454 



THE Aatti C U LT li BAL JOURNAL. 



to natives. With the exception of these cases, 

 stock throughout ihe District is in a healthy 

 condition. I am glad to say that aa experienced 

 man has been appointed as Stick Inspector tor 

 the northern portion of the Province, and, 

 although he has a vast tract of country under 

 his care, his services will verj materially assi!<t 

 in the prevention of the spread of disease 

 amongst stock. Two vast swarms of locusts 

 visited my District during August, travelling m 

 an easterly direction. 



A. W. Leslie, Magistrate. 



PORT SHEPSTONE, 23rd September.— he 

 total rainfall for the past fortnight has been 

 10.37 inches, the heaviest fall on one day being 

 3.01 inches on the 14th instant. On the »tb 

 instant we had a very hot wind, which sent the 

 tempera' ure up to 98 degrees. Ploughing opera- 

 tions amongst the ratives are now in tuU swing. 

 I was very much surprised to ascertain, a", a store 

 where I was holding a Branch Court lately, what a 

 number of ploughs the natives are buyi-g. i hey 

 appear to have a good number of rattle lett tor 

 ploughing It appears to me that this early 

 ploughing down here is attended with great 

 risk, as locusts will appear just about the time 

 that the mealies are well advanced. Ihe t-uro- 

 peans put in their crops usually about Lhnstmas, 

 or during January. We have at present tour 

 spans of oxen quarantined un^er the Lungsic^- 

 ness Act The disease was brought into the 

 District from East Griqualand. It broke out m 

 a span of oxen belonging to a Mr. i honapson. 

 The majority of these oxen have died, it has 

 since made its appearance amongst another 

 span that came in contact with Mr. Thompson s. 

 With the strict quarantine that is being observed, 

 it is hoped that the disease will not spread 

 beyond the quarantine area. 



P. Hugo, Magistrate. 



UMLALAZI, 21st September.-I regret to 

 y there have been three fresh outbreaks ot 



lungsickness amongst cattle in the District since 

 my last report, one in a large herd belonging to 

 surrendered Boers, and two among natives 

 cattle. No fresh cases of anthrax have been 

 observed. Natives are everywhere busy plough- 

 ing or hoeing and planting. A dense swarm of 

 locusts passed through the District on the 2nd 

 instant, travelling north, over the Ongoye 

 Range of hills. We have had heavy, almost 

 torrential, rains, during the last fortnight no 

 less than 65 inches having been registered. 

 Manj usually insignificant streams have been 

 impassable for a day or two, but are now rapidly 

 falling, the rain having ceased. 



J. J, Jackson, Magistrate. 



WEENEN, 20fch September.— Spring has been 

 well ushered in with two or three days of rain^ 

 which has left its beneficent mark on trees and 

 veld. Orchards are a mass of pink and white, 

 and hills of brown and black are now being 

 rapidly transformed to green. Farmer?, ever 

 doubtful of nature's goods, enquire dubiously it 

 this promise of better things will be fulfalled, 

 and, indeed, past experience warrants their 

 doubt. But in the meantime nature is rejoicing 

 in her new life, and bears the appearance of 

 having had a bath and general clean up. Some 

 very hot days have been experienced, and the 

 thermometer has registered as much as 95 degs. 

 lately, a high temperature for early spring. 

 Last month's meteorological records show a 

 greater variation at this station between the 

 maximum and minimum means than is evidenced 

 in any other District. A suspected case of lung- 

 sickness is reported on the farm Vrisgewaagt 

 near the village. The outbreak in the location 

 was supposed to have died out, but after the 

 lapse of nearly two months, another beast ha,s 

 sickened. Farmers would seem to be unani- 

 mous in agreeing that the period of six weeks 

 defined by the Act is too short, and this is the 

 second instance in this Div sion where their 

 contention has apparently been just fied. 



C. G. Jackson, Acting Magistrate. 



Naartje Growing in the Midlands, 



INTERVIEW WITH MR. R. H. PEPWORTH. 



(By Ergates) 



EETING, a few days ago in Maritzburg, 

 Mr. R. H. Pepworth, or Mr. Harwin 

 P^pworth, as he is better known, be was 

 "•ood enough to invite me to go out to his 

 Jlace and see the magnificent crops of 

 naartjes bis trees were bearing. I accepted 

 with pleasure, and said I would take a 

 photograph of one of the trees, which 

 would probably be published in a future 

 issue of the Journal. ' 



The farm lies up the Zwaartkop Valley, 

 about a couple of miles beyond the 

 Botanical Gardens. Originally, m 185/, 



it was bought by the late Mr. Henry 

 Pepworth as a suburban place of resi- 

 dence, and in 1891 it was occupied by Mr. 

 Harwin Pepworth for farming the land. 

 Mr. Pepworth's farming may be roughly 

 described as fruit and wattle growing and 

 market gardening. His wattle-bark, in 

 1899, took the special medal of the Durban 

 Show, and his potatoes have carried off 

 several " Firsts." For forage (Sidonian) 

 he has taken Firsts, and with his bee 

 exhibits he has always been in the front 

 rank. 



