MADAGASCAR 179 



The btilk of the beef exported from Madagascar was put up in 

 tins until recently, when the Societe Rochefortaise, from its 

 Tamatave plant, began shipping frozen beef by the ships of the 

 Compagnie Havraise Peninsulaire de Navigation a Vapeur. 



The three ships already fitted out with cold storage chambers 

 for the exclusive use of the products of the Societe Rochefortaise 

 can accommodate 200 tons of frozen meat each, which space cor- 

 responds with the present capacity of the local storage plant. 

 But this plant is soon to be enlarged so as to be able to store 500 

 tons of frozen meat, and at least three additional ships are to be 

 fitted out with cold storage chambers of equal capacity. The 

 cold storage space in each of the three ships already being used 

 can be increased to 500 tons. 



The question of drawing largely on Madagascar and other 

 French colonial possessions for the meat supply of the French 

 Army and civil population has been under consideration for 

 some time in official and commercial circles in France. Several 

 attempts have been made by private concerns to import live 

 beeves from the island into France, but these trials, it seems, 

 were not encouraging because of the long and severe voyage, 

 especially during the passage through the Red Sea. 



Large numbers of Zebu cattle, averaging about 800 lbs. live 

 weight, are being shipped to Salonika for the French troops. 



Stuart L. Roussel writes me: — "Madagascar, as anyone may 

 see by a glance at the map, is situated right on the 'wool belt' of 

 the Southern Hemisphere, although rather to the north of the 

 great pastoral lands of Australia, South Africa, and South 

 America. 



' ' There is a considerable variety of climates. The east coast 

 has a heavy rainfall, and no really cold season. The extreme 

 south and the western slopes of the main range of mountains 

 are much drier, and in the south we have some very cold 

 weather in winter. The difference between the eastern and 

 western sides of this range of mountains, which extends right 

 through the island, is very striking when you travel from Fort 

 Dauphin. Up to a small village called Ranopiso, twenty- 



two miles from Fort Dauphin, vegetation of the ordinary tropical 

 character and rice fields, mango, and banana trees are con- 

 spicuous on all sides. Between Ranopiso and Bevilang 

 ('Many Saucepans'), however, a long range of hills is crossed, 

 and the character of vegetation changes completely. At 

 Bevilang, which is only ten miles from Ranopiso, the vegetation 



