37
REVIEW BY THE DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE, BOMBAY.
No. A/4686 OF 1906.
Poona, 30th August 1906.
Submitted to Government.
2. Orders have not been received on the suggestion made last year that
the report on the administration of the Bombay Veterinary College should be
published with the report under review. Consequently the reports are still
separately submitted.
3. The Pratt Veterinary Dispensaries at Bijápur, Sholápur and Godhra
were under construction during the year. Three new Veterinary Graduates
will shortly be entertained and will form a welcome addition to the strength of
the Department. With the approval of Government the work in connection
with the construction of these dispensaries and of that at Dhárwár was conducted
by Mr. McNeill.
4. The reappearance of rinderpest in the Presidency emphasises the
weakness of the present Veterinary organization and the necessity for early
sanction to the re-organization of the Department on the lines proposed in
Government Resolution No. 3877, dated 12th May 1905. Revenue Department.
Násik,
Nagar,
Poona,
Thána and Dhárwár.
Fortunately Gujarat as usual was only slightly affected. The marginally
noted districts are not yet free from the disease and
measures for the protection of Bombay City are under
consideration. Eight temporary Veterinaiy Gradu-
ates were sanctioned after the close of the year, but 3 only were appointed and
placed under the Superintendent's orders, a moiety of the charges being borne
by the District Local Boards concerned. Six temporary appointments had
previously been made by the Local Boards of affected districts at their own
expense. The results of these operations will be chronicled in the next year's
report, but it may be noted here that the dislike of inoculation by the villagers
was not universal and good results were subsequently obtained, notably in the
Nagar District. In Bombay City also there was a considerable demand for
serum by private practitioners and 390 cattle had been inoculated upto 30th
April 1906. It has been shown that an energetic Mámledár with the help of
Major Joslen's pamphlet on the disease can successfully explain the benefits of
inoculation and overcome all prejudices. Vernacular copies of the pamphlet
have since been widely distributed. The supply of Veterinary Graduates who
have been trained in inoculation work at Muktesar is limited and steps are now
being taken to induce a few Local Boards to allow their untrained men to take
the Muktesar course and arrange for the current work at the dispensaries by
means of temporary substitutes. In the absence of any contagious diseases
ward at the Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, adequate instruction cannot be
given in Bombay. The questions of instituting such a ward with a view to
make local instruction available and of adding a post-graduate course in pro-
phylactic inoculation at Muktesar or elsewhere for the purpose of securing a
reserve of such trained men are at present under consideration.
5. There has been a satisfactory increase in the number of villages visited
and animals treated while on tour. The figures are given below for ready
reference:—
Presidency proper
Sind
...
Villages visited
...
...
Animals treated—
... (a) by Veterinary Assistants .
(b) by Salutris ...
...
Villages visited ...
...
... Animals treated ... ...
1904-05.
391
5,132
882
141
1,067
1905-06.
898
6,143
1,274
173
1,545
A circular has been addressed to all Collectors concerned suggesting that
arrangements should be made to visit towns or big villages near head-quarters
on fixed dates. Where there are already itinerating Veterinary Assistants the
necessity for such brief tours is not so great, but the Collector of Surat has
directed that the resident Veterinary Assistant shall experimentally pay short
visits to two big towns. In the case of the two busiest dispensaries, Karachi and
Ahmedabad, no time can be spared for such visits, and in Kolába the
B 456—10