TH^J AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL 



which, I hope, liave put a stop to horso-sickness. 

 The want of labour is still accutely felt by the 

 farmers who have not taken the precaution uf 

 ensaijinsr indentured Indians, and who are there- 

 fore obliged to rely on the good graces of the 

 Native. As the latter is receiving wages from 

 the Military at the rate of £2 per mensem, and 

 2s Gd. per diem as a togt labourer in Durban, he 

 merely laughs at the small wages offered by 

 farmers. Those Natives who are under written 

 contract with their masters are dissatisfied be- 

 cause they do not receive as much as their friends 

 who go away from home. They absent them- 

 selves from their work, and eventually the 

 matter ends in a Court case, or very often does 

 not end there, but the Native goes back and 

 gives more trouble. On enquiry into the case it 

 will generally be found that the Native agreed 

 to the contract after receiving a loan of money. 

 With his inborn lack of foresight he will bind 



hiini-clf to wor'; for the Joan at the small wage 

 of 10s., sometimes less. When better times 

 come, he generally gives tremble. 



A. RiTTER, Magistrate 



TJBOMB 3rJ M-iy.— The weather during the 

 past month .vts inclined to be cloudy and show- 

 ery, and much cooler than usual. The daily 

 maximum and minimum temperature', I regret 

 to say, was not recorded during my absence. 

 The rainfall ret orded was 2 32 itiches. Natives 

 harvested the bulk of their mabele, and be r- 

 drinking was the order of the day, c onsequently. 

 Mealies were not quite ready for harvesting. 

 Pumpkins and sweet potatoes seemed r bundant 

 and should give good crops, unless the autu i n 

 drought rules otherwise. Only one death occur- 

 red among cattle, from gall-s'ckness. 



A. R. R. TuKNBULL, Magistrate. 



Garden Notes. 



By W. J. Bell, Florist and Seedsman. 

 THE SOWING AND GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 



SUCCESS in the cultivation of vegetables 

 and flowers depends to a great extent 

 in some of the earlier operations, such as 

 sowing of the seeds and treatment of the 

 same during the process of germination. 

 The temperature required for germination 

 varies considerably in different seedM. 

 Some demand a tropical heat, and others 

 are satisfied with "the warmth of early 

 spring. Some seeds will bear a temperature 

 that would kill others. Cereals and beans 

 can only bear immersion in water at 1 10 

 Fahr. for a few minutes ; on the other hand 

 seeds of Acacia especially, if old, will 

 bear boiling for several minutes, and 

 germinate much quicker. Some of tbe 

 hardy annual and perennial flower seeds 

 will refuse to germinate during the hottest 

 part of our summer, viz., December, 

 January, and February. Larkspur may 

 be taken as an example. This should be 

 sown in the District of Maritzburg in the 

 autumn (April or May), and will flower 

 in October or Novemloer following. If, 

 after flowering, the plants are allowed to 

 stand, for the seed to ripen, it will fall 

 and remain in the soil dormant all the 

 summer, not germinating till the cold 

 weather sets in again in the autumn. 

 The seed of the balsam may be taken as 

 an example of the very opposite. This 

 ripens quickly, and the shed seed will be 

 germinating before many of the parent 

 plants have done flowering. Some seeds 



will only succeed in shady sheltered 

 situations in this climate, such as daisy, 

 primrose, polyanthus, l^oxglove, violet, 

 and pansy. Others again, such as portnlaca, 

 nasturtium, balsam, require warm sunny 

 positions, and will nottlirive in any other. 

 For instance, portulac i sown in a sh uly, 

 damp situation would be an absolatj 

 failure, but sown in a hot, dry position, 

 where it will have the full blaze of the 

 sun most of the day, there is nothing that 

 will produce such a dazzling display of 

 colour during the summev months. A 

 frequent cause of failure is sowing seeds 

 too deep ; a safe rule is to sow about twice 

 their own deptii ; very fine seeds require 

 little or no covering at all, a mere pressing 

 into the soil in many cases being sufficient, 

 but in these cases it should be noted th .t 

 when seeds are so near the stu-face as to 

 be scarcely covered with soil, it is nece.-j- 

 sary to exclude the light while germiiui- 

 tion is taking place. Where boxes are 

 used, this is usually done by covering 

 o\er with a board, tile or slate, or even a 

 sheet of brown paper. Whatever covering 

 is used should be removed, and light 

 gradually admitted, as soon as germinati(ai 

 has commenced, otherwise the seedlings 

 will be drawn. When seeds are sown in 

 the open ground, either in beds or borders, 

 the same rule applies not merely to 

 exclude light, but to aff'ord protection 

 from the drying effects of sun and hot 



