210 



The Journal of Heredity 



blood in this breed is frequent. Perhaps 

 the breeder docs not succeed in fixing a 

 race of definite type such as we have 

 just described, because he is obliged 

 constantly to breed a certain saleable 

 type of cattle, and therefore resorts 

 to constant out-crossing to get it, 

 bringing in new Indian blood in every 

 generation. The result is that a dis- 

 tinctly local type of zebu is never fixed, 

 because it is always upset by a cross 

 back to the imported stock. 



The herds and herds of breeding 

 stock coming steadily from India to 

 the ranges of Minas prove this assertion. 



The advantageous cross is the com- 

 mercial cross: that is, to sell and resell 

 the hybrids for slaughtering. Cross- 

 breds of this type range from one-half 

 to three-fourths blood; they are the 

 heaviest hybrids. Beyond this cross, 

 the Indian rapidly loses his weight. 



The contrast here between Bos indicus 

 and B. tauriis is striking. While in the 

 latter, greater weight, precocity, etc. 

 are gained by selection, in the former a 

 steady loss of weight takes place, 

 together with an extraordinary reduc- 

 tion in height. 



THE ZEBU PREPOTENT 



The zebu originates in an ancient, 

 thoroughly fixed race. Due to the 

 hereditary potency of the ancient Indian 

 race, the types produced by its cross 

 on the native cow faithfully reproduce 

 all the characteristics of the foreign 

 race. 



The zebu is an absorbing race, and 

 by this property has caused the com- 

 plete disa])i)earance of the Brazilian 

 race in the fifth generation. 



Under these conditions, scattered here 

 and there, as we find them, throughout 

 Brazil, by the commerce in half bloods, 

 for butchering and breeding, and with 

 herd after herd coming from India — it is 

 ccrtainh- desirable that the government 

 should give serious attention to the 

 study of this type of cattle so that in the 

 future we may not find our hands full 

 of (li faculties, even greater than tho.se 

 offered by our old race of mongrels. 



In the municipality of Uberaba, 

 which comprises barely 9,314 square 

 kilometers of the vast zone of the 



Triangle, and 7,451 square kilometers 

 of this under cultivation to the native 

 grasses /aragMa and gordiira, the number 

 of cattle was in the years 1908-9, 

 according to Dr. H. de Araujo Pontes, 

 83,043 head, of which 1,012 were pure 

 zebus, 37,174 zebu hybrids, 12,477 

 caracus, 30,913 Chinas, 1,378 curraleiros 

 and 186 Turinos. 



In twenty-four years — the time that 

 has elapsed since the introduction of 

 the zebu — ^one can easily see that in a 

 small and insignificant ]jart of the 

 interior region, this breed has greatly 

 increased in nimiber and the native 

 breeds have lost ground. From this 

 one can easily understand the absorbent 

 power of this breed, which if it continues 

 as it is now going, in a short time will 

 give us not a better race, but a new race, 

 to replace the old one. We will have 

 changed the race, perhaps, for the worse. 

 There are no scru]jlcs about this breed- 

 ing experiment. 



The zebu has been crossed with every 

 one of the hybrid races of our cattle 

 which I have referred to. 



In this indiscriminate hybridization, 

 to right and to left, bulls constantly 

 arriving from the orient ostensibly as 

 purebloods, but without bringing any 

 certificate of registry, arc being bred to 

 every grade of our own hy1)rids. 



DANGER TO THE INDUSTRY 



It can be verified from this that, in 

 spite of the relatively short time since 

 it was introduced, this breed will lead 

 more quickly than any other to the 

 com])letc ruin of our native stocks, 

 through degeneracy, if energetic pre- 

 cautions are not taken to forbid breeders 

 to make such crosses. 



It is a great evil which we must 

 avoid, and one which, unhapjnly, is 

 increasing, speading to the far-away 

 prairies of Goyaz and Matto Grosso and 

 even to Rio Grande do Sul, where only 

 a year ago 1,500 breeding animals of 

 all grades of blood were exported from 

 one municipality. 



Even with ]jure-bl()()d I mils brought 

 directly from the jjrovince of Gujarat 

 in India, degeneration is manifest in 

 the third generation, to such an extent 

 that breeciers are constantlv obliged 



