rkonrc 1 lox a.xd roxsiM itkix. i ^q 



ramitk-atidiis. It enihodics ihc whole liistory of a country, 

 wliich again includes the distrihution of its ]x:)pulation and the 

 industries which they have established. So complex is this rela- 

 tion that only its main features appear ; so minute and numerous 

 the causes at work, that in the end we seldom see more than 

 the effects. To begin where civilisation in South Africa had 

 its starting-point, the production of wheat is linked up with the 

 ships that called at Table Bay and traded between the Nether- 

 lands and the East Indies; of fruit, with seasonal conditions and 

 the discovery of diamonds, and even the ravages of phylloxera 

 in the vineyards; of wine, with the native problem; of lucerne, 

 with the domestication of the ostrich ; of inland cultivation, 

 with the Great Trek; of sugar, with the Anglo-Boer War of 

 1899-1902, that made the last Customs Convention practicable; 

 and so on. x-\nd who can form an estimate of the influence 

 which British occupation, the Settlement of 1820, the subjuga- 

 tion of the native tribes, the Great Trek, the Anglo-Boer W ar, 

 the discovery of diamonds and gold, have had on the production 

 of agricultural products in this country? Tliese events have 

 left on the character of ilu- jieople permanent, indelible efifects ; 

 cast the future of the country for a considerable period ; dictated 

 the distribution and the industries of the people, and established 

 the present relation between our production and our consump- 

 tion. These events have created many great problems and, 

 agriculturally, none so great as this : how to bring producer and 

 consumer closer together ; how to span the distances which 

 separate this sparse population. A scattered population entails 

 heavy expenditure in administration, high cost of production, 

 and high cost of living. And while we proceed to harness our 

 energies to the unfolding of this problem, let us do so in the 

 light of the influences that have produced it. 



Daylight Saving.— It has recently been resolved by 

 the Council of the Association : " That in view of the consider- 

 able advantages to be gained by a fuller use of daylight, the Asso- 

 ciation requests the Government to take into consideration the 

 desirability of advancing the time of the Union one hour for six 

 months of the year, from September 30th till March 31st." 



