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TEE AORICULTU RAL JOURNAL. 



figures, it is rather a significant fact to 

 notice the increased quantity of margarine 

 imported to South Africa in 1900 as com- 

 pared with that imported in 1899. This 

 all points to the need of legislation 

 in this direction, and I have ad- 

 vised the Government that, in order to 

 prevent a mixture of margarine and 

 butter being sold as pure butter, no mar- 

 garine imported to the Colony should be 

 allowed to be coloured so as to resemble 

 the natural colour of pure butter. 



Margarine as a food is perfectly whole- 

 some, and in its natural state is white, 

 and does not in any way resemble butter ; 

 but if it is allowed to enter the Colony 

 coloured in such a way as to resemble 

 pure butter, it is very difficult to prevent 

 its being sold to the public as butter. 

 Considering that good margarine can be 

 produced for about half the price of pure 

 butter, apart from the fraud practised on 

 consumers, there would be a very unfair 

 competition with those who produced 

 butter of pure quality. 



It seems a pity that we have annually 

 to import such large quantities of butter 

 and cheese ; and it is to be hoped that in 

 the future, by more careful selection of 

 our Dairy stock, by adopting more 

 thorough and systematic methods of milk- 

 ing, by providing winter food for the 

 milking stock, and by a more unanimous 

 support of our Creameries, we shall gradu- 

 ally be able to reduce the importations of 

 Dairy Products, as far as Natal is con- 

 cerned, to a very small amount. I have 

 often heard the somewhat lame remark 

 made, " What is the use of having a Dairy 

 Expert if we have to import our butter 

 and cheese," but, unfortunately, up to 

 the present, I have not been able to manu- 

 facture Dairy Products out of any other 

 raw material than milk, and until we are 

 in a position to treble our present outputs 

 I am afraid importation must of necessity 

 continue. 



Treatment of Dairy Produce on 

 THE N.6.R. 



This question of the treatment of Dairy 

 Produce on our railways is one that is 

 fraught with many difficulties, but still 

 our railways are a medium through which 

 the Government can assist the Dairy In- 

 dustry to a greater extent perhaps than in 

 any other way. Before the establislanent 



of the present Creameries it would scarcely 

 have been justifiable to have asked for 

 better facilities for the conveyance of 

 Dairy Produce, inasmuch as the Dairy 

 Industry was then only in its infancy and 

 the milk trade had not developed. But 

 now matters have very much altered, 

 and a considerable traffic in Dairy Pro- 

 ducts has been created. We must hope, 

 therefore, that the railway authorities will 

 do all they possibly can in helping to 

 develop a growing industry, as so 

 much depends on the condition in 

 which such perishable articles as 

 milk, cream, butter, etc., arrive 

 at their destination. I have frequently 

 brought before the notice of the Govern- 

 ment the absolute necessity of providing 

 cool cars for carrying Dairy Products in 

 order that during the summer months 

 these products may arrive at their desti- 

 nation in a firm and sound condition. In 

 addition to the cool cars I have also 

 strongly advocated the erection of shade 

 houses for the protection of Dairy Pro- 

 duce at all stations on the line where the 

 traffic warranted the erection of sack 

 houses. I am glad to say that these shade 

 houses are now in course of construction. 

 A cool car is also about to be built on 

 most modern lines, and should this prove 

 as successful as I anticipate, no doubt the 

 use of cool cars will in the near future 

 become quite general. 



Mortality Amongst Calves. 

 Before closing my report I feel I must 

 briefly touch on the mortality amongst 

 young calves, which seems on the increase 

 rather than decrease in Natal. During 

 my numerous travels through the Colony 

 I have exceptional opportunities of noting 

 how the calves do in the several districts 

 visited, and I feel bound to admit that in 

 a few of the districts calf-rearing during 

 the hot summer months is almost an im- 

 possibility. This being the case, I feel 

 quite sure that farmers will in the future 

 go in much more largely for winter calves 

 than they have done in the past. In dis- 

 tricts where calf-rearing in the hot 

 weather is a difficult matter, I am con- 

 vinced that winter calving is the proper 

 course to take, and if the milk cows are 

 properly fed, there is no reason why such 

 calves should not thrive and do well ; 

 I and there is no doubt that these winter 



