78 Transactions of the SontJi African Philosophical Societj/. 



2 feet in diameter, that is, lead round the contour of the base of the 

 escarpment, and has a fall of 6 feet per mile. From this trough 

 the water can be taken out at any desired point for distribution over 

 the land. The result of the arrangement is highly gratifying, as it 

 is found that, taking the average river level throughout the year, 

 100 cubic metres of water can be given to the land with a con- 

 sumption of 1'2 gallons of petroleum. Now 100 cm. water per 

 acre is just about equivalent to 1 inch of rain, and may be taken 

 as a good soaking for a grain crop to be given at one time. The 

 first watering after ploughing takes, of course, much more, varying 

 between 200 and 400 cm. per acre, according to the nature of the soil, 

 but after that it is difficult to get more than 100 cm., laid on at 

 one time. The maximum required for a crop of barley or oats, 

 supposing there was no rain during its growth, is found here to be 

 700 cm. per acre, and this would make the total consumption of 

 oil 8*4: gallons per acre per crop. 



The property was only acquired a few months before the war 

 commenced, so that after the erection of the machinery it was only 

 possible to crop about 25 acres on account of the impossibility of 

 obtaining petroleum and other supplies ; how^ever, sufficient has 

 been done to give us an assurance of future success, and , many 

 interesting points of both scientific and practical use were brought 

 to hght. 



Generally it is when the river is fairly clear that most pumping is 

 done ; a muddy river and showery weather may be expected together, 

 and at such times the crops need little auxiliary water ; however, 

 there was one month in 1900, during which the pumps were running, 

 that the suspended matter in the water discharged on the land 

 averaged -1 per cent. We found this sediment of great value to the 

 crops, not only in supplying them with nutriment, but it was of 

 such a nature that it left a protecting surface to the soil which 

 retarded evaporation, but at the same time was sufficiently porous to 

 allow abundance of air to follow the water down into the soil. The 

 nature of the silt varies greatly according to the part of the country 

 it comes from. The dark-coloured freshets from Basutoland, which 

 are rich in vegetable matter, suit our crops the best, and at such 

 times we found it pay to pump for the sake of the silt. 



All the grain and root crops, and most of the varieties of fruit 

 trees that we have so far planted, give us the greatest encourage- 

 ment, and I hope at some future time to be able to add other facts 

 that may be of interest to the Society. 



