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Show HEAT OFffllESTIHE Consul at Jerusalem Tells of Flesh Used by Natives. 8upply of Mutton and Goat Not More Than Half Sufficient for Markets Cattle Very Small and Flesh Is Poor. ' Palestine. The people of this country, coun-try, who 6ometimes complain of the quality of our meat, would be badly off indeed if they had to live in Palestine and eat the inferior meat served there. The following regarding domestic animals an-imals of the various kinds, by Consul Thomas R. Wallace of Jerusalem, will be read with interest, especially by raisers of fine market live stock. The average number of cattle kept in the Jerusalem district is 35,000; sheep, 13S.276; goats, 228,900. Cattle, excepting those used as work animals, and all sheep and goats are taxed by the government and officials are sent out yearly to number them. The local supply of mutton and goat flesh Is not more than half sufficient for the present markets, and yearly, during the fall and winter months, thousands of these animals are brought to the Jerusalem district from the surrounding country, and sometimes some-times by steam from quite a distance. Mutton and goat flesh are more generally gen-erally eaten than beef. The supply of beef is sadly deficient. In summer and fall pasturage is very scant and the local cattle become very thin. As near ae can be ascertained the supply is about half the amount necessary. The demand for beef has been steadily Increasing in Jerusalem since the number num-ber of Jews has been increasing. Jews and foreigners consume most of the beef. Few hogs are raised, the greater part of the population being Mohammedans Moham-medans and Jews, non-consumers of pork. The cattle are very small and the meat is inferior in quality. An important im-portant reason for this is the lack of pasturage during the larger part of the year, and as animals are seldom fed except when plowing, they barely exist for months during each year. Another reason is that on account of the poverty of the peasant he works his animals cows as well as oxen at plowing and thrashing out grain when they are very young, which, of course stunts and, dwarfs them. The milking properties of the native cows are very poor. The sheep are the fat-tailed kind and are of medium size. They seldom acquire much fat on the body, but the Plowing on th Plain Of Sharon. tail, which is disk shaped, is of solid fat and almost boneless. Camels are Still the chief beasts of burden. They are the single-hump variety, va-riety, and are raised only by Bedouins. There are two breeds, one a heavy animal for work purposes, and another used for riding, which are slender and agile and can easily outdistance a horse. Large herds of female camels are kept solely for their young and milk, only a few in each herd being broken to carry loads. The camel boys who pasture these animals often live on camel milk solely for many days at a time. The Bedouins, eat the flesh of the .camel and, as a mark of distinction, slaughter a camel when a noted guest visits them. Camel flesh is also eaten by Mohammedan peasants and the poorer classes of Mohammedan city people of Jaffa and Gaza. |