THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



G83 



the paddocks, so the onlj' possible con- 

 clusion to be come to is that the niissini? 

 sheej) were stolen. Catching De Wet is 

 child's play in comparison to Ia^ ing hold 

 of kafir thieves on misty nights in this 

 district — and those nights we have often 

 for weeks without a break. Some of my 

 neighbours have had lots of experience of 

 detectives, and on that experience I en- 

 gaged none." 



"You could not bring the Tribal Respon- 

 sibility Act to bear ? " 



" No. We never found evidence near 

 their kraals ; the river is handy for sink- 

 ing skins or floating them away. The 

 thieving is not done by my own kafirs. 

 I have onlv one kafir on the f arm - a 

 volunteer who has been off and on with 

 me for 15 years ; my labour, as I have 

 said, is coolie." 



Grasses. 



Mr. Henwood's experience with im- 

 ported grasses has not altogether been 

 happy, but as failun^s are almost as in- 

 structive as successes, I give what he told 

 me. 



" I began," he said, with prairie grass; 

 that died out the first season. Then I 

 tried rib grass ; that came up patchily 

 and died out. Yes ; 1 tried it both on 

 top and bottom soil. Italian rye Listed 

 only one season, and clover planted the 

 same year did not come up. On the 

 strength of what a New Zealand visitor 

 told me I tried thirty acres with cocksfoot. 

 It seemed a very great success. I put 

 500 sheep into it at about the worst time 

 of the year — the last two weeks of July 

 and the first two of August — and they did 

 well on it. It kept green and growing 

 all the wintfr. The following season, 

 with such encouragement, I put in 180 

 acres. It was on a dry ridge. Fertiliser? 

 No ; I used none. It started growing 

 well, and then locusts came along and 

 cleared off all of it above the roots. Since 

 then we have had a succession of dry 

 seasons, and a verv little of it is left. In 

 New Zealand, my friendtold methatcocks- 

 foot kills down all other grasses. My 

 first good luck with cocksfoot induced 

 several neighbours also to go in for it, 

 but they have had (he same expeiience. 

 In New Zealand, when grown with fer- 

 tilisers, it reaches four feet in height, and 

 makes splendid hay, which is largely 



shipped to Australia. New Zealand, of 

 course, is a country with a heavy an 1 con- 

 tinuous rainfall, not like ours, which 

 these upper parts is now scanty and 

 limited to a few months. Every year I 

 cut a big lot of veld hay." 



Winter Food : Ensilage. 



Lik^ most up-coantry stock-owners, 

 Mr. Henwood is a great believer in en- 

 silage. 



■' I have planted," he said, " for this 

 winter 25 acres of mealies for forage. 

 Unfortunately, the grub has been un- 

 usually bad, and I am replanting much of 

 the land. The mealie stalks for ensilage 

 should, in my opinion, be allowed to stop 

 on the ground for a day before being 

 stacked. The ensilage of my slowly-built 

 stacks has always been .of first-class 

 quality', sweet, and of a befautifully olive 

 green colour. Last year I happened — 

 and what only rarely happens — to have 

 plenty of labour available at the time for 

 cutting. The stalks were carted on, and 

 the stacks built in record time. This 

 despatch was disappointing, The ensilage 

 was dark and sour, and the worst I have 

 ever had." 



Chevalier Barley. 

 " I am putting in twelve acres of 

 Chevalier barley. A neighbour does well 

 with it He put in fonr sacks and got 

 eight big buck-wagon loads of barley hay. 

 All kinds of stock took greedily to it." 



Manna and Oats. 

 " Hearing such good accounts of 

 manna I am putting in four acres. In 

 common with others I have had to give 

 up winter oats for some five years owing 

 to rust. In past years this crop proved to 

 be the best of all winter oats because of 

 its feeding qualities and the saving of 

 labour owing to its being fed on the 

 ground. I am going to put in 15 acres of 

 Algerian and 30 of English." 



Roots, Etc. 

 " No ; I don't go in for roots. They are 

 too expensive to grow, and the necessary 

 carling during the short days of winter 

 is too big a biisinefs. But I can grow 

 them well ; at Shows I have taken plenty 

 of prizes for them. I have also put in 

 a couple of acres of pumpkins, but next 

 year I shall put them in with mealies in 



