LIVE STOCK AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS 323 



which they are highly susceptible, or are unable to thrive and 

 yield a profit to the owners under the conditions of feed and 

 pasturage which prevail in most tropical countries."^' In the 

 improvement of animal industry in the Tropics, therefore, it 

 is perhaps wise to proceed very slowly and to admit that 

 perhaps one important reason for the existence of the present 

 tropical breeds of cattle is their superior adaptability to the 

 conditions under which they must live. 



DAIRYING 



It may be well to take Hawaii as an example of the con- 

 ditions which must be met in carrying on the dairy industry 

 in tropical climates. There are certain obvious advantages 

 in such climates over cold climates. Green feed, for example, 

 can be grown the year round. Alfalfa will mature a crop 

 every month, and in unusually favorable years 13 crops may 

 be grown per year. This furnishes, of course, an abundance 

 of excellent green material for milk production. Alfalfa is 

 by no means the only crop which may be grown for green 

 feeding to dairy cows. Sorghums, Para grass, com, and a 

 great variety of forage grasses may be grown as soiling crops 

 for dairy cows. In many localities it appears not to be neces- 

 sary to produce hay in order to get fairly satisfactory results 

 in milk yield. 



In the neighborhood of sugar plantations, endless quanti- 

 ties of cane tops are available for green feed at the cut- 

 ting season. At higher altitudes some of the smaller va- 

 rieties of sugar cane, particularly the Japanese cane, may be 

 grown specifically as a cattle feed. Sugar cane may be read- 

 ily used as a silage crop and makes an excellent and palatable 

 silage. 



In the matter, therefore, of green fodder the advantage lies 

 all with the Tropics as compared with cold climates. In al- 

 most every other respect, however, the Tropics are at a dis- 



