RHODESIA 165 



his land was \vithi]i the confines of the suspicions ground, has 

 now discarded his donkeys and has taken pretty extensively to 

 cattle. The B.S.A. Co. have selected a ranch of approximately 

 a million acres which lies largely in Hartley, and it is being 

 rapidly stocked with valuable cattle ; and, furthermore. Hartley 's 

 livestock figures stand first for Mashonaland in numbers, and 

 only Gwelo in Matal)eleland surpasses it for the whole of the 

 Rhodesia districts. 



The last stock census showed 33,002 cattle in the district. 

 This is at the rate of 120 acres per head, so it will be seen that 

 there is vast room for extension. Though at present there are 

 more farms returning statistics than in any other district, there 

 is much land still for sale. Though some of the best of the 

 pedigree bulls tliat have been imported have come from Hartley 

 farms, the great bulk of herds, so far, like those of all Rhodesia, 

 are not far removed from the native stock, having very largely, 

 originally, been purchased or traded from the kaffir res'^rves 

 around. That source of origin accounts for the hardiness in 

 herds that earned the district its true reputation for cattle 

 health. 



Hartley, with much of Africa, has been puffering keenly 

 during the past few years from uncertain rainfall, and a 

 depression of a like period in cattle prices has struck it hard 

 as well. 



During these lean years, the stock has been multiplying in a 

 steady increase, though their cash value as individuals sank at 

 times far below their purchase price. Under that steady fall, 

 there has been little inducement even to disperse a herd that 

 gave little promise of interest on its capital value, for ''a pound 

 a leg" has been a very common bid at auctions. A holding-on 

 policy has, therefore, been the rule, and now the reward seems 

 in sight, and the larger profits will now be the more easily 

 secured because of the hard experience gained in carrying on 

 through the seasons of narrow margins. The almost vanishing 

 prices being paid for grain, as against the steadfast price of 

 butcher-meat has done much to press home the desirability of 

 selling crops on the hoof. Outbreaks of East Coast fever oc- 

 curring urged the compulsory dipping that is now in vogue, and 

 that compulsory clause enforced the building of the requisite 

 tanks. Seeing the night herding, especially of working oxen, that 

 other districts have to resort to, impressed the excellence of the 



