188 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



including scab, tick, wire worm, nose disease, and blue tongue, 

 but by plenty of attention most of them can be kept in check. 

 The stealing, which is carried on by the natives, is perhaps 

 worse than anything else, and is, indeed, very difficult to deal 

 with, for it is mostly done during the night, and the trouble is 

 that one's own herders are often "in'' with the thieves. The 

 wild animals are becoming fewer as the country gets more 

 settled, but still they account for a good many deaths. 



Cattle do very well, and there is no doubt that this will some 

 day be a great cattle country. Excellent results are obtained 

 by crossing native cows with purebred bulls, and it is astonish- 

 ing that the hump that is so prominent in the mother is, in the 

 majority of cases, entirely lost in the progeny. The worst 

 diseases amongst cattle are East Coast fever and rinderpest, also 

 gall sickness is troublesome. By systematic dipping. East Coast 

 fever can be absolutely avoided, and ^^dth stringent quarantine 

 laws, and by inoculation, rinderpest can be kept well in hand. 

 In the majority of cases gall sickness can be cured. Native 

 cows sell at prices ranging from £6 to £9, while halfbred cows 

 sell from £15 to £20. 



Between Nairobi and Sultan Hamid there is very good coun- 

 try for stock in many parts, particularly the Athi plains, but 

 the ticks are very plentiful indeed on these plains, and without 

 regular dipping stock would fare very badly there. The very 

 large herds of game on the Athi plains are an excellent proof 

 of the good qualities of the grasses there. There is a grass on 

 these plains almost identically the same as Rhodes grass, but it 

 does not grow as high as this famous variety of the dub grass. 



There is no doubt that the Athi plains will some day carry 

 large herds of cattle. The carrying capacity of this part is 

 very high, but the grasses are rather inclined to be watery, and 

 the stock fattened here will not have good kidney fat. Tlie 

 condition generally will be soft ^nthout artificial feeding, and 

 stock will (juickly lose their condition if travelled far by road 

 or rail. 



The rainfall at Athi River Station averages about 25 inches. 

 Around Nairobi the country generally is too valuable as coffee 

 land to think of using it for carrying cattle. 



Further west beautiful country is found at Naivasha and 

 Nakuru, and cattle do very well indeed there, but as many parts 

 will become very valuable as coffee lands probably cattle will 

 not be raised there in large numbers. The rainfall at Naivasha 

 averages 25 inches, and at Nakuru 35 inches, so the grasses are 

 generally very green and look beautiful, but they are watery, 



