Father Giraudet had been ordained to the priesthood in the month of August, 1907, and we were planning to send him to the mission post on the Orange River. For many yearsI had been investigating means of utilizing the rich alluvial soil along this river, for it is soil that yields a hundred for one if a way can be found to irrigate it.
At Rooi-Pad, a property that belongs to Pella, there were about twelve acres of this soil that needed only to be irrigated, I therefore consulted Mr. Gearing, our engineer at the Cape, and he recommended a pump that would furnish the necessary water.
It was during the month of August, 1907, that Fathers Wolff and Giraudet went to pick up the necessary equipment in O’okiep with five wagons each drawn by sixteen oxen. This caravan aroused the curiosity of all who saw it. They wondered what we were planning to do in Pella, and several people promised to come and see our installation. Indeed our visistors included engineers from O’okiep, the magistrate of Springbok, the surveyor general from the Cape, and curious folk of all types. No one ever comes to Pella now without going to see our irrigation work on the Orange. Experts have congratulated the missionaries for the care with which everything was installed, and they declare that everything is properly set up.
By the month of March, 1908, everything had been brought to the site and we started the installation. At first we encounteręd difficulties and had quite a hard time. But we kept doggedly at our work and by the month of April everything was ready for an experimental run. When the pumps were working satisfactorily we began to plant our crops. Our first attempt was with wheat. Naturally, we could not expect an abundant harvest as this was new terrain that had never been cultivated. Yet in certain spots this wheat grew to over six feet, and we counted as many as eighty stalks for one seed. The frost caused much damage, but we harvested seven sacks of wheat from the halfsack we has sown; in short, a yield of fourteen to one. Lentils and peas yielded a hundred to one, as did our crop of string beans. We also harvested sweet potatoes, corn, and watermelons. We were completely satisfied, for we were expecting much less during that first year of trial.
We sent to the Cape for a number of fruit trees, such as orange, lemon, peach, and cherry trees. All these trees have now been planted in our new garden on the Oranje River. They are doing very well and in a few years we shall have an abundance of fruit.
Father Giraudet lives in a little two-room house, using one of the rooms as a chapel. On Sunday he gathers the people of the surrounding area, celebrates Holy Mass for them, and every evening he teaches catechism to a few children and adults who want to learn about our religion. The Rooi-Pad venture thus renders a twofold service. It helps to support the Pella mission and in self constitutes a little parish that has already brought good results. We have named this post Pella-Orange@ and have dedicated it to St. Joseph.
