BREEDING 121 



permit, being careful, however, to protect her from 

 debility, and then give them a suitable and nourishing 

 grain ration, so as to put stamina and muscle into them. 

 Arabs and Bedawins allow the young of their riding 

 camel to suckle, and exempt them from all restraint 

 until they are two years old. 



A female produces on an average one calf in every Bearing 

 three years, and cannot, as already pointed out, produce 

 more at a birth or in a shorter time. One male can 

 serve from fifteen females up to fifty ; hence it is usual 

 among these Eastern tribes to geld a certain number of 

 males that are intended exclusively for labour. This 

 makes them quieter, and renders them more manage- 

 able, or at least it frees them from the periodical out- 

 breaks to which they are liable ; but I consider that it Castration 

 is a great mistake, as the camel is quite tractable 

 enough, and this mutilation reduces his spirit and 

 tenacity, hence diminution in his powers of endurance, 

 but I do not think, as I have seen it stated, that 

 it actually reduces his strength. Lieutenant Massoutier, 

 speaking on this subject, says that in Algeria nearly 

 all are geldings, a few of the finest stallions only being- 

 kept for stud purposes, in the proportion of one to 

 about fifty females. These stallions are for the most 

 part quiet, and can be used for transport, but occasion- 

 ally, in the rutting season, they become wild and un- 

 manageable, and are then dangerous to men. This 

 bears out what I have just said against castration, for 

 during the ' mast ' period means could be adopted to 

 isolate a camel and prevent him from being dangerous 

 or doing any damage. Proportion 



~ __. r / / -i -i i of stallions 



One stallion to fifty females is rather an unequal to females 



