94 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



red hot, thej pul on condition more quickly. .Many English- 

 men managing there have adopted fehat notion also. Its effect 

 on a lot of soft steers feeding on green juicy alfalfa may be 

 imagined, bul the cattle do not suffer from it as much as one 

 would expect, partly because they are accustomed to being 

 driven very last, ami it does not make them restless. When 

 he lias cattle to drive, the average estancia peon, as the 

 stockman is called, is in a great hurry apparently, but 

 that is the only time, for he is a leisurely customer as 

 a general rule. 



Inoculating or vaccinating for the numerous diseases 

 gives a considerable amount of work. Vaccination against 

 mancha (black leg) in calves is done almost everywhere at 

 branding time, and there are numerous other diseases to guard 

 against ; consequently the appliances for this class of work 

 are very complete on every up-to-date place, including dips 

 for dipping scabby cattle and those from tick-infested districts. 



The preparation of stock for shows has also attained great 

 perfection. All steers are stall-fed and haltered, and as none 

 of them are more than four years old at the most, they are 

 forced very extensively. The piizes are usually for classes, 

 according to age, from twelve months upwards. In the 

 preparation of the younger stock, calves are forced from two 

 months old. steers of ten and eleven months sometimes getting 

 the milk from three or four cows, in addition to all kinds of 

 artificial foods. 



The criollo cattle run on the poor camps to the west and 

 north. Perhaps they may be said to be hardy, as they can 

 certainly live in lower condition for a long time than any 

 other breed of cattle, but they are very difficult to put con- 

 dition on. no matter how good the feed, nor do they ever carry 

 a great quantity of flesh, though they are nice meat when fat, 

 not hard and tough like the native cattle of South Africa. 

 They are great walkers, and can walk as fast as an ordinary 

 horse ; it is no uncommon feat for a mob of these cattle to be 

 driven 150 miles in three days. As is to be expected, they are 

 ill-shapen animals, never attain much weight, are of all 

 colours, and with a great growth of hom. Latterly, they have 

 been in great demand for canning purposes, as the flesh has 



