? HE IRR1 GA 1 10 X AGE. 345 



to graze, which he uses for transport services. There is only one 

 conclusion to be arrived at after a criticism of Boer farming in the 

 Transvaal, and that is, what a different country it would have been 

 had it. been peopled by English or colonial farmers. In Australia 

 one sees and hears of thousands of struggling selectors working from 

 morning till night, having often to fell huge gum trees before they 

 possess a vacant spot to cultivate, whereas the thousands of Boers 

 have no trees to fell, no bush fires to battle against, no drought to 

 cope with, but own a land open and inviting that calls in vain for 

 their labor. Yet the selector surmounts all these difficulties, and 

 sends his products to supply the wants of the Boers" towns, whilst 

 the Boer produces nothing and lives the life of a pauper. 



"This article would not be complete without a reference to the 

 capabilities of the bush veld and to the tobacco industry. The 

 Zoutspanberg district, which includes the greater portion of the bush 

 veld, and extends from the northern boundary down to the Murchison 

 range, has a great future before it as a tea and coffee country. 

 Several schemes have been mooted to start the industry on a large 

 scale, although at the present time there are a few plantations 

 already in existence. The firm of Lipton Limited is generally sup- 

 posed to have the option over a large tract of country, with a view to 

 planting. Tobacco is probably the best known of the Transvall 

 products of the soil. The home of tobacco- growing is on and about 

 the Magaliesberg mountains, a range running due west from Pretoria. 

 There are many other parts suitable for the growth of the tobacco 

 plant, and the industry is a rapidly growing one, some of the more 

 progressive farmers now going in for it. The Transvaal tobacco is 

 smoked throughout the length and breadth of South Africa." 



In connection with this article there was published an extract 

 from a letter from a British soldier, who wrote as follows of the 

 country through which he had passed: 



"The farms we visited yesterday (near Donkerport) are the 

 best I have seen. There's abundance of clear running water on them 

 all. * * * There is fair grass, although one doesn't see much 

 grass at any time. There is a great deal of small shrubs of different 

 kinds, all of which are excellent feeding for stock, and along the 

 river valley there are a good many trees, most of them acacias, and 

 all thriving. The Rinderpest killed most of their cattle two years 

 ago. so there are not many cattle about now, the few there are 

 are purely bred. A good deal of dairying in the old primitive style 

 is carried on. Odd farms have separators, but most of them do their 

 work in the same old way. They charge about Is. 6d. a bl. for 

 butter, Is, for a 4-lb. loaf of bread. Poultry seems to be very numer- 

 ous, and are fairly reasonable considering the times." 



