44 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



"This cross seems to be to the ox what the mule is to the 

 horse; it partakes of the (lualities of both parents, but, how- 

 ever, remains fertih'. To the ox it owes its succulent flesh 

 and humpless back ; to the Zebu the smaller bone and quick 

 growth, greater activity, hardiness, and resistance to tropical 

 diseases. The Zebu is a tropical ox, and resists there where it 

 has been proved other cattle are carried away by disease. It 

 is not affected either by the damp heat or by prolonged drought,, 

 which favour such diseases as piroplasmosis, but it cainiot stand 

 too much cold. It will prove a useful animal for our tropics,, 

 while in milder climates it is not required. 



"A description of one of the three Zebu-Shoi-thorn cross raised 

 by Mr. W.,McKenzie Grant, near Dongarra, W.A., is interesting. 

 The cattle were sired by a Derrimut S'horthorn bull, the dam 

 being a Brahman cow, a little hump-baeked animal weighing- 

 350 lbs. or so dressed, and standing eight or nine hands, 

 and which had for many years occupied an Exhibit pen at 

 the Zoological Gardens, South Perth. The respective live 

 weights of the trio were as follows: — 2240 lbs. (six years 

 old), 1840 lbs. (five years old), and 1750 lbs. (four years old). 

 They were very quiet. The dressed weight of the two 

 smallest was 1036 and 1026 lbs. respectively, that of the 

 heaviest 1270 lbs. ; the hides about 90 lbs. green. The beef 

 the butchers pronounced Al ; 2 to 3 in. of fat all over the 

 carcase ; not very much kidney and caul fat. 



"I have purjiosely dilated on this important discovery, which 

 affects the 600,000 head of cattle we have in the north and north- 

 west, and particularly the half a million head known to be 

 already in the Kimberleys. Indeed, this matter is one Avhieli 

 affects the whole of the Australian tropics, where the cattle tick 

 decimates the herds. 



"If this method of combating the plague is found successful 

 (and it appears to have been in countries such as Brazil and 

 Uruguay), its value to Australia would be enormous." 



FIXING PRICES. 



In these days of fixing prices, it is natural that one should 

 turn to history to see if similar experiments have beeji tried in 

 the past, and how they succeeded. 



