326 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



BEEF CATTLE 



The term cattle has been rather widely and loosely used 

 by various writers in referring to the development of animal 

 industry in the Tropics. The term is here used to mean the 

 collective group of familiar breeds of beef cattle which form 

 the basis of the commercial beef industry in the great beef- 

 producing countries of America and Europe. The term cattle, 

 as used in India, refers, of course, to the zebu or Brahmin 

 cattle. 



The almost universal presence of the zebu and buffalo in 

 the Tropics and their great resistance to tropical diseases has 

 made it seem unnecessary in many of the tropical countries to 

 experiment with the breeds of humpless cattle with which we 

 are familiar. Nevertheless, certain tropical countries have 

 offered unusually favorable conditions for the commercial de- 

 velopment of a beef cattle industry based upon the common 

 beef breeds, such as Hereford, Shorthorn, Angus, Devon, etc. 

 The cattle industry of Hawaii, for example, is fairly well de- 

 veloped. The largest ranch in the Territory is devoted chiefly 

 to the production of Herefords, the manager of which has be- 

 come a rather noted breeder. Another ranch has found great- 

 est profit in raising Devons and has gradually built up a herd 

 of pure-bred Devons of somewhat unusual merit. One or 

 two other ranches have preferred to devote their energies to 

 Shorthorns and have succeeded excellently well with this 

 breed. According to the most recent statistics, the number of 

 cattle in Brazil is about 9,000,000; in Mexico, 5,000,000; and 

 in Uruguay, 8,000,000. Neither the zebu nor hybrid zebus 

 have ever acquired any great importance in the cattle industry 

 of South America. Fairly good representatives of the ordi- 

 nary beef breeds of cattle are to be found throughout Cen- 

 tral America, South America, and the West Indies. In the 

 West Indies, however, most cattle contain some trace of zebu 

 blood. From India, the zebu spread eastward through Siam 



