7
Class of Stallions.
Thorough bred English ...
Arab Horse ... ...
Arab Pony ... ...
Average number of
mares covered per
stallion.
1900-1901.
28.61
20.97
22.28
1901-1902.
30.25
22.48
24.98
Average number of
produce known per
stallion.
1901-1902.
9.06
6.57
5.69
1902.1903.
10.01
7.42
7.87
Percentage of
known produce
to mares covered.
1901-1902.
31.66
31.33
25.53
1902-1903.
33.10
33.00
31.50
(4)—Castration.
17. Table XI shows that 27 colts were castrated during the year by the
several Veterinary Graduates in the Presidency.
Throughout the Presidency cattle (and frequently horses) are castrated by
the time-honoured method known as "mulling." This consists of hammering
the cords of the testes with a blunt instrument, such as a piece of wood, or
otherwise manipulating them, without breaking the skin, until they are dis-
organized. It is a very simple though brutal performance, but it is never likely
to be superseded by any other modus operandi, because of the many advantages
it has from the ryot's point of view, which are these:
No special instruments are required.
No particular skill is called for.
The operation is aseptic.
Suppuration rarely follows.
There is no hæmorrhage.
No special after-treatment is necessary.
The animal is sooner fit for work.
Flies can be disregarded.
No prejudices are outraged, as the animal remains in a sense entire.
The mortality is practically nil.
It is the most economical of all methods.
In the Deccan bulls are seldom mulled before they are 4 years of age. The
operation is performed at that time or later for two reasons: to allow small
bulls to attain the thick neck and strength of the bull that they may be capable
of harder work as bullocks, and to make larger ones more tractable. In the
more infertile tracts, where the cost of the maintenance of cattle is a serious
consideration to the people, and the cattle are from necessity small and poor, it is
not considered a matter of great consequence if ordinary cows are bulled by
young bulls. For the same reason mulling is not so generally practised, because
special bulls are expensive, and they have to be content to breed with what they
have. In more fertile parts, such as the valleys of rivers and irrigated lands,
and where grazing is plentiful, better cattle are met with, and their owners take
more care that the cows are not mated with any bull in the herd.
III.—HORSE FAIRS AND SHOWS.
18. Table XIII gives particulars of the only horse show held in the
Presidency, the Deccan horse show at Ahmednagar held on the 6th, 7th and
8th November. Although there was again a decline in numbers (36) the
principal classes, Brood mares, were considered as good as last year. The best
of these were the same mares which have attended the show yearly for some
years past, to whose maintenance the prizes won at the show have contributed
in no small degree during the past long continued period of famine. The
animals exhibited were, generally speaking, in good condition. The young stock
were better than in former years and somewhat more numerous than last year.
The Army Remount Department could only purchase two colts, the prices
required for young stock being beyond the Remount purchasing limit with prizes
they would have won in the remount class added. Several handsome colts and
fillies were present by Government stallions. One filly by "Adonis" was
purchased for Rs. 750. A very fine colt by "Buxton," twelve months old, could