332 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



ticated. The banteng {Bos sondaicus) is a common work 

 animal of Burma, Malaya, Borneo, Java, Sunda Islands, and 

 neighboring countries. This ox is much like the gayal, but 

 its horns are slenderer and rounder and are curved upward 

 and back. The banteng is domesticated in largest numbers in 

 Java, where it is extensively crossed with the zebu and other 

 cattle. The banteng is an inferior draft animal but the meat 

 is considered to be good. 



HORSES AND MULES 



The horse and mule industry has never in any tropical coun- 

 try attained the importance which it holds in temperate cli- 

 mates. This is due partly to the fact that horses and mules 

 have been unable to resist some of the tropical diseases or 

 the pecuUar conditions of the tropical climate. On the other 

 hand, in many parts of the Tropics, horses and mules are 

 practically replaced for certain purposes by buffalo, zebu, 

 camel, elephant, and more recently by the wide use of power 

 machinery. In those parts of the Tropics, like Hawaii, where 

 tropical animal diseases do not prevail, horses and mules may 

 be reared and used under conditions practically identical with 

 those which prevail on the mainland of the United States. 

 On many of the sugar plantations, horse and mule power is 

 extensively used where steam and gasoline power are not 

 economically applied. The importance of the horse in the 

 Tropics ever3rwhere increases with the increasing control of 

 the Tropics by the white man. 



In the Belgian Congo, experiments with Senegal ponies 

 indicate that this breed is well adapted for use in the Congo. 

 The so-called Sandalwood pony of Java has also given a good 

 account of itself in the Congo. Belgian horses have been used 

 in the Belgian Congo for the production of mules but are 

 considered too heavy for draft purposes. Russian horses, in- 

 troduced into the Congo, have proved of great superiority for 



