SOUTH AFRICA.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11481, 14 January 1903, Page 9

SOUTH AFRICA.

(From the "Pastoralists' Review's" Cor'

respondent.)

When peace came to this distracted land it was not received with the exultation that might have been expected. People had suffered too much and too long for their spirits to suddenly rise from the depths of depression they had known so long and indulge .in jubilation as Frenchmen would have dace. Besides this, there was a feeling of uncertainty as to what the rebels would do, and farmers who had experience of columns and commandos saw clearly that if the rebels did not acquiesce in the settlement, the Cape would be swept as the late Republics had been, and that would have meant ruin to thousands of farmers. The rejoicings, therefore, when the commandos in the colony one after another surrendered were greater that when peace terms were actually arrangd, for tben fanners began to realiss that the -war was over for them as well as for the late Republics. But the Cape farmers rarely tliink or act in a hurry, and although peace 'has been proclaimed for three months, we have not yet got our fanning work in full swing. Yet, strange to say, the value of land is rising, and many think it is already too high. The Cape farmers first have to get their forms in order, and this takes time, for the repairs to fences alone, when tie damage extends over such long stretches, and there ihave Been no horses to ride, occupy weeks; meanwhile stray stock are all over the country, and ostriches in many cases will never again ccc their rightful owners. But THE HORSE DIFFICULTY is being overcome by the sales of military horses all over the country. Thousand* of horses are now advertised for «wJe at the most convenient centres; in some oases 250 are offered, and in others over 1000. These are put up singly so as to give the individual farmer a chance of buying in competition with the speculators, of whom there are plenty, of the Jewish persuasion especially, who attend these sales, and. buy up "horses to seU again to farmers, or take up to Johannesburg. In the early days of the war these men dad good business iv picking up horses from farmers, and melling them again to Boer or British forces, ■whichever happened to be handiest, and at the same time supplied intelligence. 1 wonder what the average Cape horse •will be like in ten years' time; during the war the Cape horse baa proved himself the best suited to the work that tod to be done, he could do more with less feed and attention than any other, and did not knock up as easily as others, and tlie Boer or colonial who ihad a good Cape horse, and knew how to iake care of it, found thsut he could keep Iris horse fit for woi'k while his comrade knocked tip several imported horses. Hundreds of thousands of horses have been imported for the purposes of the war, and it is said that 70,000 of them brought from every horsecountry in the -world are now in course of distribution, and amongst them are thousands' of mares. It will be interesting lo see what their progeny will be like. The Cape horse-breeder has*kid a tremendous «et-baek, and it will take him years to regain the lost ground- Soma of our. best breeders have saved enough animals to make a fresh start, but it will be some years before they will have many horses of their own breed to selE. RISE IN VALUE OF LAND. I have alluded above to the price of land. A good deal has changed hands since the war ended ; land that should have been sold earlier to close up estates, and for other reasons, came into the market, and some people anticipated a slump, but the reverse took place, and a- boom set in. The assessed value of land in most karroo districts has been previoaif£y averaged at £1 per morgen, more or less, according to the nearness of a railway, water supply; etc. But at recent sales the average prices in districts having the advantage of railways hus been far higher than that—in some cases up to £3 per morgen—and this is not the resailt of a speculating mania having taken liold of buyers, for in the cases where the high prices 'have been given the buyers have been experienced, successful fanners, who have something to lose, and have bought the properties to work them themselves. Opinions vary as to the future of the land market, but my opinion is that iawd will maintain a much higher vatue than before the var, if for no other reason, because the prices of live stock are going to remain much higher for some time to come. Already we have farmers and speculators from the new colonies going round the Cape buying up till the breeding fctock they can get at their limit, but find that fanners will not sell except at their cwn figures, and as these new colonies have to ba entirtvv restocked, the demand for Impeding stock is bound to remain at abnormally high %ures until the special demand is satisfied, and that will not be for a long time to come, for the simple reason that so many of the returning burghers have absolutely no mon<?y wherewith to buy stock, and their borrowing powers are limited; it will, therefore, take them a good while to make by agriculture a little money wherewith to buy stock. Meanwhile, the price of slaughter stock is very high, and must remain so, owing to the new 'colonies having to be supplied with meat instead of supplying others with meat. This higher range of Values of stock is sure to keep up the price of land. Just lately farms have not been veiling so freely, but all the same owners are holding out for their price, and will Dot sell unless they get it. In connection with this. I may mention the question of land settlement" in the new colonies, and while the Imperial Government is making heroic efforts to settle __ a large number of immigrants on the land, experienced colonists speak very dubiously as to the prospects of their "success, and say that all the money they are spending will tuall v be for* the benefit of the Boers. wl>o will "ultimately become possessors of the fanna that have been _ improved for them. Thar* » a T€l 7 general feeling that these

