The Conquest of the Desert 



Baynes was ably assisted by his manager, Mr 

 CD. Alexander, who drew up the plan of the 

 dipping tank and constructed a perfect model, 

 which was later exhibited to the farmers in 

 various parts of the country. The success of 

 these experiments was instantaneous. There- 

 upon Messrs Baynes and Alexander informed 

 the Governor of Natal, and asked him to make 

 their results widely known to the Governments 

 of the other South African colonies and to 

 Rhodesia. But at that time few appreciated 

 the magnitude of the discovery, while many 

 freely ridiculed the possibility of stamping out 

 tick-borne diseases by means of dipping. And 

 so for a long time their voice was like unto one 

 crying in a wilderness rendered desolate by 

 disease. 







The first dip used at Nels Rust to combat 

 redwater was the Queensland dip, but when 

 East Coast fever broke out in Natal it became 

 necessary to find a dip which could be used 

 much more frequently. The Queensland dip 

 was found to be too severe for dipping at short 

 intervals. It was liable to burn the skin, and, 

 indeed, sometimes killed the animal. Another 

 objection was the time it took in making. 



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