TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Fries iands, etc, 



INTERVIEW WITH MR. P. OTTO, J.P. 

 By ErgATES. 



HALF way between Mooi River and 

 Greytown lies the broad, long valley 

 or basin known as the Riet Vlei of Natal. 

 Here are to be found representatives of 

 some of the best known old colonial 

 names— Otto, Norton, Varty, Robinson, 

 and others. Within the valley may be 

 seen some twenty homesteads, the most 

 of them being only five or ten minutes' 

 walk of one or other. The land of the re- 

 spective homesteads, so to say, radiates on 

 to the surrounding hills. This amiable 

 proximity of the dwelling-houses is a 

 curious feature to the average colonist, 

 and demands investigation. The only 

 explanation obtainable goes back to the 

 times of the earliest settlers. It is sup- 

 posed that mutual protection was the 

 motive of the close congregation. Mr. P. 

 Otto, whose farm Somerville is situated 

 at the northern end of the valley, is the 

 best known breeder of Friesland cattle in 

 Natal, and to him I went to learn what 

 he would say with respect to the breed of 

 his special stock. 



"You were the first to import pedigree 

 Frieslands ? " 



" No, no ; my father was the first. He 

 began in about 1855, and I have gone on. 

 My own importations have been fifteen 

 bulls and seven heifers." 

 " You have always kept to Frieslands ? " 

 " No ; about twenty years ago I tried 

 Shorthorns. After five years' experience 

 with them, I gave them up. They did 

 not thrive, they were poor milkers, their 

 coats were long and harboured myriads of 

 the small blue ticks which tef-m in this 

 district as the autumn approaches. I had 

 to clip them ! 1 he Frieslands, also called 

 Falherlanders, and Holsteins did admir- 

 ably. Our veld is sweet ; the troop get 

 nothing but what they can find in the 

 veld. Frieslands grow to an enormous 

 size, They are not a rapidly maturing 

 breed like the Shorthorn, but they are 

 long-lived ; plenty of oxen I have worked 

 - and Frieslands work splendidly in the 

 yoke— till seventeen years old, and then 

 let them run to get into condition for 

 the butcher." 



" But Frieslands are regarded by many 

 as soft ; it is held that where the breed 

 originates the conditions are those of 

 bovine luxury : up to their knees in rich 

 meadow grass half the year, and carefully 

 housed and fed during the other half of 

 the year." 



" The hardiness of animals, I imagine, 

 is not lessened by the fact that they come 

 of stock carefully nurtured. It is cer- 

 tainly not so with human beings. But, be 

 that as it may, I can say that under con- 

 ditions such as mine they are not in the 

 least delicate. I hold they are hardier ; 

 and I believe I have no senseless bias 

 in favour of one breed over another, than 

 any other class of imported cattle, and the 

 cows ad mittedly are in the first rank as 

 milkers. It is remarkable how people 

 swear by the breeds they have ; and all 

 of them, I daresay, are right according to 

 their locality. The calves go down to my 

 winter farm Saxony, where gallsickness is 

 prevalent, and where some always die 

 from that sickness. Reit Vlei is also sub- 

 ject to quarter-evil. Stock that I breed I 

 can, therefore, pretty well guarantee to be 

 immune from the most fatal maladies of 

 South Africa. They do well wherever I 

 have sent them. From Durban to Bula- 

 wayo 1 have supplied cows and heifers, 

 and they have all done well. I sell the 

 cows at from £40 to £60, and the demand 

 is greater than I can meet. I never sell a 

 cow, however, until I have some of her 

 progeny to keep the herd going." 



" What quantity of milk do the cows 

 give ? ** 



" Off the veld they give from 15 to 20 

 bottles a day, but, of course they would 

 give much more if fed. I milk only once 

 a day, and I find the calves do better. 

 All the cattle, as you have seen, are re- 

 markably quiet. There is no difficulty 

 whatever in milking the cows without 

 their calves ; to either way they take 

 naturally." 



"What was your rinderpest experi- 

 ence ? " 



"At first I biled the whole lot with 

 bile sent me by Mr. Pitchford. About 



