The Conquest of the Desert 



crops with fair measure of success, the surround- 

 ing colonies lay desolate in the grip of the cattle 

 plague. To-day the stockman of the Kalahari 

 can face the future in a tranquil spirit. True, 

 the farmers of Bechuanaland and other parts of 

 South Africa have recently suffered severe losses 

 owing to that old and still obscure disease 

 known as "lamziekte." But there can be 

 little doubt that it too will soon vanish before 

 veterinary science and closer settlement. 



And what does the Dip mean to the Desert? 

 Simply this : that it will give the same security 

 to the cattle owner on the dry lands of Western 

 South Africa that it is now affording to the 

 dairymen in the more humid climate of the 

 eastern and coastal districts. It may be said 

 that the eradication of the tick in South Africa 

 means the disappearance of live-stock disease. 

 But how is it possible ever to exterminate 

 those insects, seemingly innumerable as the 

 sands of the seashore ? 



Yesterday, I stood in a little laboratory ■ in 

 rural England and listened to the complaint 

 of Mr L. E. Robertson, a quiet, keen scientist 

 " It is most vexing," he said, " that we cannot 

 obtain any more suitable material from our 



1 The Cooper Laboratory for Economic Research, 

 Watford. 



124 



