Strange-Particle Production in the Multiperipheral Model

The production of particles carrying a conserved quantum number is investigated in the multiperipheral model. The Chew-Pignotti bootstrap condition is appropriately modified. The available data for strange-particle production at laboratory energies are shown to have a natural explanation, within the model, if the effective $K^{*}$ intercept is equal to that of the $\rho$. An unexpected result is that, for precisely this value of the $K^{*}$ intercept, the ratio of $K$'s to $\pi$'s produced rises with energy, in accordance with experimental indications.