i2 4 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 



been discovered, though bush-harrowing has proved a 

 considerable mitigation. It is not unlikely that the 

 pests in question are the result of two or three seasons 

 of unusual drought and will not recur in years of 

 more normal rainfall. 



It need not be thought from these somewhat 

 gloomy remarks that for the newcomer to embark in 

 wheat-growing would be an act of folly. That is not 

 so. Nearly every farmer who has grown wheat in 

 suitable localities and on a sufficient scale has done so 

 at a profit. Even under present conditions there is 

 every probability of two or three good crops when 

 new land is broken up. Such crops will pay for all 

 the labour involved and give a satisfactory profit in 

 addition. After this, should rust occur to such a 

 degree as to prohibit another wheat-crop, even with a 

 change of seed, the land will be in excellent condition 

 for an alternative crop. 



Maize Growing. — During the years 1909-10 the 

 idea of growing maize for export was promulgated and 

 for a period flourished exceedingly. It is well known 

 that the export of maize has done a great deal, in fact 

 nearly everything, to increase the prosperity of South 

 African farmers, and those who hoped most from the 

 effects of organised export from the Protectorate, and 

 indeed were responsible for the maize boom, based 

 their expectations on their experiences in the south. 

 As so often happens, in deducing, an analogy from the 

 different country certain factors were left out. South 

 Africa is a huge, and with certain notable exceptions 

 not very fertile, stretch of country none too well 

 watered. Instead, therefore, of having to choose, as 

 in British East Africa, from a variety of products that 

 all grow well, farmers generally speaking are only too 



