What the Dip means to the Desert 



To-day, the weekly dip makes possible the 

 safe importation from England and Europe 

 of valuable pedigree animals. In closing this 

 chapter it may be of interest to place on record 

 the testimony of two prominent farmers. Mr 

 W. J. S. Newmarch of Harden Heights stated 

 that, in his opinion, East Coast fever had been 

 a blessing in disguise to the stock-owners of 

 Natal. " It has taught us," he remarked, " the 

 lesson of keeping our animals free from ticks 

 and vermin. The tick is to the cattle breeder 

 what the scab insect is to the sheep breeder. 

 Both can be easily eradicated." 



Mr A. S. L. Hulett of Kearsney, the son of 

 the founder of the tea industry, is also an 

 enthusiastic advocate of dipping. Speaking on 

 this subject to the author, he said : 



" Formerly, on the coast of Natal it was 

 impossible to acclimatise pure-bred stock. Im- 

 ported cattle used to die within a week. Since 

 the year 1906, when systematic weekly dipping 

 was started, the coastal farmers have cleared 

 their farms of ticks and their cattle have 

 increased marvellously. In the early days even 

 the old Zulu cattle were so eaten up with ticks 

 that they never gave any milk, and 80 per 

 cent, of their calves died. Now the coast 



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