CH. XVI] STOCK 



or flocks are found under the care of men who are practically 

 professional herdsmen, whereas in districts where the breeding 

 is casual, and in the hands simply of villagers, the breeds are 

 poor. 



Again, a decided cold in the winter season seems to give 

 better results, and consequently, other things being equal, the 

 breeds deteriorate from north to south. 



Buffaloes, which must not be confused with the American 

 bison, are mainly used in ploughing in wet rice fields and are 

 extremely useful animals for this purpose, being practically 

 water beasts. 



Sheep in the equatorial regions of the tropics are very slim 

 and leggy animals, but as we go farther north, as with cattle, 

 the breeds improve. Of horses much the same is true ; the best 

 animals in use in the tropics for drawing carriages or for riding 

 are in general what are locally known in the east as " walers," 

 the imported Australian horses, which do not generally breed 

 in the tropics. 



One great point for consideration here being what can be 

 done to improve the breeds of cattle, sheep, horses, etc., we 

 must consider the general conditions of such work. Many 

 people, who have not properly thought out the question, say, 

 import European stock, and cross the native with it. This 

 however is really one of the worst things that can be done, 

 speaking in a general way, and leaving out of account any 

 special requirements of the small European community in the 

 tropics. As a rule, the animals imported from cold countries 

 rapidly deteriorate, and native stock crossed with large imported 

 breeds produces leggy weedy animals inferior in power and 

 stamina to the pure native stock. 



In each district the type of beast has come to what we may 

 call an equilibrium with the food supply, and we must not 

 change the former without first changing the latter. The 

 general type of the beasts may strike a European visitor as 

 small and inferior, yet it may be the best that the district can 

 do, with its present conditions of food supply. In Ceylon, for 

 example, there is but little pasture land, and the beasts are 

 simply turned out to graze where they can in the majority of 



