Vol. XVIII. No. 436. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



13 



CATTLE RAISING IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



Mr. -John Mullin, of the Department of Lands and 

 Mines, has recently pointed out in the /ourna/ of ///e Board 

 of Agriculture , British Guiana, July 1918, the great possibili- 

 ties open to that colony to become a great meat-producing 

 oentre. His article was reproduced in the Commercial 

 jReiiiew of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, October 

 19 If-, from which the following extracts are taken. 



British Guiana possesses some 3 or 4 million acres 

 of pasture land (known locally as 'Savannah Country') 

 immediately adjoining the northern pasture lands of Brazil 

 and extending northwards and eastwards to the middle 

 West of the colony, and thence, with the exception of a forest 

 belt (through which a cattle trail is now under construction) 

 along the great Rerbice-Demerara River divide to the Atlantic 

 seaboard. 



The following e.xtract from the Annual Keport of the 

 Department of Lands and Mines for the year 1916, is inter- 

 esting : — 



'The demand for Crown lands for the purpose of grazing 

 cattle is steadily increasing. It has, of course, been long 

 known and thoroughly proved that British Guiana is emi- 

 nently suited to the raising of cattle; but until comparatively 

 recent years there has been no attempt to go in for systematic 

 ranching, the reason being that practically every manager of a 

 sugar estate possessed a tine herd of cattle which grazed on 

 the abandoned or fallow lands of the estate, and these herds 

 provided ample supplies to meet local demands. With the 

 growth of the rice industry, however, lands hitherto available 

 for grazing have been taken up for rice, and most of these 

 herds have been broken up, and purchased by small farmers 

 — principally East Indians — who go in more for dairy business 

 than for the raising of cattle for slaujjhter. This has naturally 

 tended to create a shortage of beef cattle, which has been 

 reflected in the increased prices of meat in recent years, and, 

 following the laws of supply and demand, has led to the 

 formation of local companies for financing and carrying on 

 cattle ranching on modern business lines, with most encourag- 

 ing results. 



"Thanks lo the admirable work of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, and the hearty co-operation of the sugar planters in im- 

 porting and distributing thoroughbred English and American 

 stock, there are today many very fine herds of cattle t<i be 

 seen in different parts of the colony, and prospective ranchers 

 need , anticipate no difficulty in procuring excellent cattle, 

 thoroughly seasoned, and well suited for the preliminary 

 stocking of ranches. 



'Whilst too much stress cannot be laid on the 

 tremendous possibilities of the large savannahs in the hinter. 

 land of the colony for cattle raising, it should not be imag- 

 ined that British Guiana cannot become a large centre for 

 cattle rearing until those savannahs are connected to the 

 ooast by railway communication. (Jn the contrary, there 

 are very large areas of excellent savannah land on the 

 lower reaches of the navigable rivers of the colony which are 

 highly suitable for ranching purposes, and which, being acces- 

 sible to direct ocean steamer communication, would permit of 

 the erection of packing and canning factories which could 

 compete successfully in the local and West Indian markets 

 against the present imported meats. 



■ Typical examples of these areas are the large, well- 

 drained and watered savannahs on the Rerbice, Canje, Ituni, 

 Vironie, and Abary Rivers, where hundreds of thousands of 

 areas of ' 'rown land still await the rancher, and it remains to 

 be seen whether these areas are to be exploited by foreign 

 capita' and enterprise, or whether the reawakened interest in 



the ImperLal dominions as a field for investment after the 

 War will lead to the establishment by British concerns of 

 ranches and packing houses which will be formidable com- 

 petitors of those at present controlling the markets in these 

 latitudes.' 



The conditions under which Crown lands in British 

 (.Tuiana can at present be obtained for cattle grazing are very 

 generous. Over lands on the 'Hinterland Savannahs', extend- 

 ing from the Brazilian boundary to the middle West of the 

 colony, 'Cattle Grazing Permissions' ate issued, each covering 

 a -50 square mile block (10 miles by 5 miles at a nominal 

 annual charge of $15 (£3 2jr. 6(/.) This permission does not 

 require the holder to fence the land, but carries with it the 

 right to obtain a ninety-nine year least, if within five yeara 

 from the date of issue of the permis. ion the holder shall 

 have (1) a corral of not less than 2,500 square yards 

 in area, and (2) a habitable house with a resident 

 stockman, and (3) five hundred head of cattle, on the 

 land covered by each permission. Tlie ninety-nine year 

 lease carries a slightly higher rental, which at present is 

 fixed at ■?2 (8^/. 4,f.) for every square mile, or '. of 

 a cent (one-third of one halfpenny) an acre, but the 

 Government reserves the right, in the event of railway 

 communication being e.stablished within the colony, to raise 

 the rent to a sum not exceeding ■'So (£1 O.c. 10c/.) 

 for every square mile, or a maximum of a little under i of 

 a cent, an acre- This lease is modelled on the Australian laws, 

 and is designed to encourage, and not to restrict the rancher. 



Since the report of the Department of Lands and Mines ' 

 was written, the Government have commenced to open a 

 cattle trail to connect these middle West Savannahs with 

 those running along the Rerbice-Demerara River divide to the 

 coast. 



The savannahs to the west of the forest belt, and ex- 

 tending to the coast, may be divided into two parts of almost 

 equal areas: (a) those situate on the low flat alluvial coasts 

 lands, which are exceedingly fertile, and (b) those extending 

 from the alluvial flat lands back to the forest belt, forming 

 undulating sandy downs, well drained and watered, but not 

 well grassed, except in their more fertile saucer like hollows. 

 Though apparently not fo suited to cattle ranching as the 

 savannahs of the hinterland or the lush-grass flat lands of the 

 coast, these undulating downs should be better suited to sheep 

 farming than the more swampy coast lands, and as the price of 

 mutton in the local market and in those of the neighbouring 

 islands ranges from 3(ic. (l.>. 6c/.) a pound upwards, here 

 is a profitable field for the successful sheep farmer in this 

 colony. 



The yearly rent charged under cattle grazing leases 

 issued in respect of the Coastal Savannahs are somewhat 

 higher than those charged for the hinterland, being 10c. 

 (5(/.) an acre. The lease also requires the holder to fence the 

 land in places where the tract taken out adjoins other hold- 

 ings, and where there exist no natural boundaries, such as 

 wide streams, which render fencing unnecessary. Highly 

 successful ranches have been established under these leases, 

 and the results obtained from cattle ranching on the coast-lands 

 are decidedly good. There are exceptional possibilities for 

 hog farming on a large scale on the coast-lands also, as there 

 is a huge market for pickled pork, hams, and bacon, both in 

 the colony, the West Indi^in Islands, and the neighbouring 

 colonies of Dutch and French Guiana. 



British Guiana is singularly free from many of the 

 dangerous animal diseases common to other countries, and has 

 none which are peculiar to it. On the Hinterland Savan- 

 nahs cattle disease is praf-ti illy unknown, and history recorde 

 n(. epidemic of any kind. 



