TROPICAL REGIONS 107 



ment is progressing rapidly, with the result that the number of 

 cattle has increased greatly, 1 while at the same time there has been 

 an improvement in quality owing to greater care in breeding. 

 Sheep-iaising does not seem yet to have advanced beyond the 

 wool- producing stage. 



Since these cattle districts in tropical South Africa lie some dis- 

 tance from the coast and transport is costly, there is no likelihood 

 at present of refrigerated beef being exported from them overseas, 

 though as previously noted, some supplies may reach the mining 

 centres to the South, and so relieve the necessity for imports into 

 South Africa or even set free a part of the southern output for 

 export. Till the present time, surplus cattle from Rhodesia and 

 the neighbouring tropical highlands have been converted into beef 

 extracts for which there is a growing demand throughout the world. 

 Owing to the great portability of these products, their manu- 

 facture is an industry well suited to places distant from the sea 

 coast. Any increase in the South African output would tend to 

 relieve the drain upon South American cattle for this purpose and 

 thereby indirectly to set free a greater number there for 

 refrigeration. 



Provided cattle diseases can be successfully combated in these 

 South African highlands, it seems quite probable that considerable 

 developments in stock-raising for external market supplies will 

 take place. 2 " Southern Rhodesia promises to be a great cattle- 

 breeding region, in spite of occasionaloutbreaks of germ diseases." 3 



The equatorial highlands of British East Africa have recently 

 become important in wool-bearing sheep, which are now said to 

 number about 7 million. 4 Even if no supplies of mutton are de- 

 rived in the future from this source, it should be noted that the 

 world's demand for wool as well as for mutton is constantly 

 increasing, and that breeding for wool is unfavourable to the 

 maximum output of mutton. Accordingly regions such as British 

 East Africa and the. interior of Australia that specialise in wool- 

 producing sheep may, as above observed, indirectly play an im- 

 portant part in the production of the world's supplies of meat. 



The island of Madagascar, which lies largely within the tropics, 

 has recently developed considerable stock-rearing industries. 5 



1 U.S. Daily Commerce Reports, Oct. 28th, 1914, p. 483 ; Sept. 16th, 1911' 

 p. 1254; June 16th, 1911, p. 1195. 



2 Considerable increases took place in the numbers of live stock in Southern 

 Rhodesia in the period 1911-1914 ; in cattle the increase was 61% ; in sheep 

 11%, and in goats 12%. U.S. Daily Commerce Reports, Sept. 14th, 1916, 

 Supplement 66a. 



8 Sir Harry Johnston. 



* According to a recent American Report the number of sheep in British 

 East Africa increased from 43 millions in 1908 to 7 millions in 1912. 



* According to an American Report, cattle in Madagascar increased from 

 2 millions in 1898 to 5'5 millions in 191?. 



See also Annales de G&ogvaphie, March, 1916, pp. 92, 93, where it is estimated 

 that the exportable surplus of cattle may in the future approach 200,000 head 

 annually. 



