THE BUFFALO OR BISON 141 
securing of the true cattalo—the offspring of parents both of which pos- 
sess mixed blood—and the elimination of shy breeders, Mr. Boyd devel- 
oped a herd of prolific animals. Abortions were frequent in the early 
crosses, but this tendency, also, has been overcome in the cattalo, which 
compares favourably with ordinary cattle in carrying the young to 
maturity. 
The success of Mr. Boyd’s work was, no doubt, assisted by a knowledge 
of what others had accomplished. Knowing from the experience of others 
that initial difficulties incident to these crosses could with persistence be 
overcome, Mr. Boyd pursued his work with confidence and ultimately 
reached a place that began to show the value of the new breed. After 
his death, however, it was found that the estate could not further pursue 
the experiment. From time to time during recent years, requests have 
been made to the Department of Agriculture to undertake experiments 
with these crosses, and when it was learned that the herd of the late 
Mr. Boyd was likely to be distributed and the value of his work lost, 
strong representations were made to the Minister of Agriculture to secure 
the herd of cattalos and to continue the experiment along truly scientific 
lines. 
The Honourable Mr. Burrell, therefore, had the herd thoroughly in- 
vestigated by officials of the Experimental Farms, the Live Stock and the 
Health of Animals branches, and on the results of their findings a selec- 
tion from the herd was made. The selection consisted of twenty head 
of the most promising individuals, made up of sixteen females and four 
males. The females range in age from one to nine years, possess from 
twenty-five to seventy-five per cent of buffalo blood, and weigh from five 
hundred to seventeen hundred pounds. The males range from four to 
nine years of age, carry from thirty-one to seventy-five per cent of buffalo 
blood, and weigh from one thousand to two thousand pounds. They are 
all regular breeders so far as they have been tried, and possess every in- 
dication of vigour. 
It has long been recognized that the buffalo possesses qualities which 
would be of value if transmitted to beef-producing animals, more par- 
ticularly for ranging purposes for cold-ridden districts. From the ex- 
periments of Mr. Boyd and others it appears that the excellent rustling 
qualities of the buffalo are retained in the cattalo. During the blizzard 
conditions the cattalo like the buffalo faces the storm rather than drifts 
before it as is the tendency of domestic cattle. 
Furthermore, the cattalo shows excellent grazing qualities, maintain- 
ing a plump body even on scant pastures. They carry a further resem- 
blance to the buffalo in rising on their fore feet, which enables them to 
rise when in a weakened condition. 
