In the north-eastern half of the Orange River Colony perennial irrigation would ensure as good crops, but at a greater expenditure of water. Here the value of perennially irrigated land to land depending on rainfall may be taken as £1 to one shilling in this district, on the high veldt of the Transvaal, and in the south-eastern corner of the Orange River Colony. In the south-western half of the Orange River Colony, it may be taken as £1 to sixpence; in the Eastern Karroo as £1 to threepence; and in the Western Karroo as £1 to a penny. In the north-eastern half of the Orange River Colony the good veldt may be taken as £1 per acre, and perennially irrigated land as £20 per acre.[11]
After inquiry, observation, and comparison with other countries, Mr. Willcocks’ estimate of the price which could be paid for perennial irrigation is as follows: In parts which lie below 1000 feet above sea-level, situated in the arid or semi-arid region, a water-rent of £2 per annum could be easily paid anywhere near a railway. In semi-arid regions, between 1000 and 2500 feet, a water-rent of £1, 10s. could be paid. Over 2500 feet in height, £1 per acre per annum could be paid. Near important centres the rent could be higher.
THE TRANSVAAL
The Transvaal, for agricultural purposes, may be divided into the dolomite region,[12] the high, low, and bush veldt, and the south-eastern tracts. The most important is the dolomite region, which, roughly speaking, covers the country within lines joining Vereeniging, Heidelberg, Bethel, Pretoria, Rustenburg, Zeerust, Lichtenburg, Klerksdorp, and the Vaal River from Klerksdorp to Vereeniging—an area of about 15,000 square miles. Johannesburg’s rainfall—from twenty-eight inches per annum in the east to twenty-two inches in the west—is the best in the district. Though uncertain in September, October, and November, in January, February, and March rain can always be counted on. The country generally is capable of great agricultural development, an area of some 350,000 acres being capable of perennial irrigation, in addition to the areas irrigated by the existing springs. In addition to the agricultural value of perennially irrigated land, there is the land which without the aid of irrigation can be so cultivated as to give excellent yields, for it is proved that well-manured and tilled crops need only half the rainfall that ill-manured and untilled crops require.
Angora Goat (Young Ewe)
In the high veldt the rainfall, taken at twenty-one inches, occurs in January, February, and March. The veldt grass will support one sheep per acre. Mr. Willcocks thinks that in this region—it is enclosed by lines drawn from Vereeniging to Heidelberg, Pretoria, Belfast, Amsterdam, Vryheid, Volksrust, Standerton, and the line of the Vaal River—it would be more profitable to thoroughly develop the unirrigated crops than to go in for perennial irrigation. The higher the altitude in South Africa the less the value of perennial water, except under special conditions. Perennial irrigation should first be confined to centres such as Middelburg, Standerton, and other towns which, with this aid, would give handsome profits.
The annual trek from the high to the low veldt in winter might be dispensed with if sufficient winter food crops were grown with the aid of the rainfall, and the stock herded in winter in cattle and sheep folds sheltered by groves of blue gum or pine trees. The practice of trekking from high to low veldt in winter, is due to the fact that winter frosts kill the grass in the high veldt, and the farmers, in default of other food-stuffs for flocks, are forced to travel to the regions where frost is unknown. Naturally, the trekking results in 10,000 acres of veldt having to do the work of 5000. To double the value of their holdings in the high veldt, and save the trouble of the trek, the farmers need only to plant a few belts of sheltering trees, and cultivate roots and feeding stuff for flocks and herds.
The low veldt, being well supplied with water, could finally become a possession of great value. The climate being unsuited to Europeans, the place has remained undeveloped; but the land, if set apart, might be made self-supporting, indeed a source of appreciable revenue to the country, if British Indians and Kafirs were encouraged to produce rice, tropical plants, &c., which would in no way compete with the temperate and sub-tropical crops of the European farmers in the other regions. “If,” says Mr. Willcocks, “Indians and Kafirs were confined to the tropical belts, and the Europeans to the temperate belts, we should not see the absurd spectacle which we see to-day of the best parts of the temperate zones being inhabited almost exclusively by Kafirs, while the Europeans with great jealousy are keeping the Indians and Kafirs out of the tropical belts.”