CHAPTER XYII 

 LUCERNE 



Many miles of river-bank in the district of 

 Lourenzo Marques could be put under lucerne. 

 It was Rhodes who said that any one with one 

 hundred acres of lucerne need never do any 

 more work — an assurance that, though it could 

 scarcely serve as a text for the farmer, yet 

 emphasizes the value of the product for South 

 Africa. 



It is certainly one of the products that deserves 

 special attention on the part of any one who con- 

 templates taking up land in the southern and sub- 

 tropical district of Portuguese East Africa, though 

 it probably does not possess the same value there 

 as for the farmers of the high veld, who have to 

 provide fodder for winter feeding. The require- 

 ments of the local hay market could be amply 

 provided for by one hundred acres under irriga- 

 tion. The Transvaal market appears to be well 

 stocked, lucerne hay selling in Johannesburg for 



159 



