THE AQRIOULTURAL JOURNAL. 



517 



ported, but sixteen goats and a heifer were 

 taken out of the District, principally from the 

 vicinity of the Magistracy, a very unusual cir- 

 cumstance. Whether their removal is attribu- 

 table to the fact of the fresh meat (game) supply 

 of resident Europeans being put a stop to during 

 the present close season, or to fear of a raid 

 from looting Boers, it is hard to say, as natives 

 are always prone to give reasons diametrically 

 opposite to the actual on such occasions. Crops 

 of naealies, kafir corn, and ground nuts are, so 

 far, in evidence about the low-veld Coastwards, 

 while on the mountains, north and south of the 

 Umkuzi, kafir potatoes, mealies and kafir corn 

 are being planted. 



A. R. R. TuRNBULL, Magistrate. 



WEENEN, 19th October. Several stock 

 thefts have lately been committed by natives in 

 this District, and in each case the arrest of the 

 offender has been secured. One of these is a 

 man who only a few months ago completed a 

 term of imprisonment on a similar charge. But 

 the punishment then meted out to him has cer- 

 tainly not acted as a deterrent, for he is now 

 awaiting trial for the theft of a cow from Mr. 



O. Rottcher, of the Golden Valley. The animal 

 was stolen in a very daring manner ; driven for 

 about 20 miles, and then exchanged to another 

 native for fifteen goats. Sales of this nature in 

 defiance of the Pass A.ct are, it is to be feared, 

 of frequent occurrence, and the way of the 

 cattle stealer is thereby rendered easy In this 

 instance, the purchaser has betn severely dealt 

 with but in most cases the facts are never 

 brought to light. A consider able amount of 

 carelessness exists also on the part of stock 

 owners in regard to the issue of passes to natives. 

 Despite the fact that printed forms in con- 

 lormity with the Act may be hal on application 

 to any Magistrate, informal pisses on slips lof 

 paper are oftsn issued, with the result that the 

 drivers are re dere I liable to arrest by the 

 police. Three such cases have been brought to 

 my notice during the past wtok. i>ainfeUon 

 five days of last week, amounting to about an 

 inch and a quarter. 'J he highest tempera- 

 ture so far for the mon h was 98 deg. on 

 the 4th, and the lowest 42 deg. oa the 

 14th. A plentiful crop of .young grass < overs 

 the country from Thorn lands to high veld. 



C. Gr. Jackson, Acting Magistrate. 



Correspondence. 



To the Editor Agricultural Jouriial. 



TEMPERATURES AND WORM 

 MEDICINES. 



V'lR, — Will you kindly tell us through 

 U the columns of the Journat what i.s 

 the normal temperature of the horse and 

 ox ; also a reliable prescription for worms 

 in horses, as each person seems to have 

 his own peculiar concoction. The horee 

 balls we have bought from time to time for 

 worms have not given good results. 



Yours, etc., 



J. H. C(^ATES. 



Native Mission, 



Inyoni, Zululand. 



The temperature of the horse and ox 

 varies considerably with the different con- 

 ditions of exercise, exposure, whether 

 pregnant or not, atmospheric conditions, 

 etc., and such fluctuations are perfectly 

 consistent with health. The average 

 temperature of the horse is about 99*5, 

 while that of the ox is about a degree 

 higher (100-5), the normal temperature of 

 calves being again about a degree above 

 that of the adult ox. 



It is not possible to give a prescription 

 for any reliable vermifuge (or worm 

 medicine) without knoAving the species of 

 worm. For instance, small round thread 

 worms are expt-lled from the body by 

 certain drugs which would prove harm- 

 less to the various tapeworms, and these 

 latter will be killed by medicines pro- 

 ducing no result upon such parasites as 

 bots. 



If your correspondent will write more 

 explicitly I will try to advise him. In 

 the meantime regular small doses of sul- 

 phate of iron will do much to produce a con- 

 dition of the alimentry canal unfavourable 

 to the prolonged stay of parasites of all 

 sorts.— H.W-P. 



BIRDS AND YOUNG MEALIES. 



Sir, — Can any of the readers of the 

 Journal tell me anything (short of killing 

 them) which will present birds pulling 

 up the mealits just as they spring up. 

 Those which trouble us are the weaver 

 birds or " amahlogohlogo." I read in the 

 " American Agriculturist " that a coating 



