ANIMAL INDUSTRY 417 



IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK 



CATTLE 



The improvement of cattle in Africa by breeding or other means 

 has in the past been carried out partly in order to produce high- 

 grade herds for ranches belonging to non-natives, mainly for beef, 

 but in certain instances for dairy purposes or draught, and partly 

 for the improvement of native-owned stock. These two objects 

 need not be treated separately, since the scientific problems in- 

 volved are essentially similar. Dr. F. Darling (1934), when at the 

 Imperial Bureau of Animal Genetics, wrote a general account of 

 animal breeding in the British Empire, which has served as a basis 

 for the following account, but is supplemented by later information. 

 The main consideration in all African stock breeding is that the 

 'degree of improvement must always be dictated by the plane of 

 nutrition'; neglect of this has sometimes led to disappointment in 

 attempts to grade up high-class imported stock. 



In the Union of South Africa many of the most productive British 

 breeds of cattle have been successfully acclimatized; in particular 

 the Ayrshire and Friesian cattle are equal to the best in the world. 

 The rapid development of the dairy industry in South Africa, 

 indicated by the growing exports of cheese and butter, demon- 

 strates the result of these introductions. The Afrikander breed, 

 referred to above, is generally, but not universally, regarded as 

 the most valuable heritage of the cattle industry, and the most 

 useful beasts possessed by South African farmers have been pro- 

 duced by suitable crossing with introduced pure breeds. This is 

 particularly so in relation to the beef industry, which most authori- 

 ties consider must always be based on the Afrikander, since it is a 

 superior animal to other native stock and appears to possess unim- 

 paired those qualities of resistance to disease and ability to forage 

 under stiff conditions, which are essential in a ranch animal in 

 subtropical countries. The Afrikander is, however, slow in matur- 

 ing and one problem has been to speed up its growth without 

 impairing its adaptability. D. J. Schutte (1935) has reported on 

 the beef-cattle bred in South Africa and the application of methods 

 used in America to the Union. He does not favour straight grading 

 with pure-bred bulls of British breeds, neither does he wholly sub- 



