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doubt capable of great development in this direction, when the 

 inevitable influx of the white settler takes place. In sheltered 

 valleys in the vicinity of Windhuk fruit is grown with great 

 success. At Klein Windhuk, Cape varieties of trellised vines cover 

 a considerable area and both the fruit and a white wine produced 

 there compare very favourably with the Cape products. Up to 

 the present the vine has been entirely free from disease. Pears, 

 apples and plums are grown in marketable quantities. I under- 

 stand that the experimental cultivation of the peach has hitherto 

 been a failure. The pomegranate and the fig are in flourishing 

 condition. The meallie {Zea Mays) is widely grown on a small 

 scale as also is tobacco, and potatoes are grown on the stock-farms. 

 Horse-breeding is extensively followed south of the Anas range, 

 and there is no doubt that, if the horse-sickness were once brought 

 under control, this industry would rapidly increase in importance. 

 Among the permanent industries at present carried on the first 

 place belongs to cattle-raising, to which all the large farms in the 

 neighbourhood of Okahandya and Windhuk are devoted. In 

 former times the country carried many more cattle than are to be 

 found there at present, but with the establishment of white settlers 

 now in progress, and the advances made in the study of epidemic 

 diseases, their numbers are soon likely to be increased. Many 

 districts, especially in the south, are said to be very suitable for 

 sheep-farming. Cotton is certainly worth a trial in the broad 

 fertile valleys of Hereroland, where both the character of the soil 

 and the distribution of the rainfall seem to offer favourable con- 

 ditions for the successful cultivation of suitable varieties. The 

 Castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) could almost certainly be 

 economically cultivated in most parts of the country, even in the 

 Namib river-beds, where it has already established itself. 



There is no doubt that beyond the maritime belt of desert, which 

 extends from the Orange river to the Kaokoveld, there are many 

 districts, especially in the north, which are of considerable 

 agricultural promise. The efficient utilisation of these will 

 certainly be accelerated by, and may in some instances be con- 

 tingent upon, a preliminary scientific study of the flora of the 

 upper country and of the conditions affecting the life of the plants 

 composing it, A detailed knowledge of the native plants is no 

 less necessary in the interests of the widely-spread grazing 

 industry. Apart from its economic importance, a systematic 

 examination of the flora would certainly yield much information 

 that would be of great value from a purely scientific point ot view. 

 While the Cape botanists have gained a considerable knowledge 

 of the plants of this side of Africa south of the O/fnge river and 

 Welwitsch and Baum have partially investigated the flora of the 

 Angola plateau, comparatively little has been done in Retract 

 between the Cunene and the Orange rivers. Excepting the results 

 of the more or less hurried journeys of visiting botanists and .ot other 

 travellers who have collected plants, the available information about 

 the botany of the country is principally the result of the ^energy of 

 Mr. K. Dinter. The only herbarium of the nativ , flora in ^ the 

 country is of Mr. Dinter's collection, and this un Eortuna ely 

 Buffered severely during the war. At a time when the Af rican 

 flora is engaging the attention of so many European botanists, a 



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