Abstract
IN the recently issued report of the Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission (see NATUBE, May 20, p. 829) stress is laid by members of the Commission in the expression of their individual views regarding certain matters, on the importance of the development of the native for the future of all three territories alike. In this development, agriculture and native husbandry are assigned the foremost place, more especially in the two protectorates, of which the future prosperity can only be based upon agriculture. In the memorandum appended by the chairman, Lord Bledisloe, and Mr. P. A. Cooper, it is said that “Education is a crying need of the African, but its foundation should, in his case, be knowledge of the land and its proper treatment on the one hand and of the basic principles of nutrition and hygiene on the other. These lessons are even more vital to his true welfare than reading and arithmetic, and should take precedence of them.” They go on to point out that they are inclined to the view that both land and labour are at present wasted, adding a caution against dogmatic pronouncement that large areas of territory are permanently unsuited to human occupation or economic utilization. In order to encourage the development of the native as agriculturist, Lord Bledisloe has now instituted a silver medal for presentation annually in appropriate numbers to the chiefs of the various tribes of Southern Rhodesia who have done most to induce their tribesmen to adopt improved methods of husbandry. The medal bears on its obverse the figure of a native Afrikander bull with the inscription “Southern Rhodesia Mutungamiri Umtungameli”, the Bantu and Sindabele terms for leader or guide. The reverse bears an ear of maize and the inscription “The Bledisloe Medal for the Advancement of Native Husbandry”.
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Bledisloe Medal for Native Agriculture. Nature 143, 889 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143889a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143889a0