338 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



lently well both extreme heat and the cold nights of the des- 

 ert. As is well known, camels are chiefly used for riding and 

 packing, the two-humped camel being used mostly for pack- 

 ing. A good riding camel will make a speed of five or six 

 miles an hour with a reasonable rest at mid-day and will travel 

 16 out of the 24 hours, thus making 80 miles a day. In 

 Egypt, it is customary to begin working the camel at the age 

 of three years. He reaches full strength, however, only at 

 six years when he may have attained a weight of 900 to 1,400 

 pounds. A mature camel will carry a pack of 200 to 400 

 pounds or even more. 



The color of the Egyptian breeds of camel is brown, black, 

 black and brown, or white. In the Cairo abattoir, camels are 

 slaughtered in large numbers for human food. In the ex- 

 perience of this abattoir, it has been found that the dressed 

 weight of camels is about 55 per cent, of the live weight. In 

 Syria, the packload of camels is commonly 500 to 650 pounds. 

 The ability of camels to go without water has been somewhat 

 exaggerated. It has been found best to water them once 

 a day and not to keep them continuously at hard work in 

 hot weather for more than 48 hours at a stretch. In 

 Arabia, camels are said to travel sometimes for five days with- 

 out water. 



The Bactrian camel is not used in Arabia, Syria, Palestine, 

 or North Africa. In these countries, the dromedary or Ara- 

 bian camel is the only breed to be seen. Statistics regarding 

 the number of camels used for economic purposes are rather 

 meager and incomplete. There are said to be about 2,000,000 

 camels in Somaliland. The camel is used extensively as a 

 pack animal in the Island of Malta and in West Australia. In 

 British India there are about 450,000 camels used for riding 

 and packing. 



An experiment was begun in 1856 in the use of camels in 

 Texas and elsewhere in the southwestern part of the United 

 States. The results were in every respect satisfactory but 



