Compared with the census of 1904 the increase in the white pop.
was 172,390. Of this increase 123,285 was in the Transvaal. In
Rhodesia the white pop. had nearly doubled in the seven years. The
increase in the native and coloured pop. was 885,660. With respect
to the coloured pop. two important factors must be remembered,
(l) The Cape province total of native and coloured includes 391,000
persons with a marked strain of white blood, officially classed as
' mixed "; the total " mixed " pop. being 435,000. (2) The Natal
province total of native and coloured includes 133,000 Indians.
There were also 10,048 Indians in the Transvaal, the total Asiatic
pop. being 152,000.
The following table gives particulars of the white pop. of the Union by provinces at the censuses of 1911, 1918 and 1921 :
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1911
1918
1921
Males
Fe- males
Males
Fe- males
Males
Fe- males
Cape Province . Natal . Transvaal O. F. S.
301,268 52,495 236,913
94,488
281,109 45.619 183.649 80,701
311,312
62,745 260,840
93.969
307,513 59,186 238-507 87,709
329,934 70,624 284,952 97,971
321,620 66,834
258,529 91,171
Total, Union
685,164
59i.07
728,866
692,915
783.481
738,154
The coloured pop. of the Union in 1921 was in round figures 6,000,000, that of S. Rhodesia 744,000 and of N. Rhodesia about 1,000,000, that of the native protectorates 750,000, that of S.W. Africa 240,000, or a total of about 8,750,000.
There were in 1918 five towns with a white pop. of over 20,000 and eight towns with a white pop. between 10,000 and 20,000. The following list of the five chief towns gives the total pop. at the 1911 census with the white pop. in 1918 in brackets: Johannesburg 237,104 (137,166), Cape Town 161,759 (99,683), Durban 89,998 (48,413), Pretoria 57,674 (41,690), Port Elizabeth 37,063 (23,339). Outside the Union the only considerable towns in S. Africa were Bulawayo and Salisbury in Rhodesia, Swakopmund and Windhuk in the S.W. Protectorate and Lourengo Marques (Delagoa Bay) and Beira in Portuguese territory.
THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA
The Union of S. Africa came into being on May 31 1910. Minor amendments were made in the constitution during the next 10 years, but its main features (see 25.467) remained un- altered. In accordance with the electoral provisions the basis of representation being the number of European male adults as ascertained by census taken every fifth year the Transvaal province obtained nine additional seats in 1915, and four more seats were added in 1920. The seats allotted in 1920 were Cape 51, Transvaal 49, Natal and Orange Free State 17 each.
No alteration was made in the franchise laws. In the Cape province in 1919 out of a total of 186,000 voters, 33,000 were " other than European." In Natal the voters numbered 32,000, of whom 348 were " other than European." In the Transvaal (140,000 voters) and Orange Free State (47,000 voters), " Euro- peans " only, possess the franchise.
Agriculture. The progress made in agriculture (including pas- toral occupations) was in many respects the most encouraging feature in the economic development of S. Africa between 1910-21. The establishment in the Transvaal during the period of Crown Colony Government, of an agricultural department on scientific lines had given an impetus to the adoption of modern methods by the farmers, and the fusion, at the Union, of the agricultural depart- ments of the four former colonies led to greater improvements. By withdrawing the control of agriculture from the provinces the Union Government was able to coordinate the work and to disregard artificial boundaries. Much of the progress was due to Gen. Botha " who with his instinct for things that really mattered " had held the portfolio of agriculture together with the premiership of the Transvaal, and in the Union was also for a considerable period minister of Agriculture as well as prime minister. General Botha gave full encouragement to the technical and scientific staff. Schools of agriculture there were five in 1921 and experimental stations were established on large farms situated on mam railway lines. A two years' course of instruction was provided as well as shorter courses and up to 1920 some 5,000 students had passed through the schools. Of the 300 experts in the department in 1921, over one-third were ex-students. Up to that year 1,000,000 had been spent on buildings and equipment.
The veterinary service did invaluable work in investigating the diseases of stock, discovering the causes of Estst Coast fever, and other diseases, some of which were eradicated. Its work rendered possible the keeping of animals in many districts where it had not previously been possible, and made profitable the importation of high-class live stock. In 1920 it was estimated that the value of the live stock in the country, chiefly cattle and sheep, was over 100,-
000,000. The entomological and botanical divisions were also active, one notable achievement being the ridding at least temporarily the country from locust plagues. This was done by tracking the locusts to their breeding places and as soon as the young were hatched (when they crawl, but do not fly) sprinkling them, and the surrounding veld, with a mixture of arsenic and molasses, a plan devised by a Natal farmer. This method proved so effective that in 1918-20 no swarms of locusts were reported in the Union.
