274 



THE AORTGULTUBAL JOURNAL. 



there, for nature will for ever assert 

 itself, and allow but few liberties. The 

 winter with snow and ice is quite out of 

 their natural temperature. Nine young 

 elands have been born in the Zoological 

 Gardens, England, since 1883 ; Mr. 

 Booysen has had seventeen since 1894. 

 I cannot find out, but I doubt much that 

 the original stock was about the same, 

 namely, three cows in the first instance. 

 We are told that these animals weigh 

 1,5001b., it is quoted as even up to 2,0001b. 

 Castration with horses increases the size, 

 so it does with cattle, and refines the flesh. 

 Bull beef can scarely be eaten. So far, the 

 elands have not been tried. They are not in 

 the full sense wild animals naturally ; it is 

 to be expected that this would further 

 tame them, and increase their size, and the 

 delicacy of the meat. It might be as 

 well to consider the effect or difference 

 in rearing stock under supervision that 

 would prevent in and in breeding, such 

 as takes place when animals run wild. 

 Horses in this country become " brum- 

 bies," or deteriorate from this cause, and 

 the domesticated eland would, no doubt, 

 be raised to a higher class than the wild 

 ones. 



Mr. Grifaths says that £17,700 has 

 been spent upon scrubbing Nymagee 

 Station fruitlessly. Suppose half that sum 

 had been spent in stocking with the 

 eland— what would be the value of that 

 property now ? Suppose all or half the 

 money that had been spent upon trying 

 to acclimatise the salmon had been laid 

 out in bringing the eland to Australia, we 

 should have herds here now that would 

 have converted our scrubby western lands 

 into a reproductive region. 



The first commander of the Dutch 

 settlement at the Cape, Van Riebeck, 

 records in his diary that there were elks 

 or elands in the neighbourhood of Cape 

 Colony. That was in the year 1G52. The 

 latitude of the Cape is 34 south. This 

 crosses Australia just above the junction 

 of the Darling River and the Murray 

 River. 



Mr. Mark Lingard (for the Surveyor- 

 General, Agricultural Department of the 

 British South African Company, Salis- 

 bury) states that the eland in Southern 

 Rhodesia is classiiied as Royal game, and 

 can only be captured and shot for 



scientific purposes, and then only with 

 special license from His Excellency the 

 High Commissioner. 



What is this but putting a high value 

 upon the animal that should be^on our 

 back blocks? Why so protected? Because 

 it is highly valued and sought tor by 

 people for profit, its hide being especially 

 valuable for leather, causing it to be called 

 the " harness antelope." , ^ 



Mr. Rhodes has elands at Groot 

 Schuur," near Capetown, which are do- 

 mesticated and breed there {vid^. the 

 Undersecretary of Agricultures letter 

 of Capetown). Lord Derby has a herd at 

 Knowsley Park ; Lord RothschUd a 

 Tring, also has some ; Viscount HiU, at 

 Hawkestone Park, Solop, killed one from 

 his stud. None of these gentlemen had 

 what every western squatter in Australia 

 has -" the eland's home," with its natural 

 loods, instead of roots and hay, tor its 

 winter food. , 

 There are three varieties, as mentioned 

 bv Mr. Etheridge. of the Australian 

 Museum, but the Cape variety appears to 

 be the best. The animal is described, its 

 value for meat, for fat, and for its hide, 

 which must have some peculiar proper 

 ties because valued for strong gear ma 

 land of oxen. Its foods are examined 

 into, and it is shown that Austra la is 

 stocked with identical and kindred plants 

 to those of its native laud, for it appears 

 to be an animal with various tastes, and 

 may pick at other bushes than those 

 named as specially its foods. The animal 

 -like a goat-may have a trick of paw- 

 ing its foods to break down thorns ; it so 

 it may eat the prickly-pear, as well as the 

 prickly wattle, which contains much 

 water, the which, in Africa, it obtains by 

 eating the spekboom, a plant of the pig- 

 weed class of vegetation. _ 



The importation and adoption ot this 

 animal can be no experiment, but become 

 at once an interesting addition to our 

 animals, adding to the value of our 

 country, its assets, and ultimately its ex- 

 ports, and ensure results that are not now 

 expected. 



In the Gardeners Chronicle appearsthe follow- 

 ina — " An apple a day. sends the doctor away. 

 Apple in the morning, doctor's warning. Koast 

 aoDlei at night, starved the doctor outright. 

 E^at an apple icing to bed, knock the doctor on 

 the head." 



