The Conquest of the Desert 



farmer saves more than 95 per cent, of his 

 calves and is busy introducing pedigree Short- 

 horns, Ayrshires, and Frieslands. In the good 

 old days that some people talk of, we had to 

 live on tinned milk from Europe and butter 

 from Australia. These were the days of im- 

 ported produce. Then we fed ticks — not cattle. 

 I shudder to think of the cruel sufferings of 

 those poor bleeding animals in the pioneer 

 transport period. They were literally coated 

 with masses of ticks. East Coast fever swept 

 the country for 200 miles from the Portuguese 

 border to Umzimkulu. All our cattle were 

 wiped out. We lost 400 herd. 



44 Nowadays, dipping with us is merely so 

 much routine work. We dip our animals every 

 week on Saturday afternoon and let them rest 

 on Sunday. They are so eager to get rid of 

 the tiniest ticks that they plunge in of their 

 own free will. The cost is infinitesimal, and 

 the dipping fluid lasts for about four months. 

 Our company have recently erected six dips. 

 Dipping is worth millions of pounds to South 

 Africa. I am absolutely and emphatically in 

 favour of compulsory dipping for two reasons : 

 (1) it is humane, and (2) it is profitable." 



In the study of South African Agriculture it 

 138 



