africa. 



THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN 

 SOUTH AFRICA. 



A RetrosDect. 



Since tlie dawn of ao-riciilturnl entevpiiso in South Africa, when the 

 eaiiy settlers on the shores of Table Bay f>'rew ve<>etal)les for their 

 own consumption and for provisioning" the slii-ps oi the Netherlands 

 East India Company, the story of husbandry in our country shows 

 an unceasing- strug-gle with conditions of Nature— often forbidding 

 and ungracious. It shows, also, achieTement in spite of tlie many 

 and peculiar ])robleniS which beset the toilers whose livelihood 

 depended on the fruits wrung from the soil. The history of every 

 country reveals difhculties contended with in subduing untamed 

 Nature to the will of man, and tlie story of South Africa's struggle 

 wiJi rank Mith that of any countiy in its magnitude and varying 

 fortunes. 



Much has been achieved since the earU' days, when vegetable 

 growing de^eloped into vine culture and wheat growing-, and w4ien 

 stock-breeding first commenced. Numerous plagues, pests, and 

 droughts have been encouritered tind overcome, and many economic 

 problems have been solved. Agricultural South Africa has left behind 

 it for ever the days of bare existence and of dependence on the produce 

 of otJier lands. When the first glow of wea!th from the mines revealed 

 by contrast the liumble part of uur ag-riculture, there was heard the 

 word that the country's wealth lay solely in its minerals. That is 

 also of the past, for such progress has been made that agriculture is 

 now recognized as the premier industry of the Union. The cares and 

 anxieties of past problems soften and fade as time goes on, and one 

 looks ever to the future with its hopes and possibilities. Indeed, in 

 his eagerness to meet the morrow, man is apt to forget the small 

 beginnings of early days and to undervalue the work already 

 accomplished. 



It is therefore at this stage of our agricultural hislory that there 

 may be profit in reviewing the progress of the past, so that as we 

 look back over the distance travelled, we may take stock of the 

 finished work that has led us onwards to our present development. 



Evidence abounds of the remarkable advance of farming in recent 

 years, and there are few, if any, countries in the world which can, 

 comparatively speaking, show better progress than ours. Although 

 the conditions set up by the war augmented and hastened the 

 prosperity we now enjoy, the root of the real and substantial progress 

 we have made is the unremitting efforts of the farmer and the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in South Africa. While the individual and 

 collective activity of the farmer is, naturally, the greatest factor in 

 the agricultural progress of the country, an important part is played 

 by the Department, and it is this that will form the main subject 

 of this review. 



Our agricultural progress is refiected in increased production, 

 decreasing imports, and increasing exports of farm produce, improved 



