British Produce for South Africa. 197 



English seed potatoes are considered superior in quality to 

 their foreign rivals, but they are much higher in price — in some 

 instances as much as 50 per cent. If they could be delivered at 

 anything like the same price they would speedily find a large 

 market. Great care should be taken with the packing for 

 export. The potatoes should be hand-picked and thoroughly 

 dry ; 66 lb. net weight is the quantity preferred in a case. The 

 boxes or crates should be well ventilated, and shippers should 

 be instructed to stow them in a suitable place on board so that 

 the seed may not suffer. There are some complaints that the 

 British packing is less satisfactory than the French and German. 

 It should be remembered that freight plays a large part in the 

 landed cost of seed potatoes, so that the packing should be as 

 light and as little bulky as possible so long as it affords efficient 

 protection to the seeds. 



In illustration of this point it may be well to mention that 

 the freight, primage, &c, upon a 66 lb. box of potatoes from, 

 England to, say, Port Elizabeth, amounts to 2s. oxl. per box ; so 

 that if the f.o.b. cost is, say 3s., the c.i.f. cost at Port Elizabeth 

 is 5s. 9d., or nearly double. Any unnecessary increase in the 

 size of the cases only served to increase the c.i.f. cost at the 

 port of landing. 



With the agricultural development of the new Colonies, and 

 the great increase in the demand for foodstuffs at Johannesburg 

 and elsewhere, there is sure to be a steadily increasing demand 

 for seed potatoes. English growers ought to do their utmost to 

 obtain a larger share of the trade, especially while there is so 

 strong a feeling in the Colonies in favour of British produce of 

 all kinds. 



Agricultural Seeds. 



There is every prospect of an increased sale for agricultural 

 seeds ; the immense reduction of live stock will drive farmers 

 into growing foodstuffs and fodder wherever their land is 

 suitable. Even in those parts of the conservative Cape Colony 1 

 where the harvest has been good this year, disastrous as it has 

 been elsewhere, farmers are showing a desire to obtain a better 

 seed and improve the quality of their crops. Wheat. — The 

 great enemy of wheat in South Africa is rust, and the object of 



