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The Journal of Heredity 



fullfilling all my necessities. I ha\'e 

 cows as j^ood milkers as "Turinas" and 

 Holsteins, with the advantaj^e that their 

 milk is of a much better taste. ^ As to 

 the meat, it is the best possible." He 

 speaks of how well the cattle stand 

 being driven long distances to market, — 

 he even uses them as pack animals. 



Dr. Carlos Prates says,^ "The zebu 

 is, as proved, a breed resistant, easily 

 acclimatized, and one that lives per- 

 fectly on our prairies, suffering little 

 from the tick or other parasites. Fur- 

 ther, it is proved that the first cross 

 of the zebu bull with native cows give 

 better products as to size, resistance and 

 beauty; from this principally comes the 

 preference of the zebu." 



Dr. Alvaro da Silveira^" remarks, 

 " 'The zebu should be exterminated for 

 the good of the nation's livestock 

 industry^' affirm those who say they are 

 sustained by the solid basis of science. 

 'We shall continue to make use of the 

 zebu because he makes us rich ' say the 

 breeders, sustained by the de facto 

 profits that they receive from the 

 undesired breed. 



"It seems that, however jjatriotic the 

 scientist may be, his love for the fortune 

 of the zebu breeder is, in any case, less 

 intense than that of the breeder himself 

 for his property. And since the farmer 

 is satisfied with this process of breeding, 

 I am inclined to think it is science that 

 is in error, because no one will believe 

 that hundreds of Minas breeders will 

 breed the zebu just to defend a bad 

 breed, contrary to their actual interests." 



Dr. N. S. Mayo as above cited says, 

 "Among the good qualities of the 

 Indian cattle are their hardiness, exemp- 

 tion from parasites, such as flics and ticks. 

 Because of their size, strength and 

 activity, Indian cattle are the l)est for 

 the tropics." 



Dr. L. P. Barreto'i writes, "On all 

 sides (in the state of Sao Paulo) the 

 zebu is repelled with indignation. And 

 this repulsion, happily, is the official 



doctrine; in our cattle shows (state of 

 Sao Paulo) the zebu is excluded." 



Sr. Manoel Bernardez compares the 

 meat to that of the rhinoceros and says 

 that to replace the native Brazilian 

 cattle with the zebu would be to return 

 to the stone age. 



Dr. Eduardo Cotrim^^ goes into 

 detail to prove that the zebu is unde- 

 sirable from all standpoints, as a work 

 animal (most traction work in the tropics 

 is done with oxen) as a milk animal and 

 as a beef animal. He even quotes the 

 opinion of another, to which he evidently 

 acquiesces, that it will some day be 

 necessary to exclude the Indian cattle 

 from Brazil by legislation. 



These opinions have been given 

 because there are two schools as it were, 

 or rather two factions among the 

 breeders in Brazil, one fanatically for 

 the zebu, which is made up of the 

 practical breeders who profit hand- 

 somely by breeding them, and those 

 who go just as far to the other extreme, 

 composed mostly of theorists and par- 

 tisans of the European cattle (without 

 much knowledge of the conditions under 

 which the zebu cattle are proving so 

 profitable) . 



The ideas thus suggested may have 

 some weight with those interested in the 

 United States or who intend crossing 

 the Brahmin or zebu cattle for range 

 purposes. 



THE author's opinion 



To close I shall give two interesting 

 opinions with which I agree. 



Dr. Elias Antonio de Moraes^^ re- 

 minds us that " Indian cattle are to the 

 bovines of other species what the mule 

 is to the horse and the goat to the sheep," 

 as to both vigor and health. He is 

 also of the opinion that Brazil should be 

 divided into three zones — the first near 

 the large centers of consiunption, for 

 such breeds as Holsteins, Brown Swi.ss, 

 etc. In the second zone cattle espe- 

 cially apt for the j)roduction of butter 



• The author's observation is that zebu milk has a very rich and superior flavor. 



» Industria Pecuaria, loc. cit., p. 18. 



" Industria Pecuaria, loc, cit., p. 55. 



'• Industria Pecuaria, loc. cit., p. 6. 



" Inquerito Sobre o Zebii, loc. cit., pp. 71-92. 



" Inquerito Sobre o Zebu, loc. cit., pp. 95-97. 



