328 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



ears, and commonly a white ring around the fetlock. The 

 zebu is also called Indian cattle, Indian ox, Brahmin cattle, 

 sacred cattle of India, and by other names. The color of 

 the zebu may be white, brindle, tawny, spotted with brown or 

 black, dark with a bluish tinge, and of numerous other shades. 

 There are all possible horn variations, even the condition of 

 hornlessness. The zebu weighs up to 1,500 pounds. The milk 

 yield in all cases is low. The zebu is readily crossed with 

 taurine cattle and the hybrids are fertile. 



The zebu and even hybrids, with no more than an eighth of 

 zebu blood, have commonly been found to be immune to Texas 

 fever. The hide is thick, the hair rather sparse, and cattle 

 ticks do not readily attach themselves. For this reason im- 

 portations of Brahmin cattle have been made in Texas, Flor- 

 ida, and elsewhere in the United States for the purpose of 

 developing a strain of cattle immune to Texas fever. The zebu 

 probably does not occur anywhere as a wild species. It has 

 spread, however, throughout the Tropics in a bewildering 

 variety of races small, large, with large hump, almost with- 

 out hump, and in almost endless color patterns. Many of 

 these forms, as already indicated, are probably hybrids be- 

 tween the zebu and taurine cattle. The immense importance 

 of the zebu in British India may be gathered from the fact 

 that according to admittedly imperfect census returns there 

 are at least 95,000,000 of these cattle in that country. 



A pure strain of zebu was recently introduced into the Bel- 

 gian Congo, where it was acclimatized without difficulty. In 

 Persia, most "cattle" are zebus, although there are a few 

 European cattle and hybrids to be seen occasionally. Arabian 

 cattle are all zebus. In a strain of zebu near Aden, an un- 

 usually high milk yield has been developed. In India, there 

 are very few cattle without humps. The zebus or Brahmin 

 cattle are used for oxen in teams, as pack and riding animals, 

 and for milk. In Ceylon, the zebu is used on freight wagons 

 and farm implements. The zebu is also commonly used for 



