BREEDING 125 



to graze before their time ; in other words, they are 

 forced like hot-house fruit. However good the result 

 may be with the latter, it stands to reason that with the 

 former it must prove prejudicial if not decidedly in- 

 jurious. Deprivation of natural food and the supply 

 of unnatural is bad at any time, but more especially so 

 in the young ruminant before his internal organs are 

 in a fit state to undergo such an unnatural condition of 

 things. We have already seen that the structure of 

 the first three divisions of the stomach is not fully 

 developed, and that milk passes directly into the fourth 

 compartment ; therefore, to wean the calf and graze it 

 before this internal structure is ready for the process 

 of rumination is utter folly, and must eventually lead to 

 serious mischief. Nature must have her way, and you 

 cannot force her without seriously injuring the animal. 



As to the third cause, there is little or no doubt Third 



cause 



that as a general rule young camels are made to carry 

 loads before they are fit to work. It is as a rule quite 

 exceptional for Arabs and Asiatics to work them 

 before they are four in fact, for their own purposes 

 they rarely if ever do ; though I am surprised to see, 

 according to Lieutenant Massoutier, that in Algeria they 

 are used as beasts of burden from their third year ; and 

 if this is at all widespread it is all the more in favour 

 of my argument. It is only in emergencies like the 

 Afghan War, 1878-80, when the Indian Government 

 required them in such great numbers, that the breeders 

 parted with so many two- or three-year olds, possibly 

 because they got a good price, but probably to get rid 

 of as many camels (which at the time were useless to 

 them) as possible. On the other hand, it is also quite 



