KEY TO DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 255, 28 October 1939, Page 8

KEY TO DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

A STUDY OF THE VELD I VIEW OF PLANT RESEARCH EXPERT. JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 2. ■ The view that the study of the veld , held the key to the future successful . deevlopment of the country was expressed by Dr. I. B. Pole Evans. Chief ) of the Division of Plant Industry in the Department of Agriculture, at a farewell reception given by his staff on the occasion of his retirement from the public service. Dr. Pole Evans pointed out that the I Division was now busy demarcating i the many different typos of veld -s- I i ertaining their potentialities, their I correct management and .above all. | their successful restoration. The Division had shown that to put farming on a permanent and success- ! (ul basis the only sound foundation I was to apply farming systems to those ■ vegetation types to which they were I suited. The Division had indicated • the great possibilities which exist in ! the African grasses for improving I South African pasturage and restoring I the fertility of its soils. Finally, the Division had shown that in the successful restoration of the vei l and its correct management lay in the future of this semi-arid country, and the restoration and preservation of its natural water supplies. Causes of Drift. "It can truly be said that the State has done more than any other country to help the farmer, but it must be clear to most of you that we have almost reached a stage at which it can go no further because of the general state of the land owing to soil exhaustion, soil depletion and soil erosion." he continued. “These are the causes of the drift from the country to the town, our malnutrition problems and the shrink- | age of our natural water supplies. "In spite of all the good work that has been done in the past by the Division of Plant industry and other Divisions, the conclusion that can be arrived at is that farming in the past has been largely unnatural farming - farming in opposition to nature. This sooner or later would lead to unprofitable farming, the runination of the land and the starvation of people," he said.