26
be sanctioned. This has been done, and the following distribution has been
made:—
South Punjab.
Umballa district . . . . . . . . .
Dera Ghazi Khan district . . . . . . . .
Montgomery district . . . . . . . .
Amritsar district . . . . . . . . .
Hoshiarpur district . . . . . . . .
Gurdaspur district . . . . . . . . .
Ferozepore district . . . . . . . . .
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
12
North Punjab.
Jhelum district . . . . . . . . .
Shahpur district . . . . . . . . .
Rawalpindi district . . . . . . . . .
Gujrat district . . . . . . . . .
3
3
3
3
12
111. Every endeavour has been made to select villages which are at some
distance from the present stands so as to stimulate mule breeding. The
expenditure was calculated at R150 for each Jack. I hope, however, that
this will be reduced to R120.
Number of mules
P urchased by
Government.
112. Table X will show the number of mules purchased by Govern-
ment. The Remount Department bought 286 in India and 4 in Burma,
or a total of 290 against 171 last year. The increase is satisfactory, and I
trust to see a still further improvement this year. The number of mules
purchased by the Commissariat Department was 1,281.
upply of mules
in India.
113. During the year under review, the North-Western Provinces
Government have interested themselves in the matter of the mule supply;
the reason being that whilst we know that during the past three years
an average of 1,200 mules are dropped in those Provinces, but few, except
such as are under six months of age, are ever to be found in Fairs. In this
statement I do not include the Garhmuktesar Fair, as here large numbers are
collected, but all may be said to be in the hands of Punjabi, and other
dealers.
114. In addition to the 1,200 mentioned above, should be added at least
another two hundred. These, however, cannot be traced owing to the fact
that the owners of mares covered by donkey stallions are migratory, and
cannot be found. Amongst these are many which would eventually develop
into Ordnance mules, and the majority would, of course, make excellent trans-
port animals; still they are lost to Government, although they add to the
mule supply of the country, and would, in many instances, be forthcoming in
time of war.
115. The scheme proposed by the North-Western Provinces Government
has reference, however, mainly to the supply of Ordnance mules which are so
urgently needed. The proposals, therefore, were—
(a) that all cast mares under 14 years of age that are not useless
should be taken over by the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary
Department, North-Western Provinces and Oudh, and issued on
loan to the breeders, who will guarantee their being covered
by donkey stallions. The number taken over annually to be
limited by the cost of transit to Babugarh, which is not to
exceed R1,000 per annum, and will be borne by the Local
Government;
(b) that specially selected mares in the Meerut district are to be
branded on the understanding that they will be served by
specially good donkey stallions;
(c) that all foals dropped under either of the above proposals shall be
purchaseable by the Superintendent on behalf of the Imperial
Government, at six months of age; if full grown and in good
condition, at a cost not less than R50, or more than R70 each.