ON THE LAND.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2425, 13 February 1909, Page 2

ON THE LAND.

SHEEP-FARMING IN SOUTn AFRICA.

AN ENGLISHMAN ’S ENTER-

lENCE

In the “Standard of Empire” appears the foilowiTrg~rnforesting article I>y an Englishman, who went out to South Africa a few years ago, and 'with a partner is now farming 10. £OO or 20,000 acres in the north of Cape Colonv—Palmiefontein :

"\Vo have just got through our yearly shearing, and very pleased' we are to get it ail over. It is rather earlier than is. usual out here; with last year’s e-xeprience, when wool dropped steadily in value from late in October well on to the Mew Year, we hoped by being early to get out at a deceit! price. Shearing in this part of tnc country, like most things connected with farming, is conspicuous .for a want of method : one may wait a month, and never get a chance ol engaging hoys, or, on the othe; hand, gangs may come -along once a week for the same period. When the shearing begins these gangs, composed of Kaffirs, iHottentots, and most othm kinds of niggers, and numbering five to ten, trek about amongst the farms, looking for work. As soon as work h found a few preliminaries—-the payment per sheep., the cost of slaughter sheep, and rations generally—have to be settled. The farmer depends aimed entirely on these travelling gangs, and cannot always afford to bo independent. The settling of the price to he paid takes a considerable time ; a nigger loves an indaba, and the longer it lasts the better he is pleased. “The farmer, although he may be desperately anxious to get his sheepsheared, and does not know when the next gang may come along, affects as well as he can an air of absolute unconcern, while his terms are being discussed. The nigger has not so far risen or fallen, however you like l;> look at it. to the advantages or disadvantages of trade-unionism, or, indeed. to -any attempt at combination ; and, as farmers are similarly placed, the better haggler gets the better bargain. Consequently there is no fixer! rate of payment and each man does his best. A penny per sheep, and the boys feeding themselves, or 6s per 100, including rations,, -arc the usual rates of payment. No one could coinplain of the price if the boys did tlieir work well, which they certainly do not; as often as not there may be a beginner, or possibly two, amongst your particular lot, who are learning the game at the expense of the sheep, the wool, and the owner. ‘•'There are, of course, occasionally fairly good shearers, but more often than not they arc very had, and the average boy, if he worked at home, would, I think, never get a job twice at the same place. Although the work is bad. and one might occasionally expect a fair number of sheep might- he done, yet only twenty-five to thirtytwo are, on the average, shorn in a day. As each shearer finishes his •sheep he receives what is locally called a loikie (this spelling is purely phonetic), generally in the shape of an ordinary bean; every evening when the day’s work is done these are collected ; and the numbers chalked npa gainst boy’s name. When a sheep is badly cut, which is by no means unusual. the “loikie” is withheld, and the sheep does not count in the evening reckoning. It is very necessary for someone with come little authority to remain with the boys the whole time; otherwise, in their eagerness to get .as many as possible sheared, they get very careless", always at the expense of the sheep’s skin. “Hottentots and Kaffirs are curiously different in their characteristics-; the former have no idea of tliett, and spend tlieir money recklessly, denying themselves nothing with which their money will run to. so much so that a gang we had -at our last shearing did themselves so woli that they had no money to draw. On the other hand, the Kaffir generally gets along on very little, and is apparently contented with rations which, if he were in your regular employ, would by no means satisfy hint. At the end of the shearing comes the settling up, which is rather a long-winded -business and a little complicated. The full amount earned., with no deductions, is paid to the head-boy, against whom the rations have been chalked up. After a long and querulous consultation each boy puts down the money for iliis share in the cost of meal; the same performance is gone through with their expenses in meat, coffee, sugar, and tobacco, each item requiring the same long explanation and discussion. With a real Kaffir, to whom .a coin is almost a curiosity, the difficulties are increased, and the head-boy explains at great length, with infinite patience, until the particular item is made clear. When all arc satisfied that everything is correct the whole amount due for rations is paid over to the farmer, and the whole gang deal’s off in search of more work, with tlieir impedimenta on their backs, consisting generally of a blanket, a knobkerri or two, -and a few pots. “We have been very busy of late with our Angora goats. Wo were warned when wo ventured to start with them that there was -endless trouble and hard* work attached to the job, and up till now we have had no reason to doubt the soundness of this advice; but arguing that this same endless trouble and hard work and a certain amount of risk kept a certain number of men from taking up this line, consequently such a result

