ANIMAL INDUSTRY 455 



necessary. The preservation of meat is in some ways similar to 

 that offish (considered in Chapter IX), and the methods can be 

 divided into those involving drying and smoking, the use of low 

 temperatures, and tinning. The drying and smoking of meat into 

 biltong is easy in most African climates and is a method of preserva- 

 tion very widely used by African peoples, and formerly by the 

 Dutch in South Africa, but with the development of export markets 

 it will probably give place to other processes. In Nigeria, where the 

 principal markets in the south are so far from the cattle-breeding 

 areas of the north, Captain Henderson, chief veterinary officer, 

 is trying to establish a market for dried or salted beef, the transit 

 of which would be so much easier than cattle on the hoof. At 

 present the Africans do not appreciate dried meat; salted beef has 

 better prospects, but the process of curing is not yet perfected. 



The need for a cheap and simple method of preserving meat is 

 widely recognized. For example in Uganda, although meat is 

 smoked in some areas, the method does not preserve it for any 

 length of time. It has been suggested that a simple piece of re- 

 search is required to demonstrate that the use of a suitable preserva- 

 tive fluid prior to smoking would keep the meat in a good condition 

 for some time, and that the large canoe-shaped wooden receptacles, 

 used for brewing beer, would make admirable tubs for the immer- 

 sion. The introduction of such a method might stimulate the 

 slaughter of surplus stock and a greater consumption of meat by 

 agricultural tribes. In Uganda the number of cattle has in- 

 creased so much in the Eastern Province that a large supply will 

 be available in a few years' time. Perhaps a factory might be 

 established at some place on the railway, such as Tororo, where 

 land might be acquired for paddocking and suitable pastures 

 might be grown to fatten the best beasts for an export trade. 



Regarding the use of low temperatures, a considerable amount 

 of chilled beef is exported from South Africa and Rhodesia, and 

 now that it is becoming recognized that the future of so much of 

 these countries lies in animal husbandry rather than in grain pro- 

 duce, the meat exports are likly to increase yearly. The principal 

 centre of the industry in the Union is Johannesburg, where an 

 expert, employed by the municipality, maintains close contact 

 with the Onderstepoort laboratory. At Onderstepoort a new 



