CONSERVATION AND EXPLORATION 449 



for a Labrador railway. A second large lumber concern 

 has also given us notice that they intend to commence 

 operating this winter. But the snow is on the hills, and 

 the ice making, and there are as yet no arrivals. 



Our reindeer experiment has advanced considerably. 

 Next spring a herd goes to North Labrador in charge of 

 some herders from that section, who have been trained at 

 St. Anthony. Only a small number of people, and conse- 

 quently few dogs are there, and these latter are the greatest 

 menace to the success of the reindeer. A herd of fifty, 

 with three of our herders, left in 1911 for Athabasca and a 

 small herd of six has been privately purchased for the 

 Indians of lower Quebec. We have had some trouble with 

 the people killing our reindeer while hunting for caribou. 

 But the Newfoundland Government has not yet been willing 

 to create the north end of the island as a national preserve 

 for the herd. We have found out that the same reindeer can 

 no more be expected to be ranched for meat, to be milked for 

 dairy purposes, and to haul and drive successfully, than can 

 cattle or any other animals. Formerly we expected too much 

 from them. For packing in summer they are all right, and 

 in deep snow in early winter better for driving than dogs. 

 The herd for ranching must be separate from the dairy ani- 

 mals, and the latter must be taken from their fawns. 

 Only the ox deer are used by us for hauling, which they do 

 most excellently, though they are slow for driving. With 

 only a very small sum for upkeep the herd must support 

 itself, and so dairy experiments on any large scale have 

 had to be postponed. 



In the fall of 1911 the first shipment of carcasses for the 

 market from the Alaskan reindeer herds was permitted. 

 2a 