Farm and Station..

had some little effect in keeping the demand for mohair a little ahead of the supply, .although, notwithstanding the apparent soundenss of this argument, a few months ago, there was such a slump that it almost looked as if wo should have to give it away with a bonus.

“The herd, who looks after the goats all day, goes out to the. veldtarmed with pots of paint of various colors with which lie marks the kid -and its mother in such a way as will distinguish it from the others. A ewe will drop a- kid on the veldt, and stand by it the whole day, but on getting home at night with the other goats and kids she seems to lose, all interest in her progeny, but,, thanks to the distinguishing marks, each kid is brought to its mother at night so that she may know and suckle it. Frequently a ewe wll not take her kid at all, in which case she is tied up with her kid alongside her until she does. Other owes will go to the extreme, and stand stolidly, with a round halfdozen hungry' kids crowding round them, when Nature has only made accommodation for two.” THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE. GREAT PROSPECTS. During the period of the last fifty years great progress has been made in the rational cultivation of crops, but, according to the opinion of the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, farming is yet in its infancy, and the present production of farms is merely a forerunner of the marvellous results which will ho obtained in the. future. Agencies, some of which have been dimly comprehended, and some undreamt of. will serve as the handmaidens of agriculture to increase the productiveness of our soils, and the use of commercial fertilisers will continue to increase, as they play a most important part in producing the foodstuffs of the world.

As the secretary puts it, the greatest- economic and social problem ever presented to man is the proper Fertilisation of the soil. Necessities are multiplying hc-yond the dreams of those who Jived a century -ago. The consumption of cereals is extending and becoming a predominant part in the feeding of the peoples of all countries.

The tilling of the soil, from being an incidental employment to eke out existence, has become the reliance of all civilised -and half-eivilsed people, and an * industrial ear has hen born which involves entire transformation of aid methods.

Thus has the problem developed. The intensive cultivation of ,the soil has become a necessity, and to enable this system to be prolonged it has equally become a necessity to restore to the soil the plant food taken from it.

All tillers of the soil will have to feed their farms as carefully as they feed tlieir stock. Many of them do so now, but many make a wry face when they have to pay for their supplies of fertilisers, and in had times the first expense cut down is the fertiliser bill. Nature is constantly fertilising the soil in her own way, but she requires assistance, and that aid should be given by the liberal and scientific use of fertilisers, farmyard manure, feeding stuffs, green manuring and the other means which science may place at the disposal of farmers, such as iritroculturcs. etc. The future of agriculture opens up prospects greater than have been experienced in the part, as the importance of the industry becomes more clearly understood by the nation. 4 LAND IN THE NORTH. PROSPECTS FOR SETTLERS. Mr F. TI. Fagan, who is a farmer -and has beep connected with large land transactions in the North Island for many years, has a great deal to say in regard to land settlement in the north. Speaking to a reporter who intervieyved him in Christchurch, he said that there was an enormous demand for land in several parts of the North Island, but there was not sufficient land offering. . The consequence was that in Taranaki and other districts large quantities of land were sold again and again, and there was a rise in values. If the Government would open up native lands and make bush-lands available- the pressure, would be relieved. In Taranaki he had known dairy farms to be sold first of .-all for £8 an acre, again for £lO, then for £2O, and .again, for £SO. As a matter of fact, £SO an acre was now readily given for flic best AVaimate Plains land, and the land was made to pay that price. The soil was different in character from the soil in the south, and that led South Island farmers to doubt whether good value could lie obtained from tlie luglily-priced -lands of the north.

