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THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Berg Land. 



" You have had some ten years' experi- 

 ence of land under the Berg ; is it good, 

 and what are the characteristics ? " 



" My farm there is sheltered by pre- 

 cipitous spurs of the range, some 1,500 ft. 

 higher than the valleys ; some of the 

 heights are G,500 ft. above sea level. 

 When the winds are cold here, the 

 sheltered valleys there are perfectly still 

 and warm. The grass is coarse, but it 

 keeps well into winter, and I think it 

 will improve in quality by grazing. I was 

 the first of this district to winter there. 

 Previously the Berg was associated with 

 all that is cold and trying to stock in 

 winter, whereas it is now recognised that 

 the climate of its kloofs is beautifully 

 mild at that trying time of the year. The 

 sugar bush is common, and in some of 

 the gorges there is bush — yellow-wood and 

 umbomvan. In the Putiui location there 

 is plenty of bush. Very little of the land 

 can be ploughed, but it is good stock 

 country for the early winter months. My 

 fai'm is near the Bushman's caves best 

 known to the public. On my farm there 

 is one of these caves which contain's 

 plenty of Bushman's drawings— lions, 

 elephants, antelope, and an animal, sitting 

 up, which bears a strong resemblance to 

 the Australian kangaroo. 



(iRASSES. 



One of the most interesting features of 

 Bray Hill is the cultivation of imported 

 grasses. All the bottom land, and there 

 is plenty of it, is under these grasses or is 

 being prepared, or is destined eventually 

 tor that purpose. Nowhere did I see 

 grasses put into top land, though in such 

 land, with yard and artificial manure, Mr. 

 Simmons grows good crops of mealies, 

 millet, roots, cabbage, etc. Very shortly, in 

 the black bottom lands, he will have 200 

 acres of imported grasses. 



" Which grass do you prefer ?" 



" I believe, as a rule, in mixtures. The 

 seed I buy separately, and I do my 

 own mixing. A good mixture is equal 

 l)arls Italian rye, cow grass, a little trefo 

 lium, white Dutch clover, rib grass, 

 cocksfoot and burnet. Ihe paddock 

 we are now in was sown with 

 that mixture four years ago. You see 

 what a splendid growth there is, and yet 

 last winter all was grazed down to the 



very ground. The Italian rye grass gives 

 magnificent rich heavy growth for a 

 couple of years, and then becomes short, 

 resembling English rye. 8weet vernal I 

 tried on a considerable scale, but as I 

 found the cattle did not like it I have given 

 it up. Except for scenting hay it is of 

 little value. Trefolium clover is con- 

 sidered a first-class green feed in England, 

 and when holdings become smaller here. 

 I think it will be a favourite. Burnett 

 keeps green through the winter, but stock 

 do not eat it until the tail-end of that 

 season. All the yard manure that can be 

 spared goes to the grass paddocks, also all 

 good road sweepings that can be goc. In 

 preparing the soil I do my best to get it 

 into fine tilth. After, say, two ploughings, 

 I thoroughly harrow it and roll it with a 

 weighted Cambridge roller. This last 

 operation is done most effectively. If the 

 soil is well broken up it is almost impos- 

 sible to roll it down too hard — a fact 

 which a good many people do not know. 

 I sow by hand. The advantages of im- 

 ported grasses are innumerable for stock 

 farmers. I have had practically every 

 crop smashed down past recovery by hail, 

 but the grasses at the worst are injured 

 for only a few days, however bad the hail- 

 storm may have been. Then when they 

 are once in, the work is done with— at 

 any rate for several years. Again, they 

 permit of a great increase of stock. A 

 man well provided with such pasture can 

 easily, I am convinced, run ten sheep to 

 the acre. Last November, when I sold a 

 lot of mares to the military, I put their 

 foals, only six to eight weeks old, into this 

 paddock. I did not lose one, and they 

 all did well ; as well as those left with 

 their dams. Then the hay from these 

 grasses is splendid — altogether a different 

 thing from the ordinary veld hay." 



" When do you plant ? " 



" From December till early March if 

 the weather is favourable ; when the 

 weather is hot and dry I do not plant. 

 This being an exceptional year I am 

 planting in November. I am experi- 

 menting this year in varying the pro- 

 portions of the seeds. Cow clover does 

 best in strong, drained marsh-land ; cocks- 

 foot does fairly well on light soil, and if 

 manure is given I am sure it will be a 

 thorough success. There is no need to 

 manure marsh-hnd for English grasses.'' 



