180 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Taut I. 



11'20. The vine, howc-rer, is the most profitable, and what may be considered the staple article of culture. 

 Better grapes arc Dot produced in any part of the world ; but the art of making wine and brandy from 

 them admits of much improvement. '1'cn or twelve different kinds of wine are at present manufactured, 

 having a distinct flavour and quality, according to the farms on which they are produced. 



11-1. The celebrated Conitantia wine is made on two farms of that name, close under the mountains 

 between Table Bay and False B«y. The white wine of that name is made on the farm called Little Con- 

 stantia, and the other produce! the red. The grape is the muacadel, and the rich quality of the wine is 

 owing partly to the situation and soil of the vineyards, ami partly to the care taken in manufacturing the 

 wine. No stalks, nor any berries but such as are fully ripe, are suffered to go under the press ; precautions 

 rarely taken by the other formers of the Cape. The muscadel grape grows on every farm; and on some 

 farms in Drakenstein the wine pressed from it is as good as the Cnnstantia, if not superior to it, though 

 sold, on account Ol the name of the latter, at one sixth part of the price. When they find that the wine 

 is to be sent abroad, they adulterate it with some other wine- for, according to their own returns, the 

 quantity exported and consumed in Cape Town, as in the case of Madeira wine, greatly exceeds the 

 quantity manufactured. 



1 122. The almond is a very productive tree at the Cape ; the tree thrives in the driest and worst soil, 

 and the fruit, though small, is of excellent quality. Dried peaches, apricots, pears, and apples, are not 

 only plentiful, but good of their kind ; dried grapes, or raisins, are not so well managed. Potash is pro- 

 cured from a species of Sals, la which grows on the deserts; and with this and the fat of sheeps' tails the 

 farmers make their soap. The berries of the candleberry myrtle (.Vyrlca cerifera) supply a vegetable 

 wax sold at Cape Town in large green cakes, from which odoriferous candles are made. 



1123. The A'toe toccotr'ina and perfblidta cover large tracts of ground, and these afford the inspissated 

 juice or resin of the apothecaries. The leaves of the plant are cut off one by one, and, as they are cut, 

 thrown into tubs. In a day or two after they are thrown in, the juice will have run out of itself, when 

 the leaves are taken out and used .is manure. The juice is then either clarified in the .^n or by boiling, 

 and when dry, cut into cakes and packed up for sale. 



1124 The tobacco grown at the Cape is said to be as good as that of Virginia. Enough is gTOwn foi 

 home consumption, which is considerable, but none for exportation. 



1 1 25. The live stock of the Cape farmers chiefly consists of oxen, horses, sheep, swine, and 

 poultry. There are only some districts adapted to grazing ; and the fanners who follow 

 this department are in a much less civilised state than the others. The flocks and herds 

 wander over immense tracts, for the use of which a rent or tax according to the numbei 

 of beasts is paid. At night they are brought home to folds or kraals, which are close to 

 the huts of the farmers, and are represented as places of intolerable filth and stench. 



1126. The native cuttle of the Cape are hardy, long-legged, bony animals, more in the 

 coach-horse line than fitted for the shambles. They are bad milkers, probably from the 

 had quality and scanty supplies of forage. 



1127. The sheep are wretched beasts, more resembling goats, with wool that might be taken for frizzly 

 hair, and is in fact only used for stuffing chairs, or for like purposes; the other parts of the body seem 

 drained to supply the accumulation of fat upon the tail which weighs from six to twelve pounds. 



1128. The Merinos, of which there are a few flocks, do very well : they are much degenerated for w ant 

 of changing, and a proper selection of rams. 



1129. The Ryeland, or Southdown sheep, would be a great acquisition here; for the Cape mutton forms 

 a detestable food. 



1130. The Cape horse, which is not indigenous, but was introduced originally from Java, is a small, 

 active, spirited animal ; a mixture of the Spanish and Arabian, capable of undergoing great fatigue ; and, 

 as a saddle-horse, excellently adapted to the country. As a draught-horse for the farmer he is too small ; 

 and the introduction of a few of the Suffolk punch breed would be a real benefit to the colony, as well as 

 a source of profit to the importer. 



1131. Pigs are scarce in the colony amongst the farmers ; it is difficult to say why, except that there 

 is more trouble in feeding them, and they cannot be turned to graze like sheep. Poultry is, for the same 

 reason, neglected. Indeed, bad mutton may be said to be the only food of the colonists. 



1 132. The agricultural implements and operations of the Cape farmers are said to be 

 performed in the rudest manner, and their crops are thought to depend principally on 

 the goodness of the soil and climate. The plough of the Dutch farmers is a couple 

 of heavy boards nailed together, and armed with a clumsy share, which it requires a 

 dozen oxen to work. Their harrow, if they use any at all, is composed of a few brambles. 

 Their waggons (which will carry about thirty Winchester bushels, or a ton-weight, and 

 are generally drawn by sixteen and sometimes twenty oxen) are well constructed to go 

 tilting up and down the precipitous passes of the kloofs with safety ; but they have no 

 variety for the different roads. Burchell has given a portrait of one of these imposing 

 machines. {Jig. 149.) Their method of beating out the corn is well known ; the sheaves 



are spread on a circular floor, surrounded by a low wall, with which every farm is 

 supplied. The farmer's whole stock of !>rood mares and colts are then turned in, and 

 a black man, standing in the centre, with a long whip to enforce his authority, the 

 whole herd are compelled to frisk and canter round till the corn is trampled out of 



