Introducing Animals From Foreign Countries. 157 



our country, at least to hybridize with our stock. He 

 suggests that some of the water buffalo might find a 

 place of utility in some of our Gulf States or in some 

 of our island possessions. He mentioned the availability 

 of zebras as well as the donkey as a source of blood 

 which might advantageously be mixed with the horse. 



Who knows but that by mixing together the blood of 

 some zebra, the donkey and the horse that a triple hy- 

 bnd might be produced which would form a fertile 

 race of mules D If the admixture of some ?.ebra blood 

 would thus make fertile our mules it is possible that 

 we might develop a breed with feet and limbs as tough 

 as those of the mule, with as heavy weight as the draft 

 horse, v/ith great longevity, with small food require- 

 ments and even superior in docility and intelligence. 

 Some results in plant-breeding suggest that such an 

 achievement might be possible. 



Mr. Fairchild suggests the wisdom of at least study- 

 ing the sheep of Tripoli and the milch sheep of Malta. 

 Even if used only to increase the yield of milk in breeds 

 designed for producing baby mutton they might be 

 useful. This subject has been viewed mainly by plant 

 men, except in Western Europe. The plant ex- 

 plorers have learned what are the possibilities in in- 

 troducing new crops, and they all agree that animal 

 introduction, though a far different proposition than 

 plant introduction is very important. The number of 

 available forms is less, though there are more than fifty 

 breeds of cattle in the world, and a goodly num- 

 ber of kinds of horses, asses and zebras are known. 

 The swine types have not been brought into use, while 

 there seems to have been no very thorough work in 

 introducing goats into regions new to them, but where 

 they might prove very useful, either to be improved 

 in their pure forms or to serve as basic blood in mak- 

 ing hybrid breeds. Dr. Kuhn, President of the Agricul- 

 tural College at Halle, Germany, the Zoological Gar- 

 dens at London and other institutions and private per- 

 sons in various parts of the world are experimenting on 



