644 



TEE 



AORICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Ifoui in the LiWe Moot River, 



MR. J. C. PA.KKER informs the Minister 

 of Agriculture that he has received 

 a letter from Mr. L. S. Kershaw stating 

 that trout from four inches long have 

 been seen by the sons of Mr. W. T. Traf- 

 ford in the Little Mooi River. On De- 



cember 4th, 1900, Mr. Parker sent Mr 

 TrafEord 200 for putting into the river. 

 Mr. Parker concludes his letter as fol- 

 lows : — " It is satisfactory to know that 

 there is one more river stocked. Most 

 likely the trout will stay and breed there." 



"A Smuggling Adveniurem 



IN the next is3ue will appear, we have 

 the pleasure to state, an account of an 

 adventure under the above title from the 

 pen of Natal's universally known and 



n?uch esteemed old colonist, Mr. Charles 

 Bart3r. Mr. Barter, we are pleased to 

 state, is in good health. 



District Reports. 



BULWEB, 14th December.— During the last 

 three weeks the weather has been most change- 

 able— sudi^en changes from extreme heat to 

 very cold weather. Last Vtonday morning 

 there was a cutting cold wind blowing, giviusr 

 one the impression that it was win • r instead of 

 midsummer. Plenty of rain continues to fall 

 almost daily in the vicinity of Bulwer, but 

 beyond the mounta n, about 12 miles from Bul- 

 wer, there has b ea very little. I hear the grub 

 is very destructive this season to the crops ; 

 several farmers will have poor crops of mealies 

 in consequence. In the upper parts of this 

 Division it is to > late to plant mealies in De- 

 cember, therefore it is no use replanting. There 

 are any quantity of potatoes now to be got in 

 the District ; the price being about 15s. per bag. 

 Mealif s are being otf red freely at 13s. per bag, 

 but there is little or no demand for them. 

 Plenty of wool is now being transported to 

 Maritzburg. the bulk of which is coming from 

 East Uriqualand. The buildings of the new 

 Magistracy at Himeville, Underberg District, 

 have been started, an l I am told there are 18 

 stonemasons at work, and if the necessary 

 Native labour is obtainable it is contemplated 

 the buildings will be finished in six mont'js time. 

 The Bulwer Agricultu al Hall is being pu-hed 

 on. The full length of the < ne wall has been 

 carried up to the full height, but the others 

 have not reached half way yet. It is to be 

 hoped the hall will be co-pleted before the 

 next Show -to he held in June n^^x*-. About 

 500 head of caHle l)olon2ing to Mr. .Tames Oole, 

 of Riverside, Dronk Vlei, pa-sed through the 

 village a fortnight ago from the vicinity of 

 Ladysmith The herd. ' understand, is running 

 on the farm Coleford, Indawana District, on the 

 East Griqualand border of this Divisio All 

 the rattle seem to be perfectly healthy. I have 



heard of no sickness amongst stock in th 

 Divis'on, anH, as far as I know, the District 1"^ 

 free from disease. The Village Water Supply 

 is under consideration, but I am afraid the ex- 

 pense will be so great that the majority of the 

 property owners of the village will not acce t 

 the scheme proposed for a regular domestic 

 supply, fls for irrigation purposes, that is out 

 of the question, as there is only a limited 

 quantity of water in the springs. 



H. W. Boast, Magistrate, 



INGWAVtJMA, 30th November.— Rain fell 

 on 12 days during the month , there were only 

 five thunderstorms, and they were not of a 

 violent nature. The other rains here were of a 

 mild and pleasant kind, and mostly fell during 

 the evenings. It has been a good month for 

 planting, consequently everyone has been busy 

 putting in mealie and mabele seed. The majority 

 of the white inhabitants have also been taking 

 advantage of the rains to give some attention to 

 their vegetable gardens A couole of herds of 

 Native cattle are still infected with lungsickness, 

 but I am glad to report that other herds which 

 were affected have now been declared free. The 

 stock are looking well on the whole. 



J. R. Hellet, Acting Magistrate. 



INANDA DIVISION, 13th December.— 

 Since writing last, locusts have been very much 

 in evidence in this Division, and large swarms 

 have been hovering about all over the c )untr . 

 They seem to have ^hown signs of diminution 

 during the past few days, and I hear they a e 

 dying' off. This is no doubt due to their having 

 deposited their eggs. I fear there will be an 

 unusually large number of hoppers— as the 

 swarms have been so general throughout the 



