208 



The Journal of Heredity 



ZKBl-llEKKFOKD CROSS IN IKXAS 



This half-breed heifer, weighing 1000 jiounds at 12 months, was bred on the raneh of A. P. 

 Borden, Pierce, Texas, and allowed to graze all summer on a range infested by the ticks 

 which carry Texas fever. She was never dipped or protected against ticks in any way, 

 but at the end of the summer showed no trace of infestation. It is such cases as this 

 that have led genetists to foresee in the zel)u the foundation of a new breed of cattle for 

 the southern United vStates. Photograph by the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, November 18, 1911. (Fig. 7.) 



have ijrovcd that the ^^adcs ijroduced 

 by this cross possess the followinjj; 

 characters: weight, faciHty of accHma- 

 tion, hardiness and fecundity. 



FECUNDITY OF THE ZEBU 



"We have observed that the de- 

 scendants of the pure blooded zebus 

 imported in 1889 breed with facility 

 in (mr ranges, even in seasons of drought, 

 resisting all sorts of weather. 



"The zebu bull allowed to run loose 

 on the range will produce from sixty to 

 seventy calves, in a jieriod of four to 

 five months. The heifers rarely fail to 

 jjroduce their first calves at three years 

 of age. We have had a grade cow give- 

 birth to two calves inside of ten months 

 and six days. The calves are strong, 

 like all crossbred cattle, and the rate 



of mortality, compared to that of the 

 breeds fonnerly raised here, is extremely 

 low. 



"The development o{ the grade and 

 its facility for fattening are such that 

 steers 3 years old are ready for butcher- 

 ing and are preferred to any other race 

 by everyone, who handles them, from 

 the buyer on the ranch to the butcher 

 who offers for them the highest market 

 l)rice. At 5 years the hybrids average 

 i"rom 650 to 7(K) |)ounds in net weight." 



Two particular races of the zel^u are 

 preferred; the Nellore and the (nijarat; 

 the former with small ears and the 

 latter with c\'irs well develo]XHl. 



in tliis lattcT. the ])reference is 

 interesting. 



I^)r all the grace, beauty and weight 

 of the Ni'llore race, it is alwa\s worth 



