346 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



interested, so went to interview him and 

 teach him all about the advantages of 

 Venezuelan cattle. To our surprise we 

 found that we had to be the student, for 

 our new friend had been to Ciudad Bolivar, 

 La Guayra, and other trade centres in 

 Venezuela several times since we were there, 

 and knew all about the Venezuelan cattle, 

 their value, weight, &c. Those, therefore, 

 who on this side wish to go into the matter 

 need not altogether imagine that they must 

 trust entirely to local cowboys ; they will, like 

 we did, probably find that they can pick up 

 much valuable information .as to what to do at 

 the start, and along what lines to proceed, 

 and having ascertained this they can then make 

 further inquiries abroad. Take the Venezuelan 

 (or Zamboanga) cattle as an example of 

 what we mean. The cattle here should run 

 about 800 to r,ooo Ib. dead weight ; those 

 from Venezuela ran only up to 600 Ib. as a 

 rule, and therefore were no use to this trade. 

 To increase the weight you must pen the 

 animals in, wild habits beget lean shanks ; 

 feed well, and import, to the utmost of your 

 finances, good bulls to increase the weight of 

 your calves. Do not run one such bull among 

 5,oco or even 500 cows, as has been done, 

 or else you will be greviously disappointed 

 with the results. Ascertain locally, or, better 

 still, from the breeder or owner from whom 

 you buy the bull, how many cows he should 



