22 LUCERNE CULTURE. 



so sloping, is always in such a loose condition as to enable soakage-- 

 of water to take place. On such sloping spots a gccd cultivator 

 even would be of little use, as when the ground is loosened it 

 would cnly tend to wash. Well, gentlemen, I have new cleared 

 the ground so far, that you will know that when I speak cf lucerne, 

 I moan lucerne grown en good, level lands and under gccd condi- 

 tions. I wish it clearly understood that I am not contending that 

 ostrich farming is the only way of making mcney out of lucerne 

 growing. I moreover do not wish specially to champion this par- 

 ticular method cf making money out of lucerne growing. As this- 

 branch has been relegated to me, I can only state my experience - 

 and views, and must leave it to those who have knowledge of other" 

 means of deriving a gocd return frcm lucerne, to judge for them- 

 selves the relative merits of the various methods of making money 

 out of lucerne. There is no mere marvellously accommodating 

 plant than lucerne, and there is money to be made out of it in 

 whatever way you farm it. For instance, there are climates and 

 altitudes which may not suit the ostrich, here yen could turn it to- 

 profitable account in dairying, fattening sheep, fattening cattle, 

 fattening and rearing pigs, converting it into hay for the market,, 

 or converting it into ensilage for your stock. I would only submit, 

 gentlemen, that where the conditions are favourable, farming 

 ostriches on lucerne is a very lucrative proposition. We have this- 

 corroborated by the figures shown in the income tax returns, where 

 it is stated that 75 per cent. (I think I am right in this) of the 

 farming population of this country who paid income tax last 

 year were ostrich farmers in the Oudtshoorn district, farming on. 

 lucerne. 



A BUSINESS PROPOSITION. 



It would seem to me, gentlemen, that the ratio of yield or 

 return in this branch of lucerne farming lies a good deal in the 

 hands of the farmer himself. The farmer has only to raise the 

 standard of quality in his ostriches, and he immediately raises the 

 level of his income. We all know that breeding by selection in 

 ostrich farming has only been in vogue for a decmde or so. There 

 are isolated cases where far-seeing farmers have bred by selection 

 a little longer, but I allude to its becoming a fairly general prac- 

 tice. An ostrich in the early days was valued as an ostrich, regard- 

 less of the quality of feather which it produced. To-day an ostrich, 

 is valued by the quality of its feather and the strain' it is out of, 

 quite as mlich as any thoroughbred sheep or goat is valued by the 

 quality of its fleece and the strain it is from. We find to-day that 

 hundreds of pounds are paid for good ostriches, whereas thousands 

 of common birds go begging in the market at 3 or 4 each. - 



I would like to point out that since the advent of ostrich farm- 

 ing on lucerne, it is felt by the farmer that there is a great deal 

 more stability in the industry than before. It was a haphazard. 



