234 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



claimed an abatement of the purchase price of his farm because 

 lie Learned that his land was within the confines of the sus- 

 picious 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 live-stock figures stand first for 

 Mashonaland in numbers, and only Gwelo in Matabeleland 

 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 

 i- much land still for sale. Though some of the best of the 

 pedigree bulls have been imported that 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 reserves 

 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 South Africa, has been suffering 

 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 Beems in ^ight. 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 

 Ka-t Toast fever occurring urged the compulsory dipping that 



