THE CONTROL OF ANIMAL DISEASES
313
Although the almost religious esteem in which pastoral tribes hold their cattle
is weakening under the influence of education, it is still very strong and is never
scoffed at by wise adminis rators. Many of us who have the welfare of the native
at heart consider that his d sire to possess many stock, if only it could be modified
by consideration for the future as well as the present, is excusable, even laudable ;
as the man who succeeds is then capable of supporting his family in comfort and
of contributing towards the public revenue.
The value of stock to the agriculturalist is particularly noticeable when drought,
or the threat of drought, occurs during the season of crop growth. At such times
people who are entirely dependent on their corn, e.g., those who live in thick tsetse-
fly belts, have a very anxious time. On the other hand, it is precisely during these
same periods that stock thrive exceedingly, and much compensation for the de-
preciation of crops is afforded by the evening visits to the cattle-kraal, as the
animals come home replete after a warm, dry day amidst abundance of nutritious,
if wilted, grass. For it should be noted that little more than a month's drought
in the growing-season may destroy the whole of a grain crop and yet do no perma-
nent injury to grassland—it may destroy or prevent the seeding of many annual
grasses, but that is unimportant if the perennials survive, as through these the
pasture is replenished by rain coming too late to resuscitate the fields of maize
and millet.
This apparent digression was necessary as it is not uncommon for a European
who sees the desolation effected by soil erosion to forget the very real value of
native-owned stock, and to think of them only as a pest which is destroying the
land. The right conception is that although it is desirable for natives to possess
stock, since these are a continual source of nourishment and clothing, and are an
economic stand by if the grain crops fail, yet it is deplorable that ignorance and
indifference should be permitted to turn a laudable industry into an economic
disaster. One form in which this ignorance is particularly manifest is the native's
apparent inability to realize that his present methods not only make bad provi-
sion for the future but are opposed even to his present interests. It is useless
to point out to him that greater wealth results from maintenance of a smaller
number of animals in good condition all the year round than a larger number in
a state of semi-starvation. The truth of this general statement is unaffected
by the consideration that most grazing is communal, and therefore the individual
would not benefit by a restriction which was not applied to all; and just as true
is the statement that the average native cannot grasp the fact that this over-
stocking is reducing the grazing year by year, so that the total weight of stock
which can be carried by any piece of ground must also become less and less.
He thus neglects both his own interests and those of posterity.
We can now get an idea of the task which confronts any veterinary depart-
ment when it is appointed to improve the stock industry of a country containing
many native cattle. On the one hand there must be recognition of the fact that