TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



227 



disease threatened ruin to the cotton 

 industry. Happily a man working at an 

 experimental station succeeded in dis- 

 covering a remedy, and the industry was 

 saved. In Mexico and California the date- 

 palm and Smyrna fig, after long study of 

 the local conditions necessary for them, 

 have been successfully introduced. And 

 so also it has been with innumerable 



other but less striking matters in agricul- 

 ture generally." 



Mr. Odium graduated at the Michigan 

 State Agricultural College. He is ap- 

 pointed Special Agent to the U.S.A. De- 

 partment of Agriculture for South Arrica. 

 From what he has seen of Natal agri- 

 culturally, he is very favourably im- 

 pressed with its possibilities. 



Modern Dairying, 



IlSr this issue appears the final instal- 

 ment of the pamphlet on " Modern 

 Dairying," by the Government Dairy 

 Experts of Victoria, and lent by the Hon. 

 F. E. Moor for reproduction in the 

 / ournal. All who take interest in dairy- 

 ing will find in it much valuable informa- 

 tion, and most matters of doubt on 

 details will be easily solvable by i-eference 

 to the reproduced pamphlet. At the end 

 of the pamphlet is given a list of the 

 Victorian creameries; they numljor about 

 500 — Natal at the present date has two. 

 The concluding portion deals with silage. 

 It will be noticed that the writers advo- 

 cate ensilage making without reserve. 



Natal also has ensilage enthusiasts, and 

 the views of several have at times 

 appeared in the Journal. In the para- 

 graph " Crops for the Silo," there is a 

 remarkal;le statement about a Mr, Lamb, 

 who makes into ensilage 10,000 tons of 

 grass, and keeps a bullock for twelve 

 months in good condition at a cost of 

 8s. 9d. and a sheep for Is. 9d. on ensilage. 

 For various reasons preference is given to 

 the stacking of ensilage in Natal. In the 

 paragraph " Stack Ensilage," it will be 

 seen that the writers of the ])amphlet, 

 while preferring constructed silos, have 

 little to say against the stack system. 



iWannaM 



WITH reference to manna or millet — 

 the growing of which was strongly 

 advocated in the last Journal by Mr. 

 Arthur Koe, Estcourt — it may be of 

 interest to state that the Department dis- 

 posed of 2601bs. seed last autumn to four 

 farmers. Attempts to get more seed 

 were, owing to the war, unsuccessful. 

 Manna, previously to the war, readily sold 

 on the Johannesburg market at about 10s 

 per cwt., a very remunerative price con- 

 sidering the heavy return it gives per 

 acre. In connection with the subject of 

 millet growing, the following, which is 

 extracted from the seed catalogue of 

 Messrs. Anderson, Sydney, may prove in- 

 teresting : — " Johnson Glrass (Sorghum 

 halepense), or Evergreen Millet, Is. 6d. 

 per ft.; 28ft» Is. 3d. Special quotations 

 for large parcels.^ — One of the best fodder 

 plants wo have, though, while it is known 



as J ohnson Grass, it is in reality a millet, 

 and is being sown largely on the poorer 

 pasture lands of the Colony, where it has 

 proved invaluable during periods of 

 drought, yielding a large amount of 

 fodder. It spreads rapidly even on poor 

 land, its runners sending up a shoot at 

 every joint. For this reason it should 

 not be sown on cultivated land or in the 

 garden, as if once introduced it is almost 

 impossible to eradicate it. Its remark- 

 able adaptability to all sorts of soil, how- 

 ever, and its resistance to drought, render 

 it most valuable. It can be cut three 

 times a year, and it will give 5 tons of hay 

 per acre. The best time to cut it for that 

 purpose is when the plant comes into 

 bloom. Sow and cover lightly 10 to 15 

 it), per acre. Sow during spring ; it will 

 not stand frost," 



