December, 1952 ] E. S. E. HAFEZ 259
in the milk-yield [Sinha and Minett, 1947]. The calf can be delivered without
much difficulty. The buffalo calf may then be hand reared (pail suckling) with
good attention.
Buffalo meat is thought to be coarse, but this is due to the fact that old animals
are usually slaughtered, and the meat of an animal, four to six weeks old and properly
fed, in no way differs from veal. With regard to the relative nutritive value of
buffalo beef as compared with ox-beef and veal, it is stated that the former is dis-
tinctly superior in several respects. Buffalo beef differs markedly in structure from
ox-beef, the muscle fibres being thicker and the nuclei more abundant. In trans-
verse sections, the fibres are polygonal instead of irregularly shaped, the component
fibrallae are larger and there is a greater amount of sarcoplasm. Differences also
occur in regard to the distribution of the subcutaneous fat, connective tissue and
elastic tissue.
The buffalo bull cannot stand cold or heat, yet he well adapts himself to hard
work. In India, the buffalo is generally more susceptible than cattle to Foot-and-
Mouth disease and Anthrax and the incidence of Anthrax is almost the same when
compared to cattle.
Although some of the breeds of domestic buffalo have been introduced in a
large number of places, their introduction in some sub-tropical countries is still
limited. In the British colonies (tropical Africa) and in most parts of China there
are large areas of swampy land which cannot be drained and which supply abundant
grass on which the buffalo would no doubt be rendered productive. In the United
States, the swamps and marshes of Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi should be
especially suitable for buffalo production.
Selection must be made to ensure high milk yields from the dairy herds. More
angular form, better development of the udder and milk veins may be attained by
careful selection. The selection of the breeding animals may be based on the progeny
testing of each individual buffalo-bull. Cross-breeding amongst the different
breeds and races of the Indian buffalo might give desirable results, and artificial
insemination could be applied on a, larger scale. Further careful studies should be
made before an attempt to spread the areas of buffalo raising.
(b) Reproduction.—It seems that the breeding season is continuous all the year
round although conception occurs more frequently at certain periods of the year.
In the Philippines, maximum sexual activity seems to occur between August and
January [Villeges, 1928 ; Manresa and Diapo, 1938 ; Ocompo, 1939]. In India more
frequent conceptions occur from August to November [Dave, 1938], while in Bulgaria
the maximum ovarian activity coincides with the autumn and winter months
[Kaleff, 1932]. In the Egyptian buffalo the average number of conception which
required one, two and three services are 55.63 per cent, 21.62 per cent and 7.66 per
cent, respectively while the average number of services per conception is 1.46±0.31
[Hafez, 1952 a].
Conception followed by embryonic mortality is suggested for some of the animals
which are served and do not conceive [Hafez, 1952 a]. In the Philippines, the
buffalocow reaches puberty at the age of 26 to 29 months [Villeges, 1930] while in
Egypt, the first oestrus is mainfested at the age of 15 to 18 months [Hafez, 1952 b].
5A