ANIMAL INDUSTRY 439 



is now in progress in the Lake Province of Tanganyika to rest the 

 home pastures for some months each year in the way outhned 

 above (Hornby 1936, p. 51 and Tanganyika, Veterinary, 1936, 

 D.R., pp. 31-2). In certain areas it is probable that rotational 

 grazing of this type will have to be combined with the culling of 

 weakened stock, perhaps even against the wishes of the cattle- 

 owners. Hornby points out, however, that the culling of weak- 

 ened stock would have little effect on overstocking because so few 

 animals can truly be regarded as less strong than the others. The 

 struggle for existence in the overgrazed areas is so keen that the 

 standard of health and vitality is remarkably high, although all 

 the animals are stunted. 



This question is closely bound up with efforts to introduce mixed 

 farming, discussed in Chapter XHL Mixed farming would create 

 a definite use for stock manure, so much of which is now wasted, 

 while the products of tillage could be used to some extent for stock 

 feed during the dry seasons. As has been pointed out, the drastic 

 reduction in stock which mixed farming would involve is a serious 

 obstacle to its widespread adoption. 



Recent experience in many parts of the continent has shown the 

 value of contour-ridge-terracing as a deterrent to erosion and as 

 the best means of reclaiming eroded land. This is applicable to 

 pasture as well as to cultivated land. The object is twofold, to 

 prevent wash, and to secure an equal distribution of the water 

 over the land, thereby assuring a maximum absorption in areas of 

 comparatively low rainfall. The system is easiest to introduce in 

 areas of white settlement. In South Africa, for example, the value 

 of the contour furrow is regarded as the most effective of recent 

 reclamation measures. But it has great possibilities also in thickly 

 populated native areas; indeed, many native cultivators already 

 practise it. 



Overgrazing by native small stock is becoming almost as serious 

 as that by cattle. Sheep tend to crop pasture closer than cattle, 

 and goats, though subsisting chiefly on the foliage of shrubs and 

 trees, will eat almost anything, including grass. There seems little 

 doubt that sheep are more apt than cattle to pull grass up by the 

 roots and thereby reduce the recuperative powers of pasture. The 

 same accusation is often made against goats, although on the 



