212 



THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



should fetch at least £300 to £400, or both 

 together £500 to £600. This estimate is 

 very low, for with moderate luck I feel 

 sure that for years to come it would top 

 £700. My cows now are returning me 

 more than the above figures. Then there 

 would be poultry, and he should also go 

 in on a moderate scale for fruit and gar- 

 den produce. Hiss gross profits should 

 bo in the neighbourhood of £1,000." 



•'Wliat kind of labour ? " 



"Coolies or natives." 



Sheltee at NroHT. 



"What about shelter for the cows in 

 this district at night ? " 



"The subject is an important one, par- 

 ticularly for high veld farms. The ex- 

 penditure by cows of the food supplied 

 for simply keeping up warmth must be 

 enormous under the preseut condition-:. 

 Open sheds, such as arc r-oininon, help a 

 great deal, but my opinion is that we 

 should aim at having really good cow- 

 houses, with alley-ways for feeding be- 

 tween the mangers, well ventilated, yet 

 warm. For dairy purposes we do not 

 want breeds specially selected for fighting 

 through bnrd. starvation winters, but 

 animnis flint will fill the |)ails with goo.l 

 milk. Cows for dairy pnri)ose-^ here 

 should get as good trentnu-nt as we give 

 our riding horses. My herd is chiefly 

 Friesland. I have just bought an Ayr- 

 shire bull, and I mean to keep to the milk 

 breeds, but which will be the best for my 

 farm here I cannot say yet." 



A Geeat Colonial Industry. 



"Are people catcbing on to the dairy 

 farming locally ? " 



"Yes, particularly among tbose fairly 

 close to the Creamery. In time I bave no 

 doubt that the circle of suppliers will in- 

 crease. Those at a distance should mako 

 mutual arrangements for establish in for- 

 warding centres. This Avill come, and 

 indeed is coming, but — farmers are con- 

 servative. Broadly speaking, I should 

 like to see everything done to fo-ter, or 

 rather to stimulate the dairy industry in 

 its y)resent initial stages, and I am in- 

 clined to think that the Colonv ^^'ou^d do 

 well to follow the example of Canada and 



other countries, in ofEering to subsidise 

 creameries for limited periods. The 

 dairy interest should become very 

 valuable to the Colony. The aver- 

 age man does not realise what its 

 importance may be. Take Canada as an 

 instance. That Colony exports every 

 year £4,000,000 worth of cheese, that is 

 to say, just as much as South Africa ex- 

 ports in diamonds. It is a mistake to 

 think that the country fit for dairying h^ 

 Natal is very limited. I hold, to the con- 

 trary, that 'a very large portion of the 

 Colony is suitable. Every district has 

 its special advantages and disadvantages, 

 and in consequence those who go in for 

 dairy work must study their local condi- 

 tions, and not blindly follow what others 

 in different districts are doing. Of course 

 dairying on a large scale is new to the 

 Colony. Until recently a farmer's chief 

 object' was the breeding of hardy oxen. 

 Now it is to his interest — which I must 

 confess he is somewhat slow to see— to 

 breed cows that will supply lots of milk. 

 From what I can gather from Govern- 

 ment statistics and from observation, I 

 feel certain that as soon as times return 

 somewhat to their normal condition, 

 ihere will be abundance of the raw 

 material, that is, milk, for all the dairy 

 jirodnce the Colony can consume, and to 

 spare." 



Abottt Calves. 

 "Do you have trouble with your 

 calves ? " 



"No, practically none. The calves 

 run with their mothers the first week. 

 January and February, being the hottest, 

 are the worst months, and when a calf is 

 observed not to be thriving, or is ill from 

 scours, it is run with its mother for a few 

 \^Teks, and nearly always recovers very 

 quickly. I think it would be a good 

 thing to avoid having calves dropped in 

 those two months. I noticed what Mr. 

 John Marwick said in his interview with 

 vou about limiting the calving period to 

 the winter, and about the wisdom of 

 what be said, so far as it applies to dis- 

 tricts where the summer mortality 

 of calves is great, there can be 

 no doubt. Here, fortunately, there 

 is no such summer mortality. 

 Summer, however, is the time for 



