154 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



pear and the devestation by the army throughout the country does not 

 lend any encouragement to a man to engage in a business of producing 

 a product which is liable to be confiscated for food by soldiers passing 

 through from one province to another. The present beef animals are the 

 descendants of the cattle brought to the country many years ago by the 

 Spanish inhabitants and there has been no importation of new blood 

 of any consequence since the time of the Spanish regime. The breed is, 

 large horns and head, beef type, stag in appearance, and the best not 

 over 1,200 pounds in weight, although some of the fat cattle are five 

 and six years old. The old Spanish herds of long ago, fawn color, large 

 bone, heavy horns, but not so long as the Texas ranger, were the founda- 

 tion herds of the present-day herds. 



The Honduran idea of a good animal is horns, head and bulk, with- 

 out regard to quality. If a male, he is not castrated under three years of 

 age, whether for market or for the ox-cart, so that he is always an 

 oxen in appearance. With the present primitive methods and lack of 

 better knowledge, the cattle are not considered marketable until at least 

 four years of age, and most of them are five. Nothing whatever is known 

 of corn feeding or finishing. In fact, there is hardly enough corn raised 

 for human consumption, and to feed any number of animals would be 

 out of the question. 



Around the small towns stock is permitted to roam at large. The 

 males are given no special attention until after maturity, and mingle 

 with the herds all the year around. The result is that the offspring is 

 mongrel in appearance and quality. Only 14 per cent of the calves born 

 reach maturity. This heavy loss is due to the ravages of the screw- 

 worm, neglect, exposure, and wild animals that devour them. The 

 mothers are not good fighters, and the young fall an easy prey to the 

 puma, cougar and the coyote. 



The absence of an established market is probably the most serious 

 drawback to the industry. The local consumption is not large, and the 

 methods of butchering decidedly primitive and unsanitary, with no facil- 

 ities anywhere for preserving the meat. The result is that the fat 

 cattle sell at a low price, sometimes as low as $10 a head, and there is 

 no encouragement to increase the size of the present herds. The fact 

 that all of the cattle are grass fed and stag in quality and appearance 

 would give them a rating of "bologna stock" in this country. 



In the smaller towns interior, meat is killed once a week, on Monday. 

 There is no delivering done in any part of the country. Each customer 

 goes and buys meat and takes it home. It is never wrapped up. A 

 string is tied around it and carried home, exposed to the dust of the 

 streets and the eager noses of numerous dogs that follow along. At the 

 capital there is a central market, where meats, fruits and vegetables 

 are sold. All of the meat for sale is slaughtered the year around at about 

 five o'clock in the morning. The carcass reaches the market a little after 

 six, and is frequently in the pot at eaght, the same morning. The capi- 

 tal is situated in a beautiful valley with an amphitheater of mountains 

 surrounding it. The meat could be killed in the mountin the evening 