Mr. Fagan said-that for those in sc a roll of improved farms, particularly men with small capital, thero is plenty of land available in Taranaki, out it is not a good district for those who want Government lands, -as most of tlic remaining Crown lands are inaccesible. He says that the land-seeker from the south ought to go further north than. Taranaki. From a dairying! point of view, ho recommends the Bay . of Plenty, tho Thames A r alley, and the northern AVairoa districts. The Bay of Plenty district, he says, resembles

Taranaki, but it is better from a grass-growing and climatic point of view. .With a railway from- Waihi to Gisborne, the Bay,of Plenty will present a field for settlement that is not equalled in New Zealand. He describes it as one of the forgotten places of the Dominion; Land is therefore very cheap. A retired fanner from Waverley recently dropped in at astock sale .at Remueva, near Auckland. He saw some fat cattle there that attracted liis .attention immediately, and ho decided to discover something about them. Ho was told that they came from the Bay of Plenty. He .went by steamer to Tauranga, reached the. farm where the caitle had been reared, and was so impressed with what he say that ho bought a farm there. He paid £7 an acre lor it, and says that it is quite as good as his Waverley land, which is valued at £25 an acre. In the Bay of Plenty land can bo bought at prices ranging from 25s to not moire than £l2 an acre. Sometimes as much as £4O is paid for small exceptional pieces in good positions adjoining -a town, but those prices hardly conic into the general consideration. The land is true dairying country. A. few years ago Mr. Fagan bought some swamp land in the. district, drained it -and improved it iu other directions, and ran cattle on it," and obtained excellent results. Auckland can be reached from Tauranga in twelve hours by steamer and in twenty-four hours by coach .and rail. The harbor, although it is absolutely unimproved, ‘is described as a good one. Engineers are now 'making permanent surveys for railway connection.. The country is suitable for a line, and the only difficulty is the fact that la vast area of Maori land will have to be gone through. Tho north of Auckland also, Air. Fagan says, lias possibilities that are hardly dreamt of in the south, from Hukeremi'i to the North Capo there is a surprisingly large quantity or good land. Tho -proportion of good land to badland is about J to 5. He was astonished, at the splendid appearance of the Onia Valley, and there was an enormous stretch of laud from Jvaita’ia to A waiuii. Kao > and AVaipapaknuri. In the liokiaugi district, and on the whole of the westcoast of the Auckland provhue lymi Holensvillo to K lipara and Hoke:oga, freehold land could he obtained from 10s an acre for “really decent quality, to £2O for “tip-top’ swamp land.

Some methods of farming in the north seem to ho somewhat behind the times. At Paerenga, for Instance, In the northernmost part of the North Island, a- Gisborne resident bought a farm and placed a manager on it. There was stock on it, but the oittK and sheep had been so. reduced by inbreeding that they were almost useless. The cattle,' indeed, were ad horns and hide, with big barns .and small hides. He commenced shooting out the males, and then introduced purebred Shorthorns into the Hereford cross of cattle, and ran Romney rams with tho merino ewes. In eightyears he had stock that was a credit to himself and the district. The Bay of Plenty district Air .'Fagan describes as at present a “mixed” district, but he has no doubt thqt its ultimate end will be. dairying, and he has unbounded faith in its prospects. In regard to farming methods, Air. Fagan says that top-dressing will make a great difference in the north, as it will do away with the necessity for having every three or four years, in tho poorer districts to re-plough and grass land for renewing purposes. The* South Island farmer who goes to the north and uses his up-touiate farming knowledge on land which he obtains at- a price that the crude farmer cannot make pay, immediately gets a direct increased return from'the land, on account of that knowledge, and he can nearly always sells his land at .higher prices than his neighbors secure. He does not think that the denudation of the bush has a harmful effect on the flat land, at apy rate. He has noted that in some districts since the hush has disappeared there has been an increased rainfall. In instances good results to the soil have followed the denudation of the bush, strong growth coming after the burnings, -and when the stumps arc removed vegetable matter gets into the ground. His -experience has been that settlers wish for tho freehold, and that those vho take up Government land prefer to have tlic of t-lio right of puichase.