1909.] 



Agriculture in South Africa. 



745 



maritzburg, but also in or near several of the other large 

 towns of the four Colonies, there have been established 

 colleges, farming and horticultural stations, stud farms, and 

 veterinary centres for bacteriological and other investigations. 

 They appear to have enlisted all the best and most up-to-date 

 scientific knowledge of the age for the use of the farmer, the 

 breeder, and the public generally. 



The benefits from these institutions are becoming every- 

 where apparent, and, while every step is being taken to 

 combat and exterminate the numerous diseases that affect 

 vegetation in South Africa, every method also appears to be 

 adopted in order to discover which plants are most suited to 

 the diverse soils and climate of each Colony or district. 



Agricultural Shows. — The agricultural shows also afford 

 great educational opportunities for all who are interested in 

 agriculture. In order to inform and instruct the cultivators 

 of the land, the Governments have instituted a system of 

 exhibiting at all the agricultural shows those seeds and plants 

 best adapted to the different soils, as well as various suitable 

 breeds of poultry. Approved seeds, plants, and eggs are sold 

 to the farmers at nominal prices, while sires of many of the 

 noted breeds of horses and cattle are, in many parts of the 

 country, placed at a convenient distance for the use of agricul- 

 turists. Specimens of the best breeds and cross-breeds of 

 sheep are also kept, in order to show what varieties are most 

 suitable for the production of wool and meat. 



Imperial Intercommunication and Trade in Agricultural 

 Produce. — Among other points, Lord Blyth draws attention 

 to the fact that a greater knowledge of Colonial conditions 

 would not only be of direct service to British agriculturists, 

 but would also tend to develop the trade in agricultural pro- 

 duce. "I cannot help feeling," he says, "that circumstances 

 demand a closer touch and more constant sympathetic inter- 

 communication between the Board of Agriculture at home 

 and the Government Departments of Agriculture in South 

 Africa, as well as of all the Colonies and Dependencies of the 

 British Empire. I think that we of the Mother Country' have 

 something to learn from the Colonies, as the Colonies have to 

 learn from us. By means of more frequent intercourse, not 

 only should we acquire a great deal of useful information as 

 to the suitability of seeds and plants for the different soils and 



