168 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



ranching was not known in that country, and that the huge under- 

 taking necessary would have seemed beyond the range of men 

 accustomed to handle cattle in small numbers. The United 

 States is the biggest cattle country in the world, and its ranch- 

 men have ''thought in thousands," and handled the conditions 

 Avhich threaten to overwhelm the manager who is not used to 

 cattle by tens of thousands. There is a boldness in the design 

 of a large ranch that must rather dismay the cautious man, and 

 ]Mr. Fleming relates that when he went on the market once to 

 buy 150 bulls at one swoop the eyes of an old-timer nearly 

 popped out as he cried: "One hundred and fifty! My word, I 

 thought I was going strong when I bought three at a go!" 

 South African breeders know cattle fore and aft, top and bottom, 

 but they did not have the experience of ranchmen, and accord- 

 ingly the Chartered Company sent to the United States for two 

 cattlemen of proved knowledge, capacity and tact. The two 

 stepped into their places ciuietly, carved out one million acres 

 from the unoccupied land, divided this enormous area into 

 seven blocks, and set about building up a beef strain, on the bed- 

 rock of the small but hardy native stock ; and they have gone 

 their way unobtrusively, working out their ideas without forcing 

 their opinions on others. Liebig's Ranch followed the same 

 large lines of development, but not the same policy of breeding. 

 It will be seen by the foregoing that the possibilities of 

 Ehodesia as a beef producing country are enormous, and fair 

 supplies of excellent beef can be looked for in the immediate 

 future. To the west there is another very excellent fertile 

 country in Bechuanaland, containing 225,000 square miles of 

 ideal cattle country. However, the cattle at present are of the 

 native type, and very little has been done in improvements so 

 far ; but now the war is over, there is little doubt that in time 

 that country will be exploited and its herds improved. 



The Rhodesia Meat Packing Company Limited has Ijeen 

 formed, with a capital of £100,000, to ac(pnre a piece of land 

 situated at Odzi Station, Mashonaland, with water rights on the 

 Odzi River, for the purpose of erecting meat-canning and freez- 

 ing works. The capacity of the factory is to be approximately 

 75 beasis per day. It is the intention of the company, as soon 

 as the canning works are in operation, to proceed with arrange- 

 ments with a view to the freezing and export of meat for ship- 

 ment overseas. 