New crops and plants were introduced, among them teg grass from Abyssinia, very valuable for hay, which in 1920 was grown on 234,000 acres. The general result of the Agricultural Department's work, backed by the rise in prices during the World War, was to make S. Africa almost self-supporting as regards food-stuffs, while in 1919 agricultural and pastoral exports were valued at 33,000,000, and in 1920, a year of depression especially in the ostrich feathers trade at 27,000,000. In the back-veld farming had been " transformed from what was little more than nomadic grazing to an organized industry and throughout had been placed on a higher plane." 1
Of pastoral industries the breeding of woolled sheep is the oldest and most important. The number of woolled sheep in the Union was 21,842,000 in 1911, 26,490,000 in 1916 and 23,548,000 in 1919. The number of other sheep, 8,814,000 in 191 1 had, however, declined to 4,943,000 in 1919. These figures did not include sheep in native locations, which in 1919 numbered about 2,250,000. The wool exported from the Union reached 176,971,000 Ib. in 1913 and was 115,634,000 Ib. in 1918. The World War sent up prices, the average price per Ib. in 1913-4 being 7'95d. and in 1917-8 2O-78d. In 1918-9 when the average price was 2O-o8d. the value of the wool exported was 14,648,000. Wool worth 5,678,000 went to the United Kingdom, 5,209,000 to the United States and 2,786,000 to Japan. France and Canada were the next largest customers. There is also a considerable trade in sheepskins; the value of the skins exported was 594,000 in 1911 and 1,329,000 in 1918.
South Africa produces more than half the world's supply of mohair. The Angora goats in the Union in 1918 numbered 5,278,000, mohair exported that year was 19,645,000 Ib., valued at 1,641,000. The trade in mohair is subject to wide variations, and the limit of pro- duction in S. Africa is that of successful competition with Turkey for the supply of the Bradford market. In 1920 the value of mohair exported fell below 500,000, chiefly owing to lessened demand for yarn from Bradford by Poland and Germany.
The number of cattle in the Union rose from 5,796,000 in 1911 to 7.255. 000 in I 9 I 9- The steady progress of the cattle industry is seen in the figures of imports and exports of meat. 2 Up to and including 1913 imports greatly exceeded exports. Thus in 1913 the quantity of meat imported was over 1 1,000,000 Ib., and that exported but 1,387,- ooo Ib. In 1917 the imports had fallen to 23,000 Ib., while the exports had leapt to 47,250,000 Ib. (valued at 1,043,000). This was an exceptional war-time condition, but in 1919 while there were no imports the exports reached 44,408,000 Ib. In 1916, for the first time, sufficient butter and cheese were made in the Union for all local requirements and something left over for export. The total export of butter in 1918 was 1,316,000 Ib., of cheese 424,000 Ib. In 1919 butter exports fell to 452,000 Ib., but that of cheese increased to 1,546,000 pounds.
Large areas of S. Africa are well adapted to horse-breeding; in general, horses do well wherever conditions are best suited for sheep. The numbers of horses in the Union in 1919 was 695,000, of mules 81,000, of asses 498,000. These figures do not include horses, etc., in native locations.
Ostrich-farming suffered severely through the World War. In 1913 the industry had attained unprecedented success, when feathers weighing 1,023,000 Ib. valued at 2,953,000 (an average value of 2 173. gd. per Ib.) were exported. In that year there were 776,000 ostriches in the Union (757,000 of them in the Cape prov- ince). Over-production and the effects of the war in five years brought about an almost total collapse of the feather trade; the export fell by three-fourths and prices to 153. a Ib. Many breeders took up other branches of farming and by 1920 few persons were wholly dependent on ostriches for their living. The stock of birds was greatly reduced (it was 314,000 in 1918), only those of finest plumage being retained.
The pig and bacon industry is a development wholly post-Union. Pedigree animals were imported but the industry had barely got beyond infancy in 1920. The total production of bacon in the Union in 19178 was slightly over 7,000,000 pounds.
Among cereals the most important crop is maize. The maize belt covers a large area in the eastern portion of the Union, chiefly in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. There is an expanding home market for maize and an assured overseas market. The quantity of maize exported was 356,000,000 Ib. in 1910 valued at 693,000 and 509,000,000 Ib. in 1918, valued at 1,600,000. Kaffir corn, grown chiefly by natives, specially valuable for fodder in
1 Consult a paper on S.A. Agriculture by F. B. Smith, sometime secretary of the S.A. Agricultural Department, read at a meeting of the Colonial Institute, May 31 1921.
2 The figures relate to beef and mutton but the quantity of mut- ton exported is small, 62,000 Ib. in 1910 and 46,000 Ib. in 1919.
