Charlevoix county herald., 1920-02-20
NEW SOURCE OF
FOOD SUPPLY
Suggestion Made That Musk Ok
Be Added to National
Bill of Fare.
VAST HERDS IN The NORTH
Practically Permanent Supply Of
Beef Assured by DEMONSTRATION of
the Animal, According to
viIhjalmur Stefansson.

remarkably well in reindeer farming
i'm Alaska, Uncle sam is to he asked
now To try his hand with musk oxen.
10 the end that the national meat bill
may be cut down and permanent
supply of beef ensured. Explorer
Vlhjalmur StefanSSOn brought back
from the arcticS story. of great pos
sibilitieS i'm the way of meat produc-
ton. He told this story 10 members
Of the Canadian parliament In Otla-
wa. and has also laid his facts and
conclusions before some of the Wash
ington officials. Both governments
will be asked for appropriations to eX-
tend the reindeer industry and to at
tempt the domeStication Of the musk
OK.
As StefanssOn sees it, there are at
least a million square miles OF natur-
al grazing ground i'm the sub-arctics,
suited in every particular 10 the needs
and tastes of the northern caribou
and the still more northern musk .0X
Vast herds of these animals. in the
wild roam over the so-called barren
lands" Why not take them under
protection. turn their feeding ranges
into ranches and abattoirS and ship
the meat TO the hungry folks down
south? The territory is Canadian.
but the hunger and high cost of iv-
ing are international therefore. Ter
the two countries cooperate in a
scheme Of conservation.
Reindeer Meat Liked.
Alaska ana Labrador have proved
thar the reindeer can he dOmesticated
into public meat producer. Deer
meat has been shipped from Nome
and other Alaskan points TO Seattle,
Minneapolis, Chicago and even 10
New York, and people who have
bought II have asked for more. Stef
ansson now suggests that the business
be taken up seriously, its herding and
ranching extended 10 the great
prairies of the Canadian North, and
the supply of meat to the whole CON
tiuent begun on a really commercial
basis. But he ventures still farther
and urges a similar experiment with
the musk oxen.
Now, the musk OK. being a peculiar
ly arctic animal, has never before fig
ured i'm the American scheme Of mar
keting. In its own country, however
il is greatly valued ~ its meats
sake, and explorers who have eaten
musk OK roasts up there say ii is
pity that the Eskimos should have
monopoly Of so good a diet. The meat
is hardly distinguishable in taste, IT
seems, from regulation beef; and in
nutritive value is quite its equal.
There Is wool to be considered too.
The average sized musk OK carries II
pounds Of just-as- goodas-sheep's wool,
which II wears as a thick cold-proaf
vest under a shaggy hair topcoat. In
fact. the musk OK is pretty nearly as
much sheep rs cattle. 1t is two and
One-half or three times the size of
sheep, running about 200 pounds. and
is i'm that same proportion more
prolific source of raw material for
suits and socks.
Thick-set, with massive head and
short legs. the musk OK looks clumsy,
but is surprisingly nimbIe on its feet.
II travels usually in herds Of % or
80, and it's feed is grass. saXifrage
plants and dwarf willows. Stefansson
points out, as an argument in favor
of his subpolar ranching scheme. that
the musk OK needs neither to be
housed nor fed. being quite able TO
fend for itself and even to protect
itself against wolves.
Provides Beef, Milk and Wool.
The habitat of this geological non
descript, which gives beef as tender
rs prize steers. milk as rich as
Jersey cream and wool as good as
sleeps. is the very top country" of
America. The herds never come
farther south than halfway down the
coast Of Hudson bay, and they do not
90 west of the Mackenzie river. On
the north they roam along the arctic
mainland coast and on the islands he
yond There does not seem TO be any
good reason, however why the musk
OK could not be Kept successfully
within the nearer bounds of the bar
rem lands" or in Alaska. where trans
portation facilities would he more
easily possible.
Nearly enough like the musk OK To
he distant cousin. the woodland buff
falO is another denlZen. Of the North
that may some day be made the base
of a new meat supply. fits habits are
somewhat the same as those of the
arctic OK. but the country that he In
habits Is an area of wooded land at
the extreme north of Alberta. west Of
Slave river. Through the forests Of
this region roam small buffalo herds,
whose total numbers probably do not
exceed zoo head. They are the only
survivors In natural state OF the
countless bison that once covered the
western plains.