Gasoline prices at the pump will peak in June — so says the U.S. Department of Energy. Maybe yes, maybe no, but meanwhile, you are wrestling with the strain of $4-a-gallon gasoline on your budget. Consider the farmers in far-off Rajasthan, India, who have solved the high-gasoline-cost problem.

They have parked their gas-guzzling tractors and turned to an age-old friend, the camel. This desert state has been a center of camel-breeding for centuries, but the camel population has dropped by 50 percent over the last decade, to about 450,000. Now that’s turned around and it’s going up. So are the prices for these sturdy “ships of the desert” who tend to live 60 to 80 years. Even with today’s rising prices, a $973 camel beats a $4,000 tractor in Rajasthan.

As for replacing automobiles here with camels, it takes awhile to get the hang of riding one, but think of the safety factor as well as the cost-savings. A camel can gallop, but not at nearly 50 mph in the Eureka-Arcata Safety Corridor.