RHODESIA 229 



gained much knowledge of the country. Particulars of these 

 appointments and of the farms can be obtained from the British 

 South Africa Company in London. In my judgment, the 

 smallest amount of capital with which a successful start can 

 be made is £1500, and the expenditure of this should be spread 

 over several years. Very good judgment will have to be exer- 

 cised if only this small amount of capital is available. In 

 Rhodesia, as elsewhere, success depends much more on the 

 man himself than on any cash disbursement." 



An " old North Queenslander " writes me : " It may interest 

 you to hear of Rhodesia from the pastoral point of view. Cattle 

 raising is quite in its infancy here yet. The possibilities are 

 undoubtedly great ; so possibly, in the near future, Australians 

 will be attracted to Rhodesia if they wish to extend their 

 operations to other countries. The company I represent is the 

 Rhodesian Cattle and Land Company Limited (registered in 

 England). We have acquired in Northern Rhodesia 100,000 

 acres of freehold land in one block on the south bank of the 

 Kafue River, about 100 miles up from the railway bridge. 

 This railway is the main line from Cape to Cairo. This 

 Northern Rhodesia ranch (Lochinvar) is only lightly stocked 

 yet, -the first mob arriving here in April, 1911. We have 

 4000 head now, but the ranch is capable of carrying 20,000 

 head. This year's 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, end 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 particu- 

 larly sweet, almost as sweet as sugar-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 



