182 



BRAZILIAN COTTON 



Cattle. — The rearing of cattle and pigs is undertaken at every 

 cotton plantation ; it is the staple industry of Rio Grande do Sul, 

 Goyaz, Minas Geraes, but it also flourishes in Sao Paulo, Matto 

 Grosso, Parahyba, Rio Grande do Norte, in fact in every State cattle 

 are being raised. 



During the last decade it is being realised by the Agricultural 

 Department and by the individual farmers that the native stock 

 requires improvement by introducing selected foreign breeds, for 

 which jiurpose tlie Indian Zebu l)ulls seem specially liked, as the}' 

 withstand more readily the hot climate. Farmers are proud of their 

 Zebu and Herefordshire bulls, and a veterinary Government service is 

 activ^ely engaged in preventing the diseases to which foreign cattle are 

 prone. Only the thoroughbreds and milch cows are fed, all other 

 cattle have to find their own food on the pasture lands. On our 

 journeys in the interior we frequently met huge herds of cattle which 

 had travelled in charge of a few " vaqueiros " or cow herds hundreds 

 of miles. On these journe^^s the cattle becomes of course thin and 

 every now and then a halt of considerable duration has to be made. 



Each farm has a " corral," an enclosure of fences, made of tree 

 branches, where early in the morning milking takes place. The 

 Brazilian cow refuses to give milk unless its calf is close to her ; the 

 calf is tied on the front leg, whilst the cow is milked. Thus the 

 farmer cheats his cow into the belief that the calf is getting the milk. 



The latest Government cattle statistics sho^^' what an important 

 industry the rearing of cattle has become. 



CATTLE— STATISTICS 



The frozen and chilled meat industry is a new enterprise created 

 by the requirements of the War, the first consignment was shipped to 

 Europe in 1914. Four packing houses have been established. 



The first packing company Avas established at Osasco, State of 

 Sao Paulo, and is capable of dealing daily with 1,000 heads of cattle, 



