The Nome nugget., 1921-03-05

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 the great bands, according to Dr. Nell
 son. the native who owns d small herd is content 70 watch it fo- the
 small returns he gots out Of it. but the
 white mon can not do so. he explain ed. Consequently he loses much of
 the natural increase. Small punches of the animals continually break away
 form the main herd and usually are found attache to some other herd The COW is generally marked by an ear tag and can be recovered by It's own- CTS. but there is no means of identi- flying the calves which are therefore
 lost 10 their ightful owners. Tt is practically ulre old maverick case of the old West repeating Itself in the Far Morrill, said Mir. Nelson. T don. mean to say" he added. ''that all own sls would keep an unnl.rhed calf if he knew it wasn'. his own. but there are others who probably would, But even if al' of the herd owners wanted to do so. there is no way of them telling the ownerslip of the unma ri<ed calves in tl1eir herds. The winter coats of the reindeer makes it imros- siMe to brand them as cattle are branded The system used is to put metal tags in the ears. This is not
 entirely satisfactory as marks on the tugs wear off and the identity of the animal is lief. doubtful" The solu- tion for the small owner. he believes
 is cooperation. Seseral of them by combining grazing allotments can throw their herds tosether and jointly stand the expense of hiring superin
 tendent and herders to look after the animals.
 nhe harmful effect of lnbreeuing is shown to q marked degree in the AL askan herds. he said. The strain of the big herds that have grown out of
 the 1.2so aninlaIs with which they started is weakened in vigor. The Biological Sudvey is now studying the practicability of crossing the caribou
 with the reindeer. which it is believed will not only put now life into the latter but will alnos double the size of the animals.
 At present the average weight of
 the dressed reindeer Is 150 pounds.
 It is planned to cross with caribou
 weighing 450 pounds, if they can be
 secured. O. J. Mure an assistant to
 Dr. Nelson is at prssnt in the Fair
 banks district maldine prepa rations to catpure a number d young caribou
 bulls. Before beginning however. he will spend .11e wimx in the Cinema Hot Springs country, near the feeding grounds of a big caribou herd. He flae instructions to make a careful
 study oS the animals, both the Rar-
 ren Grounds type and the Woodland caribou. After this study is complete
 the young bulls will be captured and
 placed with the reindeer Dr Nelson stated that two expenmental herds would be started as soon as possible.
 In the meantime the owners of large reindeer herds are making pre- parattons to carry on the industry on a substantial scale. Increased ex. ports are anticipated in the near flu. ture- IIomen and Company. located at Nome. now own approximately so.- 900 reindeer. Dr. Nelson states that .his company is now building two cold storage plants. each having a capacity 'of 100 animals per day. They will be ready for business next season when it is planned to begin regular expor- tation Of the dressed animals. "rhe industry in the mar future" Dr. Nei- son sxaid. Twin not only solve the ques. :. tion of Alaska's meat supply. but will he am important addition to the food supply of the entire country"