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.
THE SOUTH-WESTERN CORNER OF THE CAPE COLONY
The abundant winter rains render this, one of the wheat districts of the Colony, independent of irrigation in winter. The farms, in size about 2000 acres, appear too large to be profitably worked by poor farmers. Ploughing is done perfunctorily, and no rotation of leguminous crops with serials is attempted, because it is believed that there is no market in Cape Town for beans and other legumins. Mr. Willcocks suggests as a remedy the construction of an agricultural railway through this district, so that the disposal of fodder would be simplified. He also proposes the exchange of seeds between Egypt, which is rich in legumins, and the Colony, which is rich in fodders capable of existing in conditions of extreme drought. He thinks the luscious emerald burseem (Egyptian clover), grown in rotation with wheat, might stock the soil with nitrogen and possibly destroy the rust in wheat which is universally complained of. Indeed he declares that legumins might be grown with cereals all over the Colony with great benefit to agriculture. Lentils are a wholesome and sustaining fare, and beans form the principal food of donkeys and poultry in Egypt. In India horses, sheep, and cattle, Mr. Willcocks says, are fed on “gram,” another lentil; and the present writer can testify to more than that, for not only do the horses fatten, but so also do the families of the native “syces” employed to take care of them! This proves that gram, if properly used, is as nourishing for the biped as for the quadruped world. But the art of using the lentil is not generally known. The lentil worked into a purée, and diluted and warmed with curry gravy, makes one of the finest adjuncts to the breakfast-table imaginable. Served hot in a sauce tureen it can be eaten with fish, hard-boiled eggs, biscuits, or any other light food which may be at hand. This sauce supplies the stamina and flavour of a meal.
To return. The Wynberg district is famed for its vineyards, which, lately, have suffered through phylloxera. Much of the grape-juice is converted into the brandy that works such havoc with the natives. Mr. Willcocks proposes as an alternative the introduction of the resinous firs common in Greece for the purpose of converting the grapes into the light wines which are manufactured by the Greek farmers; but it is to be feared that the native palate, tutored to the smack of more fiery fluid, will not approve the delicate flavour of the resinato wines.
In regard to the Breede River Valley, expensive river and canal works will be needed to properly irrigate the district, but these will repay the expenditure. In the Touws River Valley, in years of ordinary winter rain, good wheat crops can be grown on the alluvium of the river, which crops might be made permanent by the construction of fifteen-feet high weirs at suitable sites, and the leading off of small canals from the up-stream sides.
In the karoo veldt, in the Prince Albert district, the light rainfall, together with the violent slope of the country, renders numerous irrigation schemes impossible. But the karoo bushes need and are worth development, otherwise they will in time be exterminated. Our authority gives in detail a scheme by which this development may be accomplished, and declares that if the right method of preservation were adopted, it would probably be possible to feed three sheep where one can be fed to-day.
TEA FARM, SHOWING COOLIES PICKING
Reproduced by permission from the Natal Government Collection
The Oudtshoorn district is the garden of the Cape Colony. It enjoys a splendid climate and water-supply. The speciality of the Oudtshoorn Valley is ostrich farming. The birds in thousands feed in the lucerne fields on the banks of the Oliphants River. Crops of tobacco and potatoes, orange groves, vineyards and orchards are everywhere to be seen. There are still some 70,000 acres of land in the valley capable of development by irrigation if water could be found for them—and here many schemes are possible. “Unirrigated land in the valley, on which there falls annually from seven to ten inches of rain, is worth scarcely £1 an acre; while the same land, when irrigated, is worth from £30 to £100 per acre.” It is impossible here to describe the practical remedies and improvement schemes suggested; the object of quotation is merely to give on authority, a concise outline of the rich vista that has been extended before us, and the perpetual prosperity that may be secured to the South African Continent if the Government should consent to adopt the measures suggested.