TUE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



211 



talking on tlie subject of pressing ensilage, 

 observed tliat lie used wattle poles for 

 that purpose. He remarked that besides 

 being handy and giving even pressure, 

 tlie poles were useful when done with. 



Kale, Cabbage, and Cocksfoot. 



Close by were other crops for the 

 winter. A field of thousand-headed kale 

 looked well, but it had been planted too 

 late to give the results it is capable of 

 producing. In No. 10, Vol. III., a de- 

 scription was given of a fine crop grown 

 by Messrs. Hutcliinson Bros, at Bal- 

 gowan. This kale should be planted 

 early in December ; in the upper Mooi 

 Eiver probably the beginning of jSTovem- 

 ber would be the right time. Close to 

 the kale was a field of drumhead cab- 

 bage, an excellent, even crop. Consider- 

 ing the enormous price of cabbages in 

 the towns, it is to be hoped tluit some of 

 tliem will be despatched for direct con- 

 sumption instead of being used for con- 

 version into milk. 



Adjoining the cabbage land was a big 

 strip under cocksfoot, and in wliich, at 

 the time, the dairy cows were browsing 

 contentedly. In reply to some questions, 

 Mr. Moor said : 



"I think well of cocksfoot for the dis- 

 trict. It cannot be considered first- 

 class for to])ping ofl" stutt' for fattening 

 purposes, but as it keeps fairly green for 

 a long time into our winters here, it is 

 an extremely useful adjunct to the other 

 food. Some years ago Mr. MeFie, at his 

 Highlands farm, kept, and indeed fat- 

 tened, 21 sheep to the acre off it ; 630 

 sheep on 30 acres. The sheep find green 

 stuff at the roots of the stools, however 

 frosted the ends may be." 



Dairy Farming : Its Profits. 



"You seem," I remarked, "fully bent 

 in going in thoroughly for dairy work ? " 



"Yes. This is good dairy country. At 

 the Creamery the best milk tests come 

 from this neighbourhood.' I should like 

 to see the greater part of the Colony 

 filled up with real dairy farmers ; men 

 who would go in solely for the business." 



"Will you give me an outline of what 

 you mean ? " 



"I'll try. Let us assume that the man 

 wishing to go in for dairy farming has in 

 capital about £3,000, or can get the use 

 of it in credit or in kind. He should 

 start on, say, GOO acres of cultivatable 

 land, the closer to the railway the 

 better. He should buy fifty or sixty 

 good cows, costing from £20 to £30 per 

 head. The calves he would be easily able 

 to sell when twelve months old, at a 

 figure between £8 and £12. That is 

 what they are now worth. For a good 

 many years to come, I think, he could rely 

 on getting that price for them. As for 

 cultivation, he could put in 35 acres of 

 mealies for ensilage, 10 for mealie hay, 

 and, say, 15 for corn. Ensilage Js 

 the sheet anchor for the dairy farmer ^n 

 winter. He should begin with 20 acres 

 of cocksfoot, but plant a bigger area every 

 year, up to 50 or 60 acres, for it 

 is an excellent early winter stand- 

 by, and lasts about four seasons. 

 For variety he should grow some 

 thousand-headed kale, cabbage, and 

 carrots, all first-class for winter feeding. 

 With the foregoing, and, say, 30 tons 'if 

 veld hay, he should be in a capital posi- 

 tion to run a dairy business profitably. I 

 kno^^• a man with 400 acres, who, from 

 liis dairy produce only, is making £10 per 

 montli. There is no danger, in my 

 opinion, for several reasons, of cattle 

 going down in value for a considerable 

 time, firstly, owing to the enormous losses 

 during the last four years from pest and 

 war, secondly, to the certain increase 

 in the consuming population; and thirdly, 

 to the fact that the losses cannot be re- 

 ]ilaced by importation, so far as we at 

 present know, and that Natal cattle have 

 the advantage of being exceptionally ad- 

 a))ta1)le for re-stocking any jiart of 

 Africa as far as the Zandjesi. This class 

 of dairy farmer, and situated as I have de- 

 scril)ed, will send his milk or cream to 

 the nearest Creamery, and, being re- 

 licw'il "f the costly troul)le attending pas- 

 icLii'isiition, churning, etc., will lie able to 

 devote the whole of his attention to his 

 real milk-])roducing business." 



"And about his profits ? " 



"We will say that forty out of his fifty 

 cows calve. At £6 per head, for cream 

 returns we get £240. Then the calves 



