THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



23 



small profits is a much surer way to for- 

 tune than larger profits and a limited 

 turnover. This is, I think, an acknow- 

 ledged fact amongst business men, and 

 one that Mr. Lloyd will never undermine. 



Mr. Lloyd's comparison of man and 

 horse is rather ludicrous. Many of our 

 ablest m^n are very small men, and I 

 have yet to learn that high feeding is 

 essential to the production of able men. 



1 think if Mr. Lloyd were to ask a medi- 

 cal man which was the best fare for man, 

 he would get the reply that the second- 

 class fare as set forth by Mr. Lloyd was 

 far preferable to what Mr. Lloyd terms 

 " lives like a duke," or " on the fat of the 

 land." Mr. Lloyd asks whether I ever 

 required a tonic ? Yes, I am sorry to say, 

 and very often, but not generally in the 

 spring, but more particularly after the 

 heat of the summer. Mr. Lloyd seems to 

 think, too, that a change as applied to 

 man is in the same way applicable to the 

 horse. Mr. Lloyd's comparison of man 

 and horse is a most unhappy one indeed. 

 A change to a man is not that he gets 

 different fare. He may, as most do, live 

 on exactly the same diet, and yet benefit 

 very considerably by a change of scenery, 



02 vocation, of associates, and so 

 on ; items that cannot possibly have any 

 effect on an animal, such as a horse, de- 

 void of the power of reason. 



Mr. Lloyd's idea that wire grass is a 

 special provision of Nature is, I think, 

 very far fetched, Wire grass, or sour 

 veld, is the natural grass of our soils at an 

 altitude of four and five thousand feet. 

 It grows there because the soil and 

 climate suit it, and our hoj-ses are obliged 

 to go to these altitudes in the summer 

 for the sake of the cooler climate, which 

 renders them more healthy than the low 

 veld, or Thorns, where the rich, sweet 

 grass grows. 



The game, from instinct, knew the 

 Thorn veld was unhealthy during the 

 summer months, and hence made tracks 

 for the high veld, and not, l^elieve me, 

 because they preferred sour grass to sweet 

 grass. 



I can hardly take Mr. Lloyd as serious 

 when he asks me to believe that sour veld 

 is richer and more nutritious feed than 

 the sweet veld of the Thorns. Mr. Lloyd 

 may argue that the game, and also our 



herds, make for the high veld (sour grass) 

 early in the spring, and before the Thorns 

 become unhealthy or even very warm. 

 Certainly they do. Why ? Because the 

 grass springs much earlier on the high 

 veld, and there is absolutely no green 

 grass in the Thorns until much later. 

 Could we, however, by some means or 

 other produce a growth of sweet veld in 

 the Thorns very early, before it got too 

 warm, believe me no cattle would leave 

 the young, green sweet grass for the 

 green sour grass. 



Mr. Lloyd contends that poor soil will 

 produce grass of high quality, and has 

 proved i^ If Mr. Lloyd has found a 

 grass of high quality that will grow on 

 our high, poor soil without manure, then 

 the farming community will have to thank 

 him for solving a question that has had 

 the attention, unsuccessfully, of a great 

 many men for many years. I am well 

 aware that land may not produce 

 mealies and yet produce good crops 

 of other kinds. Rotation cropping is, 

 of course, based on this very fact. 

 I am sorry Mr. Lloyd did not give us the 

 name or species of grass that stands 4^ 

 feet high and very thick, and, I presume, 

 of high feeding quality, that he has 

 grown on fifty acres of land that would 

 not grow a mealie stalk eighteen inches. 

 Mr. Lloyd has discovered a grass, then, 

 that is suited to the soil and the soil to 

 the grass, and hence a most valuable 

 plant, and further particulars re the pro- 

 duction of this grass would be very valu- 

 able to farmers. 



I did not think that it made any 

 material difference whether I used a 

 non-de-2)lume or signed my name, but at 

 your request I have no objection to re- 

 vealing my identity, and will attach my 

 signature to this, my concluding article 

 imder this heading. 



" En Passant." 

 A. K. MURRAY. 



BURSTING GRAPE-BERRIES. 

 Knowing that the Trappists are taking 

 special interest in Grape Culture, Brother 

 Nivard was asked to have the kindness to 

 communicate any information he might 

 personally have on the subject, or such as 

 might be accessible to him. In reply he 

 has been good enough to send the follow- 

 ing letter. In a note appended he men- 



