THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



m 



South African species of bamboo which 

 grows in the kloofs of the Drakcnsberg 

 mountains, but have been unable to pro- 

 cure a plant, nor have I got the Cape 

 kind. From the pages of the "British 

 Trade Journal," I gather that in one of 

 the northern parts of Japan large (quanti- 

 ties of hiach as well as mottled varieties 

 are sent to Europe and America, and used 

 for chairs and ornamental furniture. From 

 the account it appears that the bamboos 

 are naturally black and mottled, and not 

 coloured b}^ the ingenious Japs. I have 

 tried in vain to get these varieties. The 

 Natal whip-sticks are simply our common 

 bamboo, grown in very poor soil, as at 

 Pinetown. Here, in our best soil this 

 sort reaches 70 feet, with a diameter of 

 4J to 5 inches. I have another sort here, 

 a thorny kind, used in India for forts on 

 the plains of Oude; it does well here, and 

 reaches a height of 40 feet, has a very 

 small hole, but is said not to be so good 

 as the common kind for whip-sticks, fish- 



ing rods, etc.; but I have none ripe yet, 

 so I cannot exactly say from personal 

 knowledge. In addition, \ have the 

 dwarf and the yellow bamboo, the latter 

 beautifully striped with bright green. 

 This latter 1 think more oi iiamental than 

 useful, but all straight wood is very valu- 

 able in this alnd of crooked sticks. 



I find that the propagation of the bam- 

 boo is most easily effected by cuttings in 

 the same manner as sugar cane. Make 

 holes a foot deep and five to six feet long. 

 Take a bamboo of full height and two 

 years' growth, cut it into five feet lengths, 

 and cut off the side branches at three 

 inches from the stem, plant two in a 

 hole, rows thirty feet apart, and holes 

 about 15 to 30 feet. Plant after rains in 

 October and November. Cover tlie plants 

 six or eight inches. 



P.S. — I once planted a cart load of 

 roots; only two grew. Please note that 

 the sett must be covered from the sun. I 

 use wet sacks. 



Abortion in CaWe. 



if "p on the above subject writes to the 

 Ja J Live Stock Journal. : At the open- 

 ing of a new year, and having to all ap- 

 pearance got rid of foot-and-mouth dis- 

 ease, may I appeal to the President of 

 the Board of Agriculture to at least make 

 an effort, which will have the merit of 

 being the first attempt yet made, to rid 

 the farmers of the United Kingdom of 

 contagious abortion in our cattle, a disease 

 which, more than any other, has been 

 the means of limiting our national stock 

 of cattle? Does it not seem strange that 

 we should employ all our efforts, expend 

 huge sums of money, in stamping out 

 foreign diseases, yet go on year after 

 year enduring and suffering a home dis- 

 ease which has lost us so many victims? 

 In Mr. Hanbury we have, I feel assured, 

 a Minister who is anxious to benefit Brit- 

 ish agriculture; if so, I trust he will avail 

 himself of the earliest opportunity at the 

 opening of Parliament to have contagious 

 abortion in cattle scheduled under the 

 Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act. 



As one who has witnessed the ravages 

 of this disease for a period of quite half 

 a century, perhaps you will allow me to 

 point out the salient facts. If the Presi- 

 dent will rid us of this drain upon British 

 cattle, and upon British farmers' pecuni- 

 ary resources — and there will be no great 

 difficulty, no great cost, in the operation, 

 his name will be handed down to poster- 

 ity as one of the best friends to British 

 tenant-farmers. I say tenant-farmers, 

 because breeders can protect themselves 

 from the scourge; the bulk of tenant far- 

 mers cannot do so. 



There are two phases of abortion in 

 cattle, just as there are in the human 

 family. In both, the non-contagious may 

 arise from various causes, accident, ex- 

 citement, and is generally known as mis- 

 carriage. In the human, the contagious 

 phase is known as puerperal fever, and 

 after attending a case, both doctors and 

 nurses have to refrain for a time from at- 

 tending at another birth, so highly con- 

 tagious and infectious is the disease. In 



