TEE AORICULTURAL JOURNAL. GaS 



dead weight. A 6-tooth ewe I put on the 

 scale this year showed 155 lbs. live weight. 

 The average clip of wool from the flock is 

 11 lbs. ; a 2-tooth ram gave IG lbs. My 

 father was the first to import pure-bred 

 Rambouillets into Natal." 



Angoeas. 



"Goats do well here, but I had a trouble- 

 some flock — regular travellers. No wire 

 fence could keep them in, and the stone 

 walls they used as promenades. I found 

 them to be a nuisance and got rid of them. 

 They are all, as you know, wretchedly 

 bad mothers, always ready to desert their 

 kids. My neighbour, Mr. T. B. Varty, 

 has a fine flock doing well and not in- 

 clined to stray." 



Pigs. 



" I breed from Berkshire and a Middle- 

 white boar — pure bred. The litters, 

 curiously are always white. This cross 

 gives splendid bacon. At eight months 

 out of a litter J killed last winter the 

 smallest weighed 192 lbs. and the heaviest 

 240 lbs. — clean. Of course I do them 

 well. They all run ont a couple of hours 

 every day. I feed them on separated 

 milk, umbuya, vegetable marrow, and 

 peaches ; the last comes out in the flavour 

 of the meat. At the end, for topping off, 

 I give mealies. The pigs always get a 

 few, very few, mealies. I do not look on 

 them as good pig food. Next season I in- 

 tend crossing the Berkshire with the 

 Tamworth. The cross should be good." 



Poultry, etc. 

 " The Silver Dorking which I now keep 

 are first-rate farm birds, good layers, and 

 good for the table. I have taken lots of 

 prizes with them. The ducks are Ayles- 

 burys ; they are strong, hardy, and grow 

 quickly. I can sell any quantity at two 

 guineas a pen, a drake and two ducks. 

 They travel during the day a long way up 

 the spruit, but they always come back at 

 sundown. The turkeys are American 

 Bronze ; I find them very hardy, and 

 they grow to 30 lbs. weight, and pay well 

 at from 20s. to 30s. or at Is. 3d. per lb. — 

 and selling by weight is the most satis- 

 factory. They are splendid mothers ; all 

 feed in the field." At Somerville the 

 Belgian hare is also to be found — and to 

 be found thriving well in all stages from 

 the size of a mouse upwards. Under this 



heading I include a brace of Kafir cranes, 

 but not kept for profit. One of them goes 

 by the name of " Sir Walter." He used 

 to reside at Government House, and was 

 well known to Maritzburgers during the 

 late Governor's term of office in Natal. 



Barley Wheat. 



Mr. Otto is not a cultivator on a large 

 scale. He makes sure of growing all his 

 stock can possibly want, and it is only 

 the surplus which he sells. About the 

 ordinary crops there is no need for lengthy 

 remark, but some special reference to 

 the beardless barley, barley wheat, or 

 Nepaul wheat may be useful. Large 

 quantities in bale are being, as many 

 know, largely imported into the Colony. 

 This is what Mr. Otto said :— " I have 

 used it largely for several years as green 

 fodder ; in the Cape they work horses on 

 it green. Cut as forage it is also excellent. 

 My neighbour, Mr. Tom Varty, says it is 

 the best of all forage. Horses eat up 

 cleanly every bit of it. The grain is also 

 first class for poultry. It has no beards 

 to get into the gums of horses. I grow 

 my own seed for three years ; after that 

 it deteriorates, and I then get fresh. Frost 

 does not hurt it ; it should be watered in 

 winter. If it is grazed it is apt to be 

 pulled out, for the roots are shallow. 

 When the soil is in good order I sow it 

 broadcast, and then plough it in— about 

 three inches. It is the quickest of green 

 fodder plants I know." 



Mealies and Manna. 



Mr. Otto grows the Golden Beauty, a 

 yellow mealie, chiefly. He finds that it 

 grows as quickly as the Hickory King, 

 but that it has not the disadvantage at- 

 taching to that mealie of shedding its 

 corn in the field. Having heard good 

 accounts of the manna he is gi ving it a 

 trial. His first sowing took three weeks 

 to come up, so he soaked the seed for the 

 second lot. He recommends putting it 

 into boiling water and allowing it to soak 

 for 24 hours, and in sowing it to mix it 

 with sand. 



Implements. 

 Mr. Otto spoke very highly of a Jack's 

 harrow which he got from Messrs. Mason 

 and Broadbent, Maritzburg. It is very 

 strong and goes well into every undula- 

 tion, and if turned over it makes a capital 



