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THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



thirty feet in depth. It need hardly be said that the latter ground — the 

 deep loam — will remain practically unaffected in dry weather, under or- 

 dinary circumstances, whilst plants in the shallow soil are W/llting, parched 

 and dying. 



Dry Land Corn. 



"And now a word in regard to the crops which we grow on the dry 

 lands of the Transvaal. The most important is maize, (or the corn of 

 the United States) which is locally known as the mealie. There is no 

 part of South Africa, from Cape Town to the Zambesi and beyond, a dis- 

 tance of over 2,000 miles, which is not adapted to the growth of this 

 cereal. Recently, the government under General Botha, has made a 

 vigorous and successful effort to promote a maize export trade, and there 

 is little doubt that every year will see larger and larger quantities shipped 

 to London. 



"The London price is about ten shillings per bag of 200 lbs., which 

 means about seven-eights of a shilling for the grower in the Transvaal. 



Stock Fattening. 



"Besides shipping the grain, a great deal of ensilage is now being 

 made and fed to cattle and sheep. The great advantage of growing 

 maize in the Transvaal is that it is possible to harvest it during the dry 

 winter season, consequently it does not get damp or mouldy in the field, 

 and so can be shipped in first-class condition for the English markets. 

 After maize in importance, but before it as a drouth resister, comes our 



Kaffir Corn. 



famous kaffir corn, of which the white and red varieties are commonly 

 grown. Then of late, dry-land lucerne — the alfalfa of the West — has been 



Alfalfa. 



successfully grown, mainly through the efforts of the Government Botan- 

 ist, Mr. Joseph Burtt-Davy, for sometime connected with the University 

 of California, and to whose splendid energy we owe so much in the Trans- 

 vaal. Mr. Burtt-Davy's work in the twin field of Economic Botany and 



Seed Breeding. 



Plant Breeding, has resulted in giving us not only a great number of val- 

 uable plants and seeds from other countries, but also several new var- 

 ieties of maize. 



Hay Grasses. 



"The Teff-grass, introduced from Abyssinia by him, is now widely 

 grown by our High-Velt farmers and has proved an excellent hay grass. 

 In order to escape the ravages of rust, it is customary to grow wheat 

 under irrigation during the winter months; but we hope by more scien- 

 tific methods to grow this cereal also successfully during the same sea- 

 son on our dry lands. Many of our fruits, too, except the Citrus var- 

 ities are grown on dry lands chiefly, owing to the practical demonstra 



