El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-13
A AJOR FREDERICK RUSSELL

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chief of scouts for the British army dur
ing the Boer war, is now organizing, II
South Africa, an expedition which ma
for its object the securing of certain
wild animals, desirable as meat-pro
ducers, such as the hippopotamus, for In
PRODUCTION and domestication In tn
United States.
The government is taking much IN
terest in the plan, and already repre-
sentative BrOussard, of Louisiana, ma
introduced in congress bill approprlat
ing money to enable the department. o.
agriculture s'to fetch useful animals iron
Africa, and domesticate them in tn.
United States especially in the arlt
parts of the west and the great sWamF
areas Of the Gulf region.
When the animals have been secured
and brought to this country, 1t is pro
posed to start herds of them II
Louisiana and California, and, ii breed
ing proves successful, to sell or give
them in small numbers to people who
want to raise and propagate them.
1t is proposed to confine the expert
ment wholly to animals which appear to
invite domestication. For instance, the
common kind of rhinoceros is a ferocious
beast. and We have no use for it what
ever. But the species known as the
white rhinocer0s is mild and inoffensive.
It is. however, rapidly approaching ex-
tinction, and, If it is to be preserved for
the use and benefit Of mankind, no time
Is to be lost in securing suitable speci-
mems for breeding.
White Rhinoceros Good to Eat.
W. \. Irwin, scientist attached to
the department OF agriculture. SAYS that
the white rhinoceros is capable of pro-
ducing an enormous quantity of excel
promising kinds of provender consumed
by any herbivore It is a beast excel
lently adapted to the desert regions of
the southwest, where thornbushes and
cacti would furnish it with food. Thus,
where now the ella monster and the
rattlesnake hold sway, we might in the
course of few decades have great herds
of these ponderous animals, weighing
from three to four tons each
Even more desirable is the hippo
potamus. whose flesh is most highly
esteemed in South Africa, and. when
salted and cured, is known at the Cape
of Good Hope as see koe specks flake
COW baeonl. The fat beneath the skin
is one of the purest of animal fats, and
is in great demand among the Cape
Colonists. Indeed. this huge creature
was to the early English settlers in Cape
Colony what our buffalo was to the
pioneers in the settlement of our great
prairies.
Mr.. Irwin believes the bippopotami. if
Introduced and allowed to breed in the
bayous and swapps OF. Louisiana and
Florida, would eventually produce not
less than 100000 tons of meat per
annum. In addition, their hides would
be of great value. 1t would not be
necessary or desirable to domesticate
them, In the ordinary sense of that term.
They would take care of themselves,
finding such habitat extremely con-
genial. and would feed and fatten upon
the water weeds. At the present time
the water hyacinth is making an i'm
menSe amount of trouble in Florida,
where the masses of its beautiful but
unWeicome vegetation are choking the
rivers, killin~ the fish, and seriously in
terfering with navigation. This plant
would furnish an ideal provender for
which, while converting it
into meat. would get rid of the nuisance
to a large extent. Cattle are extrava-
gantlv fond of the water hvacinth. wad
ing up to their necks in the shadows
and browsing Irpon it; and it IS well
known that the hipDopctamus will feed
on anything that cattle will eat.
Need of Conservation.
The production of meat producing ami
mails in this country is steadily diminish
ing. relatively TO the population, and the
problem of meat supply for the future
is one of utmost seriousness. Says Mr..
Irwin: Eve are now consuming an aver
age of eight ounces of meat per day for
each inhabitant, or more than 10000
0G0. 600 pounds per annum. At the same
rate of consumption, when our popula
tion reaches 200,00G,000, we shall re-
qITire 100 .000,0 900 pounds per day, or
10000, 100000 pounds t20,000,000 tons)
per annum. Can we produce that amount
of meat? Certainly not, unless we Sc
cure animals adapted to areas that are
now non-producing.
eve have large areas well adapted to
certain kinds of animal life, and not now
producing, for the reason that the ami
promise is in our Gulf states, and con-
sists of over 10000 square miles
(6,400.000 acres) of water and marsh
surface, with sufficient quantity of
marsh grass, water hyacinth and other
aquatic plants now growing to support
of animals adapted to these
conditions. If properly seeded to water
hyacinth and other aquatics, this vast
region would be capable of producing
worth of hippopotamus meat
per annum."
Giraffe Would Be Good.
Another very desirable African animal
is the giraffe-a huge species of an
telope, already so nearly extinct that it
must be secured without delav if at all.
It's gentle disposition makes it excep-
tionally available for demonstration. As
a meat producer it would be most valu-
able, its flesh being considered the most
delicious known. Herds of eiraffes, it
is believed, would thrive in Virginia,
with some provision Of winter shelter.
this interesting beast
would not consume the forage required
for cattle or sheep inasmuch as it ''eats
upstairs" so to speak, browsing on the
foliage of trees.
The African buffalo (Bos caffer)
would be likely to prove valuable for the
swampy regions which invite the hippo
Dotamus. And so likewise would the
wart-hog, which feeds on swamp vege-
tation. This is perhaps the least at
tractive of all animals. in appearance
a not-distant relative of our own every
day pig, but quite as good to eat, and
from 200 to 300 pounds.
South Africa is particularly a country
of antelcpes, which in that part of the
world have undergone an extraordinary
the species numbering
nearly 200. Several of them have al
ready been domesticated by the Beers.