121 



quality of the grain, but that this cause could be entirely offset 

 by the effect by climate ; whether or not the same would hold 

 true for rice has not been determined, and much experimental 

 work along" that line remains to be done before we can be at all 

 certain of the exact causes of what we know to be definite varia- 

 tions in the quahty of rice. 



ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



Our Motto: "Utilization, not Extcniiination." 



Conducted by Frank Finn, B. A., Hon. F. Z. S. 



Coconut Estates and Army Remounts. 



(Tropical Life for April, 1913.) 



Referring to the article in our July issue, "Remounts for the 

 Army," in which we urge owners to seriously consider the possi- 

 bility of breeding horses suitable for army remounts on large 

 coconut estates, we see by the Tropical Agriculturist that the 

 Ceylon Government is about to start a horse-breeding farm in 

 the neighborhood of Ambepussa railway station. This establish- 

 ment, adds our contemporary, should offer immense facilities for 

 such work as has been indicated above. Mr. A. L. Hutchison, 

 London correspondent to the Times of Ceylon, in commenting 

 on, and supporting our suggestion, called attention to the success 

 of the pony-breeding establishments on the Island of Delft, off 

 Ceylon. "My pony, 'The Birdcatcher' (14.2)," he goes on to 

 say, "which once had a great reputation in Haputale, was a Delft 

 pony. He was hard to beat in the matter of stamina, and there 

 was simply no tiring him. He was an Arab, and as the late 

 'Skip' Shelton used to say of him, he was *a perfect miniature 

 charger.' Something heavier and more of a weight-carrier could 

 doubtless be bred." 



This reminds us that the advice we give in our book on "Coco- 

 nuts," as well as in the columns of this paper, urging estate own- 

 ers and land proprietors to take up cattle-breeding, sheep-farming 

 and hog-raising, so far as their means will allow, was given none 

 too soon. On every side we are constantly hearing complaints 

 of the shortage of food supplies, particularly of meat. Berlin 

 had what almost amounted to a riot, owing to the high prices 

 demanded, whilst even Switzerland, we believe, is importing Ar- 

 gentine cattle. In the United States, here in England, and else- 

 where, the rise in the cost of meat and other foodstuffs is eating 

 a big hole in the increased wages of the public ; so much so that 

 much as wagepayers are already complaining, it seems unlikely 

 that the present level of wages has anything like touched its 



