South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 8 (of 8) / South Africa and Its Future

by Unknown

NATAL

The progressive mood of Natal should afford sufficient encouragement to even the most wary speculators. Here, for the purpose of attracting tenant farmers, the plan is to form agricultural settlements resembling the close colonies of New Zealand, the settlements to be planted on areas irrigated by Government works. According to Sir Albert Hime, irrigation here intensifies cultivation tenfold, and so enables a farmer to get his living off one-tenth of the amount of land that would otherwise be required, and furthermore assures his crop. Owing to the broken nature of the country, the irrigable areas are small in size and suited mainly for supporting settlements of small cultivators. Such settlements, wherever started, however, have proved unmistakably prosperous, and it only remains for the Natal Government to introduce its scheme of close settlements to the notice of the right form of emigrant in order to render the “Garden Colony” eternally rich in green things upon the earth. At present sugar-planting, thanks to the system of central mills, is in a flourishing state. The same may be said of tea-planting, which owes much to the continuous efforts of Sir J. L. Hulett, whose “gardens” are the most important in Natal.

The demand for the wattle bark is on the increase. This tree (Acacia Mollissima), originally brought from Australia, soon became acclimatised in Natal, where there are now 50,000 acres of wattle plantation. The wattle bark is exported to England, while the tree—stripped of its bark—serves for poles which are much in demand in the Rand mines. It is said that land for wattle-growing may be purchased at from eighteen to twenty-five shillings an acre, the cost of ploughing and planting may be estimated at from thirty-two to fifteen shillings an acre. It takes some six years before cutting down can be begun, but then, the probable net profits would be nearly half the gross returns.

A KAFFIR VILLAGE.

With the development of the Rand the demand for timber will increase by leaps and bounds, and the market for wattle bark as a tanning material will advance proportionately. As an instance of the increase in the demand for bark, it may be stated that the exports were valued at £69,850 in 1901 as against £30,929 in 1898.

Elsewhere, expansion and development will be the direct result of irrigation. To those interested in South Africa, the future, whether prospectively considered or practically discussed, must hinge on the water-supply and the cunning practice of water-storage.

Mr. Willcocks (now Sir William Willcocks) of the Egyptian Irrigation Department, one of the most experienced men, indeed one of the greatest experts in irrigation in the world, when asked to contribute to this volume, said “it would indeed afford him much pleasure to co-operate,” but, owing to the great pressure of affairs, he could not do credit to any other work he might undertake. But his report on South Africa is so admirable an exposition of the possibilities of the country, seen from the then standpoint, that merely to quote some of its most salient features were preferable to inviting the opinion of a lesser authority.

Plainly, the expert tells us that, with the exception of the south-west corner of the Cape Colony, the “conquered territory” of the Orange River Colony, and the high veldt of the Transvaal, the agricultural development of the whole country depends on irrigation. The high-lying plateau of South Africa has by its situation a rainfall suited to tropical countries, and, owing to its altitude, a climate which belongs to a temperate zone. The autumn rains of February and March, which are monsoon rains, would in a country like India be of infinite value; but followed, as they are in South Africa, by a severe and biting winter, they are of little value for agricultural purposes. The long winter and spring drought, and the uncertain summer rains, absolutely prohibit agriculture of any advanced kind. In certain favoured tracts—such as a fifth of Cape Colony, half the Orange River Colony, and two-thirds of the Transvaal—Indian corn, potatoes, roots generally, and pumpkins for feeding stock in winter, can be grown with the aid of the rainfall, and matured in all but years of heavy drought. By means of crop rotations, suitable manures, and good tillage, agricultural development of no mean value could be accomplished within a decade, especially if taken in conjunction with stock-breeding, the principal industry of the country. But, in other parts of the colonies, water comes when it is of no value, and is absent when it would be worth untold gold. To avoid this inconvenience, Mr. Willcocks says, we have only to imitate nature and impound on the surface of the ground the same water which she stores in caverns and fissures; and for instance of what even inferior water may do with the rich soil of South Africa, he gives the Kenilworth Oasis (within a few miles of Kimberley), which is irrigated by the refuse water of the diamond mines.

Generally speaking, the annual rainfall is sufficient to allow of the storage of water on a very large scale. Cape Colony with the aid of its rainfall, together with the Orange River, should be able to ensure the perennial irrigation of 1,000,000 acres, the Orange River Colony of 750,000 acres, and the Transvaal of 500,000 acres in the high-lying regions and 1,000,000 in the low tracts, which tracts Mr. Willcocks recommends should be thrown open to our fellow British-Indian subjects.

Vermont Merino Ewes

Seeing that agriculture without irrigation is generally impossible throughout the new colonies, it must be admitted that the secret of their development lies first and foremost in the ingenious storage of water. The rainfall is like the traditional Offenbachian policemen, “when wanted, never there,” and when it is not wanted it is invariably present. Therefore it is necessary for the Government to proclaim the countries themselves as arid or semi-arid, and legislate accordingly. Italian irrigation laws may be taken as a model for all arid and semi-arid countries in the possession of Europeans. The Government of Cavour decreed the rivers and torrents as public property, and, as such, the property of the Government representing the people. Ancient and vague irrigation rights standing in the way of legislation were promptly disposed of, and the Government set itself to legislate for future concessions, to which wise and strong measure modern Italy owes much of its prosperity.

It is decided that all important irrigation works should be carried forth by the State, and not, as in America, by individuals or concessionaire companies, for experience shows that private enterprise has often disastrous results, because of the difficulty in realising immediate returns from the investment. The slow and sure methods of a Government in the control of the works—their construction, ownership, and administration—is the only successful method. Such works, well conceived and well executed, bring in a direct benefit to the State if allowed to develop on slow and natural lines; they also bring in indirect benefits which a State reaps from increase of wealth of every kind.

With the increased demand for agricultural labour, caused by the development of the country, the poor white problem will be solved. The sole kind of manual labour which appeals to the poor white is agricultural labour, since he cannot work in competition with black labour.

Mr. Willcocks considers that, in order to save the country from dropping from the height of prosperity to poverty, part of the profits of the mines should be invested in irrigation works for the permanent development of the country. “The mineral wealth of the Transvaal is extraordinarily great, but it is exhaustible, some say in within the space of fifty, others within the space of a hundred, years. It would be a disaster, indeed, for the country, if none of this wealth were devoted to the development of its agriculture. Agricultural development is slow, but it is permanent and knows of no exhaustion.” After recommending the adoption of the metric system of weights and measures—which is superior to all other systems—he takes the sections of the three colonies and describes them in detail. The technicalities of irrigation must be studied separately, but the characteristics of the country are interesting to all.