13
Collector of
Khándesh ...
Násik ...
Ahmednagar ...
Poona
...
Sholápur ...
Sátára ...
Belgaum
...
Bijápur ...
Dhárwár
...
Kánara ...
Ratnágiri ...
Kolába ...
Thána ...
Surat ...
Broach ...
Kaira ...
Panch Maháls ...
Ahmedabad ...
Purport.
Approves the recommendation, but states that it should stand over till
better times.
It is not feasible to purchase a bull and let it wander as a hull dedicated to a
deity, because the rayat would not consider such a dedication as genuine.
The experiment was tried in 1881 and after a trial of 5 years it was given
up. The proposal cannot be entertained at present owing to want of funds.
The District Local Board decided to consult the Director of Agriculture
as to the nature, number and cost of bulls to be purchased.
Resolved to buy a Khillari bull to be kept at Sholápur City, its services
being gratuitously offered. The system to be extended if works well.
Some of the Boards are willing to accept the proposal, but the pecuniary
difficulty precludes them from adopting it for the present
Stud bulls were maintained from 1887 to 1893 and the cost was out of
proportion to the work done by them. The Board is unwilling to pur-
chase any more bulls in view of these facts.
The proposal is not approved, giving full reasons.
The matter will be considered. No decision arrived at.
This is not a cattle-breeding district; besides the finances of the Board are
poor.
The system is not known in the district and the Board is unable to bear any
expenditure at present owing to plague charges.
The Board is unable to consider the proposal at present owing to want of
funds.
Sympathises in the desire to improve the breed of cattle, but is unable to
hold out any hope for some years to come, as all the money the Board
can spare is dedicated to plague measures.
The matter will be considered.
The year being one of scarcity in which it is hard to find fodder for ani-
mals, the Board does not consider it advisable to make any provision for
keeping stud bulls.
The Board is of opinion that no action should be taken at present.
The Board has already purchased a bull and handed it over to a herdsman
on certain conditions and that they are unable to purchase another bull.
The proposal cannot be adopted by the Board.
49. With the exception of Dhárwár and Surat, who simply state that they
will consider the matter, and Sholápur and Poona, who are willing to assist in
the scheme, the remaining 14 are either unable or unwilling to assist in
any measures being taken with a view of attempting to improve the breed.
I need hardly point out that after two or three seasons of scarcity the climax
has been reached this year, and that the present is a particularly bad time to
bring forward any measures requiring money, as the finances of most of the
Local Boards show a large deficit owing to plague and famine. I have gone
very carefully into the cattle question of this Presidency, its various breeds,
demands, sources of supply, breeding grounds, &c, and have already shown in
former reports that when the conditions are favourable, viz., in the Krishna
Valley, Northern Gujarát, the Gir hills of Káthiáwár and amongst the large
herds of Malvi and Khillari cattle, the breeder is quite alive to the necessity of
keeping his breed pure, and the characteristics which distinguish these various
breeds could only have been arrived at by maintaining them pure for many
generations.
50. Few finer cattle are to be found in India than exist in the districts I
have named above, and there is no doubt that breeders in these particular tracts
are men who thoroughly understand their business and the greatest care is
taken to use only bulls of superior class. The bull calves are castrated when
young, and sold as yearlings or two year olds to occupants of land in Kaira,
Ahmedabad and Baroda, and on the breeding grounds nothing but a few of the
highest class bulls are allowed to graze with the calves and heifers.
51. In the Deccan the conditions are completely reversed, and in no sense
of the word can this particular tract be called a cattle-breeding district. The
rayat finds that his wants are better supplied by purchasing from the large herds
B 347—4