142
(v) The sheds occupied by cattle are fumigated with cow dung.
(vi) Gur, bach, or Raskapur, is given diluted with water.
(vii) Mud is applied to the whole surface of body.
635. North Punjab.—The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
states:—
"The following is all I could gather. The Warble fly lays her eggs just at the termination of the rainy
season and I have found and squeezed the parasite out of the skin as late as the month of January. It appears
to be very prevalent over most of my Circle. The natives use no remedies which are in the least efficacious.
They do not trouble themselves about it, and let the parasite entirely alone to run its own course. Unless some
very cheap efficacious remedy can be discovered, and which would be easily obtainable, the cattle owners will do
nothing."
The remedies proposed to ward off the insect are decoction of tobacco and
a decoction of 'Bhekkar' (Adhatoda Vasica.)
636. South Punjab.—The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
states:—
"The disease is undoubtedly very prevalent in Southern Punjab, but as it does not interfere with the use-
fulness, or, to the zemindars, with the value of the animal, no treatment is adopted. Bearing this in mind I
have very little hope in inducing zemindars to carry out even the most simple remedies.
"The custom of 'chamars' claiming the skin in payment for the trouble of disposing of the carcase, irres-
pective of what state the skin may be in, makes the chamar the chief loser, as I am told that the dealers who
buy from them carefully inspect every hide and regulate the price accordingly. "
637. The Director of Land Records and Agriculture, in submitting the
reports by the Superintendents, Civil Veterinary Department, North Punjab
and South Punjab, states:—
"Apparently the disease is very common all over the Province and as no remedies are used against it, the
damage caused to hides must be very considerable. The difficulty in the way of a remedy is this, that cattle
owners hardly ever sell hides. When an animal dies it is the custom to make it over to a chamar, or other low
caste man, who in return for removing the bodies takes the hide as his perquisite.
"As long as the animal is not incapacitated from work during his lifetime, the owner cares little what the
condition of the hide may be after death.
"Chamars would hardly be allowed by cattle owners to apply remedies during the life of the beasts, for
these men are often suspected of poisoning cattle in order to obtain the hides, and they are not, as a rule, allow-
ed free access to the village cattle. Taking the facts, as they at present exist, there seems to be little hope of
any remedies being generally adopted against 'Warbles '."
638. Burma.—The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, states:—
"During my residence (about ten years) in this Province, I have not met with any case of Warbles.
Mr. Fabricious, who has practically the monopoly of the trade in hides in Burma, has had a vast experience in
this line, as he was employed in London as an expert for twelve years, and has had thirteen years in this coun-
try. During each month some thousands of hides pass through his hands and he assured me that he has only
once met with a few warbled hides, and these came from China. Every hide is carefully inspected on arrival at
his godown."
689. Rajputana.—The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
states:—
"Warbles are very common in this district. So far as I can ascertain not only do the natives not apply
any preventive, but they are ignorant as to the manner in which larvæ are deposited under the skin. "
640. Beluchistan and Sind.—The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary De-
partment, states:—
"That the pest is very common in all parts of Sind. No treatment is adopted beyond rubbing on various
vegetable oils. I cannot suggest any suitable remedy as the cattle roam unrestricted all over the country. "
641. The Assistant to the Inspector-General, Civil Veterinary Depart-
ment, was directed to make special enquiries during his tour through Rawal-
pindi, Jhelum and Hazara, and as he was enabled to personally visit a large
number of villages in each district, the information he was thus enabled to
obtain is valuable. It would thus seem that 'Warbles' are extremely preva-
lent among all the herds which he inspected, and may be roughly stated to
affect 40 per cent. of the animals. Cattle and goats seem to be the only hosts
selected by the fly, and although it was specially asked if sheep were ever
attacked, the answer was invariably in the negative. The name by which
'Warbles' is generally known is 'Mceroo', and this would seem to be some-
what similar to "Maroo", the name given to it in Bombay. The zemindars
only recognise the larval stage of the pest, and this they consider to be the
disease. The health of the cattle does not seem to be in any wise affected so
that so long as the owner is not inconvenienced, he takes no trouble with his
animal. Almost throughout these districts the theory of the origin of 'Meeroo'
is that after the rains, when the cattle are let out to graze, the boys beat the
cattle with sticks of dried Jowar (Sorghum) and that in the leaves worms
exist which fall on to the back and gradually work themselves under the skin.