THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



767 



VeteHnary Tariff. 



WITH reference to Government Notice 

 No. 506, 1899, it is hereby notified, 

 for general information, that the follow- 

 ing fees will be charged by the several 

 District Veterinary Surgeons as from the 

 1st February, 1902 :— 



£ s. d. 



1. For every professional 



visit involving attend- 

 ance for a period not 

 exceeding two hours 

 (except in the case of 

 a dog) 10 6 



2. For a professional visit 



to a dog 5 



3. Additional charge for 



surgical operation of 



a serious nature ... 10 6 



4. For every hour of at- 



tendance or part of an 

 hour, in excess of two, 

 a detention fee of ... 6 



In the Boroughs of Pietermaritzburg 

 and Durban, within a radius of two miles 

 from the Town Hall, and in any Town- 

 ship or Village in which a District Veteri- 

 nary Surgeon resides, a fee of 5s. will be 

 charged for each visit. In cases where 

 the District Veterinary Surgeon does not 

 reside in a Township or Village, the same 

 fee will apply within a radius of two 

 miles from his place of abode. In the 

 case of an owner bringing his animal, for 

 attendance or advice, to the District 

 Veterinary Surgeon's office or abode, a 

 fee of 5s. only will be charged. In every 

 case a charge, according to their value, 

 will be made for drugs used. 



H. D. WINTER, 

 Minister of Agriculture. 

 Office of the Minister of Agriculture, 

 Pietermaritzburg, 



16th January, 1902. 



A Team of Alligators, 



TEFFERSON LEE, says an American 

 J paper, who lives on the St. John's 

 River in Putnam Country, Fla., has the 

 most extraordinary team in the country. 

 It is a team of alligators that Mr. Lee 

 uses to tow his boat up and down the 

 river when he goes to market. Mr. Lee 



has to go six miles down the river to his 

 post-office, and it is a hard pull against 

 the current coming back. He noticed 

 how swiftly alligators swam, and it oc- 

 curred to him that it might be a good 

 thing to turn the alligators that abound 

 in the St. John's River to some account. 

 He captured a pair of young 'gators and 

 raised them in his yard. He taught them 

 to swim, and drag a weight behind them, 

 and he also taught them to turn either to 

 the right or left by pulling ropes fastened 

 to their teeth on either side. When the 

 alligators were big enough he put a har- 

 ness that he had constructed on them and 

 harnessed them to his boat. They swam 

 well and pulled the boat through the 

 waier at a good speed. By pulling on the 

 reins that passed through the mouths of 

 the 'gators Mr. Lee was able to turn his 

 strange water team in any direction he 

 pleased. Mr. Lee made a point of never 

 feeding his alligators until after they re- 

 turned from a trip, when he would im- 

 mediately reward each one with a fine 

 meal. The alligators seem to be willing 

 to perform their task of pulling his boat, 

 and when he turns them out of the pen 

 in which they are stabled, and starts them 

 for the water, they shuffle down to the 

 boat in the liveliest style, and after they 

 are hitched they plunge into the water 

 with *unts of delight. Mr. Lee says his 

 strange team has never run awaj' or 

 kicked out the dash board of his river 

 craft, but that they have one fault, foi' 

 which, however, he does not blame them. 

 They sometimes sweep their powerful 

 tails in a curve through the water, and 

 once smashed one of his boats into small 

 bits, and threw Mr. Lee and a party that 

 he was taking boat riding, into the river. 

 They would have all been drowned had 

 not the alligators swam back to them, and 

 permitted the party to climb on their 

 backs, after which the alligators swam 

 swiftly to the shore, and all the party 

 were saved. Mr. Lee now hitches up his 

 team twenty feet in front of the boat, so 

 that the sweep of their tails will not en- 

 danger the craft. Mr. Lee's success has 

 created great interest among all of his 

 neighbours, and now many alligators are 

 being trained for duty as sea horses. 



