TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



others in the upper districts of the Colony 

 begging for the allotment of Indians. 

 Many of the applicants stated that it was 

 absolutely impossible to get native labour 

 at any price for farm work, and that unless 

 they could possibly obtain Indian labour, 

 they would have to give up farming alto- 

 gether. The planters on the coast were 

 also very shcrt of labour. Unfortunately 

 the supply of labourers from India during 

 the year was by no means equal to the 

 demand. Calcutta has closed for all but 

 one month during the year, consequently 

 the Board has to depend entirely upon 

 Madras for the supply of labour. From 

 that port 2,855 men came forward during 

 the year. At the close of the year 1899 

 there remained an unsupplied balance of 

 4,219 men, and in addition to this number 

 6,323 men were applied for during the 

 year, making a total of 10,542. Of this 

 number 3,168 men arrived during the 

 year, leaving a balance of 7,374 men un- 

 supplied at the close of the year. 



Some 2,186 men and women completed 

 their indentures during the year, and re- 

 ceived certificates of discharge from ser- 

 vice under indenture. The majority of 

 these people have gone to swell the 

 already large numbers of free Indians 

 working on their own account, as small 

 farmers, market gardeners, hawkers, etc. 



Every year more land is taken up on the 

 coast by free Indians, by purchase or on 

 lease, principally for cultivation. Large 

 numbers of free Indians are now the re- 

 gistered owners of a considerable extent 

 of land on the coast, and the cultivation 

 of mealies, beans, tobacco, and vegetables 

 is almost entirely in the hands of these 

 people. Several free men are also grow- 

 ing cane for the Central and other mills, 

 and are doing remarkably well. 



Field hands are generally employed at 

 task work, which they very much ap- 

 preciate. Under this system, the men m- 

 variably finish their day's work early in 

 the afternoon, and have the rest of the 

 day to themselves. Women are also em- 

 ployed at task work of the lightest de- 

 scription, thus enabling them to get ofE 

 early in the day to attend to their domes- 

 tic duties. The contract provides nine 

 hours a day for labour, with a break of at 

 least an hour for rest, and this simply 

 means keeping the men in the fields from 

 sunrise to sunset. Since the system of 

 task work has been introduced, contract 

 hours are looked upon, by the majority of 

 indentured Indians, as a punishment 

 more than anything else. The task sys- 

 tem is a very good one, and operates satis- 

 factorily both in the mterests of the 

 Indians and their employers. 



Belgian Hares. 



HOW TO BREED IN NATAL. 



By H. S. Power, J.P. 



AS the present time is one which is 

 proving s rely troublesome to both 

 town and country people, especially the 

 latter, wi^h regard to food supplies, the 

 breeding of Ik'lgian hares appears to 

 be attracting more attention than hitherto. 

 One great thing in its favour is that it does 

 not want a large capital to start matters 

 on a proper footing, and given the neces- 

 sary care and attention, there is no reason 

 whatever why it should not prove both a 

 remunerative and an amusing pastime to 

 the breeder. It is an industry which does 

 not interfere with the legitimate work of 

 a farm, but at the same time will un- 

 doubtedly supplement the farm profits. 



When one comes to take the p7'os and 

 cons of poultry and hare farming, I 

 should certainly plump for the latter, 

 more especially as it appears to be the 

 rule of the poultry fancier to breed for 

 feather and markings, to the detriment of 

 breast and other table qualities. Again, 

 with regard to disease, I think most of 

 your readers will agree with me that in 

 this country poultry seem liable to most 

 of the ills that flesh is heir to, whereas 

 with the Belgian hare my experience 

 has been that disease appears to be 

 narrowed down to an affection of the 

 liver (which certainly bowls over a lot of 

 the little ones now and again), but as the 



