Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1922-01-27

u
letter from E. d. Alvord, former
student and instructor in w. S. c.,
IN response to check from num-
her of friends:
Mt Silinda, Melsetter,
S. Rhodesia.
Your gift of $3.50 for the work
here reached me this week. All the
Mission members join me in thank
ing YOU most heartily for it. | wish
n spend this money in the purchase
Of fencing materials, and | assure
Won that the future will show that
Won have been of great service to the
!, work here because of this contribu-
y ton.
~ AT present we have no fencing for
our gardens and field crops and the
only protection against the ravages
of wild animals is the employment Of
watchers. These must be on the job
both day and night. In the day time
the balloons, the most wiley and de-
slant menace, and at night the wild
pigs. bushbuck and dozen or so 9TH
or marauders must be dealt with
Because of the ravages of these pests
II has always been found best to have
small patches of crops, for a big gar
den it is almost impossible to pro-
tect.
Upon my arrival here the Mission
had under cultivation only an eight
acre field Last year | had broken
ND a 25-acre field, which is no small
lob when an open growth of trees
and small brush must be cut off and
the roots removed by the school boys
digging them out. This year we
have a stump puller and I am having
the field enlarged. We were able to
cope with the balloons last year, but
it was impossible to keep out the
wild pigs, and considerable damage
was done by them. If you want an
idea of Just how much damage wild
domesticated variety into a corn
patch over night then double their
activities to account for the wild, :"
Our only possible chance to compete
with them is by good tight hog fenc-
ing of the spiny variety. Thanks to
you, we hope to get the best of Mr..
oil Of hi
some friends.
This is without question a farm
ers' paradise, but most of the farm
ers have a lot to learn about farming
The native. as was aptly stated by
one of them, knows how to dig and
knows how to eat, and that is about
great country for corn (mealies, as
it is called here). One Rhodesian
proudly informed me a short time
ago that Rhodesian corn commanded
the highest price on the London mar
ket I got back at him by informing
him that this was probably because
seldom gets out of the country where
it grows, Another staple crop is
'Mungoza" Japanese millet) and
with corn this makes up the bulk of
the food supply for the natives and
Dutch settlers, Beers" But sweet
potatoes, beans, cowpeas, pumpkins,
peanuts, and many other crops are
also grown. Wheat is grown during
the dry or cold season. | have in
trodueed into the country several va
rleties of field peas, the seed of
which | brought with me from the
falouse. These are also proving to
De bumper crop for the dry season,
where proper conservation of moist
ure' or irrigation is practiced.
Wheat is grown on the wet
tlaes" by the settlers. These dry
out quickly and bake badly, and un-
less they irrigate, the crop is poor.
nave planted patch of wheat this
year on the top of a ridge, where no
water is available and with care in
preparing the seeded, am going to
nave very good crop. 1t is nearly
ripe now.
| leel very strongly that the evan
sehzation of the African depends
sreatly upon his development agri-
suituraily and industrially. And this
development must go hand in hand
WIN his growth as a Christian. We
are greatly handicapped here for lack
u FUNDS for industrial training work.
i"ere Is so much we could do and
- little TO do it with. We are re-
re'Sihg letters from the Mission
poafd at Boston, telling of the finan-
,ai straits of the treasury, and al
.e4uy request has come asking that
W expenditure for agricultural
a svfk here be curtailed and that the
I'm balance on the treasurer's