Flour-milling is an industry second only in importance to that of diamond mining (see below). The chief milling centres are Port Elizabeth and the Cape district. In 1904 the output of the mills was valued at over £2,200,000, more than 7,000,000 bushels of wheat being ground.
Forestry is a growing industry. Most of the forests are crown property and are under the care of conservators. Fisheries were little developed before 1897 when government experiments were begun, which proved that large quantities of fish were easily procurable by trawling. Large quantities of soles are obtained from a trawling ground near Cape Agulhas. The collection of guano from the islands near Walfish Bay is under government control.
Mining.—The mineral wealth of the country is very great. The most valuable of the minerals is the diamond, found in Griqualand West and also at Hopetown, and other districts along the Orange river. The diamond-mining industry is almost entirely under the control of the De Beers Mining Company. From the De Beers mines at Kimberley have come larger numbers of diamonds than from all the other diamond mines of the world combined. Basing the calculation on the figures for the ten years 1896-1905, the average annual production is slightly over two and a half million carats, of the average annual value of £4,250,000, the average price per carat being £1 : 13 : 3. From the other districts alluvial diamonds are obtained of the average annual value of £250,000-£400,000. They are finer stones than the Kimberley diamonds, having an average value of £3 : 2 : 7 per carat.
Next in importance among mineral products are coal and copper. The collieries are in the Stormberg district and are of considerable extent. The Indwe mines are the most productive. The colonial output increased from 23,000 tons in 1891 to 188,000 tons in 1904. The copper mines are in Namaqualand, an average of 50,000 to 70,000 tons of ore being mined yearly. Copper was the first metal worked by white men in the colony, operations beginning in 1852.
Gold is obtained from mines on the Madibi Reserve, near Mafeking—the outcrop extending about 30 m.—-and, in small quantities, from mines in the Knysna district. In the Cape and Paarl districts are valuable stone and granite quarries. Asbestos is mined near Prieska, in which neighbourhood there are also nitrate beds. Salt is produced in several districts, there being large pans in the Prieska, Hopetown and Uitenhage divisions. Tin is obtained from Kuils river, near Cape Town. Many other minerals exist but are not put to industrial purposes.
Trade.—The colony has not only a large trade in its own commodities, but owes much of its commerce to the transit of goods to and from the Transvaal, Orange River Colony and Rhodesia. The staple exports are diamonds, gold (from the Witwatersrand mines), wool, copper ore, ostrich feathers, mohair, hides and skins. The export of wool, over 23,000,000 ℔ in 1860, had doubled by 1871, and was over 63,473,000 ℔ in 1905 when the export was valued at £1,887,459. In the same year (1905) 471,024 ℔ of ostrich feathers were exported valued at £1,081,187. The chief imports are textiles, food stuffs, wines and whisky, timber, hardware and machinery. The value of the total imports rose from £13,612,405 in 1895 to £33,761,831 in 1903, but dropped to £20,000,913 in 1905. The exports in 1895 were valued at £16,798,137 and rose to £23,247,258 in 1899. The dislocation of trade caused by the war with the Boer Republics brought down the exports in 1900 to £7,646,682 (in which year the value of the gold exported was only £336,795). They rose to £10,000,000 and £16,000,000 in 1901 and 1902 respectively, and in 1905 had reached £33,812,210. (This figure included raw gold valued at £20,731,159.) About 75% of the imports come from the United Kingdom or British colonies, and nearly the whole of the exports go to the United Kingdom. The tonnage of ships entered and cleared at colonial ports rose from 10,175,903 in 1895 to 22,518,286 in 1905. In that year 9⁄11ths of the tonnage was British. It is interesting to compare the figures already given with those of earlier days, as they illustrate the growth of the colony over a longer period. In 1836 the total trade of the country was under £1,000,000, in 1860 it had risen to over £4,500,000, in 1874 it exceeded £10,500,000. It remained at about this figure until the development of the Witwatersrand gold mines. The consequent great increase in the carrying trade with the Transvaal led to some neglect of the internal resources of the colony. Trade depression following the war of 1899-1902 turned attention to these resources, with satisfactory results. The value of imports for local consumption in 1906 was £12,847,188, the value of exports, the produce of the colony being £15,302,854. A “trade balance-sheet” for 1906 drawn up for the Cape Town chamber of commerce by its president showed, however, a debtor account of £18,751,000 compared with a credit account of £17,931,000, figures representing with fair accuracy the then economic condition of the country.
Cape Colony is a member of the South African Customs Union. The tariff, revised in 1906, is protective with a general ad valorem rate of 15% on goods not specifically enumerated. On machinery generally there is a 3% ad valorem duty. Books, engravings, paintings, sculptures, &c., are on the free list. There is a rebate of 3% on most goods from the United Kingdom, machinery from Great Britain thus entering free.
Communications.—There is regular communication between Europe and the colony by several lines of steamships. The British mails are carried under contract with the colonial government by packets of the Union-Castle Steamship Co., which leave Southampton every Saturday and Cape Town every Wednesday. The distance varies from 5866 m. to 6146 m., according to the route followed, and the mail boats cover the distance in seventeen days. From Cape Town mail steamers sail once a week, or oftener, to Port Elizabeth (436 m., two days) East London (543 m., three days) and Durban (823 m., four or five days); Mossel Bay being called at once a fortnight. Steamers also leave Cape Town at frequent and stated intervals for Port Nolloth.
Steamers of the D.O.A.L. (Deutsche Ost Afrika Linie), starting from Hamburg circumnavigate Africa, touching at the three chief Cape ports. The western route is via Dover to Cape Town, the eastern route is via the Suez Canal and Natal. Several lines of steamers ply between Cape Town and Australian ports, and others between Cape Colony and India.
There are over 8000 m. of roads in the colony proper and rivers crossing main routes are bridged. The finest bridge in the colony is that which spans the Orange at Hopetown. It is 1480 ft. long and cost £114,000. Of the roads in general it may be said that they are merely tracks across the veld made at the pleasure of the traveller. The ox is very generally used as a draught animal in country districts remote from railways; sixteen or eighteen oxen being harnessed to a wagon carrying 3 to 4 tons. Traction-engines have in some places supplanted the ox-wagon for bringing agricultural produce to market. The “Scotch cart,” a light two-wheeled vehicle is also much used.