(10)
94. The cattle as a whole were not quite as good, nor in such good
condition as those I saw at Sonepur; but I saw a few bullocks suited for
ordnance work, and Captain Williams, I.C.D., purchased three very good ones
for his department. There were plenty of good medium-sized bullocks.
95. Horses.—No prizes were awarded to horses bred in the district.
The horses show a falling off in numbers, and the quality is also deteriorating.
I saw few fit for native cavalry and none fit for European troops. There were
a few fair 14-hand ponies to be had at prices varying from Rs. 210 to 250.
The large majority of animals were tats, some of them were in miserable condi-
tion. I failed to detect any contagious disease during the fair.
96. The Show.—This is perhaps a somewhat too ambitious term to use in
connection with this part of the proceedings, as far as cattle and horses were
concerned; but prizes were distributed to owners who brought the best
animals, and the judging committee took a great deal of pains in selecting the
winners.
97. I append a list (Appendix XXIV), whereby it will be seen that Rs. 97
were awarded in the cattle class and Rs. 100 in the horse and pony class. I
have no doubt that the Committee will further develop this important branch of
the mêla. In the meantime I am glad to report that the distribution of prizes,
which took place in the evening of the 2nd March, was very well arranged and
was carried out in the presence of many European and native guests.
98. As the services of my Veterinary Assistant were not available on
this occasion and my time was fully occupied with other work, no detailed
measurements of cattle were taken. But I saw three good bulls that measured
about 13-2 behind the hump, and were stout in proportion; one was the pro-
perty of a goala and two were Brahmini bulls brought in for me to see. Two
young bullocks were shown to me, the produce of the Hissar bull that recently
died at Buxar; they were very promising animals. This bull was in the care
of Babu Hardhyan Singh of Buxar, who takes great interest in cattle-breeding.
99. Colgong.—I received on the 16th March an invitation to attend this
Show on the 18th, but as I was under arrangements to go to Noakhali on the
17th, I was unable to comply. I have applied for information as to the number
of cattle present, &c., &c., but have received no answer.
100. Kochaikote.—Under the impression this was a cattle fair, I visited
the subdivision of Gopalganj in Saran, but the Subdivisional Officer told me it
was only a grain hât.
101. Sitamarhi fair—Was
late this year and will be reported on in
1897-98.
HORSE AND PONY-BREEDING.
102. As far back as 1888 it was generally reported, in answer to enquiries
made in 1888 of the Commissioners by Mr. M. Finucane, that horse-breeding
does not succeed in Bengal owing to the dampness of the climate; but the
Managers of the Wards' Estates of Churaman and Sankarpur were of opinion
that good-sized Bhutan-Burma pony stallions would be useful on those estates.
In Bihar horse and pony-breeding has been carried out by some of the planters,
and I understand that Mr. J. J. McLeod, C.I.E., has been successful.
103. Possibly pony-breeding in the Darjeeling district as a means of
getting better mares for mule-breeding in that district and in Sikkim might be
worth considering.
104. In Buxar there is an Arab pony stallion belonging to the District
Board which is looked after by Babu Hardhyan Singh, but I have not seen any of
its produce. The stallion's name is "Ruby," and he covered 43 mares during
the year under review. It is reported that mares of 13-hands do not always
hold, but smaller mares do.
105. The produce of former years is said to be invariably better than that
of the local tats.
MULE-BREEDING.
106. During the past year the donkey stallion "Teheran" has been the
sole representative of the Government stud donkeys in Bengal. He was sent
back to the Babugarh Depot in January 1897 as he had failed as a mule getter.
Reference to appended statement will show that "Teheran" covered only 16
pony mares during 1895-96, and not one mule was produced (Appendix XXV).