enterprising men who are brought out to settle on the land will be attracted by tho high wages and gayer life in the larger towns, and their farms will gradually revert to the Boer, who as naturally enjoys the quiet life of tho South African farm. A few Cape and Natal (English) colonists are being attracted to the in-vr colonies, and! these are mostly farmers' son*, who have money or stock of their own, and are getting farms on very favourable terms. The Australian settlers should also make successful colonists if they etart with a knowledge of farming and a" little capital. RINDERPEST AND TICK FEVER. We have our usual tale of plagues to complain about. Scab has had a good time amongst the sheep, but the Scab Act is imw again being put in force, and in the course of a few months should be in good working order. Rinderpest has appeared in various parts of the Cipe, ;us well as in Natal, but is by no means sweeping the country, an-d is not dreaded us it wax six years ivjo, for the discoveries then made have robbed tli-J pest of half its powers for mischief, as by treatment with serum or glycerinated bile herds may be saved with ;>, Joss of from 6 to 10 per cent., and rendered immune for life; .still, while "the disease is in a district much inconvenience is caused, for the farm, ward, or distrist is quarantined, and not a cloven hoof is allowed to move from the farm, tha procuring of supplies and transacting ordinary business is very troublesome.

Rhodesia lin.s had its special share of places, and the cattle disease that for iong baffled' the "vets." has, alter all, been pronounced to be. a. form of redwater, or Texas fever, that is largely attributed to ticks. This has, of course, been a great trouble to farmers up there, but, now that Mr Robertson (one of the Cape experts) h:is satisfied himself as to the nature of the disease, there is more hope of its -being properly checked. Mr Robertson had a good deal of experience some yeans ago with rinderpest, and I remember meeting him in Bechiiaiialand, whithtr I was on a tour of inspection gathering information as to the prospects of Dr. Hutcheson, who wa»s then battling with the advancing plague by the " stampingout" policy. Dr. Edington, director of the Cape Bacteriological Institute, had been sent up to investigate. A saloon railway coach had been lifted up as an

experimental station, and Mr Robertson (Dr. Edington's assistant) vas in cliargJ at the time of my visit, and afterward." served with Dr. Koch, when he came *>vi to try and discover a remedy. When sent up on this occasion, Mr Robertson could not identify this present cattle-destroying plagiue us rinderpest, 'but now that lie is satisfied that it is red water he lias to fight, he is on the right track, and may be relied upon to spare no pains in meeting and beating'the enemy. Cattle engaged in transport now have to be dipped at different points on their journeys, and doubt less a remedy for tlie disease will be found in due course. In fact 1 have reason to believe that -we axe very near some very important discoveries in connection with some of our wonst stock diseases being shortly announced, and these -will more than ever justify the establishment of our Bacteriological Institute.

Rabies has also made its appearance m Rhodesia, and it is said that the order has gone forth that every native dog—and they are supposed to number 60,000 —is to be killed. An expert is soon to arrive from the Pasteur Institute to deal with this latest trouble, and meanwhile the removal south of all dogs has been strictly prohibited.