RHODESIA 161 



calves number 400, and we expect to brand well over 1000 next 

 year. We are breeding from Hereford bulls imported from 

 England and native cows, mostly Barotse. 



"The first grade is a better result than I expected, and I hope 

 that in a very few years the herd will be one to be proud of. 

 The country is particularly good. This you may judge from 

 my estimate of the carrying capacity of the ranch, 20.000 head 

 of cattle on 100,000 acres. There is a large area of this ranch 

 which is inundated each year by the overflow from the Kafue 

 River, and it remains flooded for two or three months. After 

 the flood waters have gone, the grazing on this area is wonder- 

 fully good, the grass remaining very green until the following 

 rainy season. The grass that grows on these flats is particularly 

 sweet, almost as sweet as sugai'-cane, and cattle, pigs, horses, and 

 mules all relish it thoroughly and keep fat all the time they are 

 grazing on it. During the wet season, when this part is 



unavailable, Ave have all the stock on the high sand ridges, where 

 Guinea grass grows luxuriantly and the stock do splendidly 

 We have a fair amount of both classes of country about equally 

 divided in this one block of land. 



"Owing to the presence of large herds of game, it is impossible 

 to fence in large areas, the game being so destructive. Lions 

 chase the game about at night, and a herd of several hundreds of 

 zebra or large buck will charge into the fences. No fence can 

 stop them. Under the circumstances, we are compelled to herd 

 the cattle by day ; at night, thev are yarded into barbed- wire 

 yards. This necessitates a rather bigger staff than that on an 

 Australian station. The herdsmen are natives, three or four 

 to each mob of 500 or 600 head of cattle. It would amuse an 

 Australian pastoralist to see a mob of 600 cattle handled by three 

 men on foot. From this you will see that the cattle are 

 particularly quiet. 



"The market for Northern Rhodesia is the Congo, where it is 

 fully expected very big developments will take place in the near 

 future. There are enormous copper deposits in that territory. 

 At present, Congo buyers pay 35/- to 40/- per 100 lbs. dead 

 Aveight for slaughter stock, the buyer paying railage. The 



cattle are taken away by rail alive, and the dead weight is 

 estimated before they leave Rhodesia. This price is likely to 

 be maintained (if not improved upon) for some years to come. 

 The presence of tsetse fly in the Congo prevents stock from being 

 bred there in a big way. 



