GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 63 



best part of the Maize-belt of Natal ; the rainfall at Mander- CHAP, 

 ston is about 30 inches. One of the pioneer maize-growers 

 of this part of Natal, famous for his large-sized Hickory King, 

 has only 220 acres under maize, but has harvested as much as 

 3,581 muids in one season, or an average of 16-28 muids per 

 acre, while 10 acres averaged 22 muids ; it has been his am- 

 bition to get a crop of 4,000 muids from his 220 acres. He 

 started maize-growing twenty-five years ago, and the first sea- 

 son only produced 5 muids per acre. Good farming and the 

 regular use of bone-meal have brought up the producing power 

 of the land from a non-paying to a profitable yield. 



In Table XIII the acreage given for the various 

 Magisterial Divisions excludes the Boroughs of Ladysmith, 

 Newcastle, and Dundee, and the townships of Greytown, 

 Verulam, Utrecht, and Vryheid. Those divisions of Zulu- 

 land for which there are no returns have a few hundred acres 

 put under maize by Europeans, but altogether for local con- 

 sumption {Harvey, 1). 



58. Cape Province. — The Cape Province produces less 

 maize in proportion to total area than any of the other 

 Provinces. The lack of summer rains in the south-western 

 portion, the old " Western Province," renders that part of the 

 country but poorly adapted to maize culture. In the Karroo 

 and North-western Districts of the Province the total rainfall 

 is too low to produce good crops of maize. In some of the 

 Eastern Districts, on the other hand, especially the Transkei, 

 the climate is favourable to the production of excellent maize 

 crops. In these Districts, however, there does not appear to 

 have been the same rapid increase in production that is notice- 

 able in some other parts of South Africa ; in fact, in the twelve 

 years from 1895 to 1 907 the production fell in the District of 

 Victoria East from 28,000 muids to nearly one-third, while in 

 King William's Town District it fell off 1 5 per cent. In other 

 Districts, however, the production increased, and in two or 

 three cases it doubled and trebled. 



