14
rise to disappointment to the breeders. I also regret it, still it must be borne
in mind that the greater part of the produce of these districts is by Norfolk
Trotter stallions, and Remount Agents are well aware that these do not
improve by age; and again, the standard at which they are now bought is
very high. I have discussed this with the Director, Army Remount Depart-
ment, and he considers that it is advisable to purchase less, and to avoid
failures. With this, I fully agree; still I hope that when the better arrange-
ments, which now exist for the rearing of young stock, have been fully tried
and the results are known, it will be found possible to somewhat lower the
standard without in any way producing bad results.
75. During the Rawalpindi tour, four head of young stock were bought.
Many reasons are attributed for the small number purchased; amongst others,
being those of unsuitable time, as the zemindars were busy either harvesting
the kharif or preparing for the rabi. This must be avoided in future.
76. Shahpur only produced one head of stock whilst, as I expected, Lahore
produced none. This was what I feared, as this district is so thoroughly
scoured by dealers.
77. The visit to the Amritsar District procured four Ordnance mules, three
baggage mules and one head of young stock. On this subject, the Superintend-
ent, Civil Veterinary Department, states:—
"More might have been purchased had not the dealers taken advantage of my coming and forestalled
us by one day. The next day, when they presented their new purchases for sale, they were at once sent away
to show the Zemindars that we wished to deal with them direct. I think, perhaps, that this year the Zemindars
did not quite understand, but as the advantage to them of dealing direct with the Remount Officer has now
been thoroughly explained, we may hope for better results next year."
78. The visit to Dera Ghazi Khan added only one more head of stock to
the number bought. The results of this experiment were therefore as
follows:—
9 Head of young stock.
4 Ordnance
3 Baggage
Mules.
At first sight this may appear to be disappointing, but when the conser-
vative character of the native is taken into consideration together with the
fact that this was an entirely new departure, I think that the experiment
should be again attempted. The Director, Army Remount Department, was
able to discuss the subject with the Chiefs in Dera Ghazi Khan, and they have
promised to help. I trust to see better results obtained next year.
79. The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, North Punjab,
states:—
"This system was started this year, but I regret to say with unsatisfactory results, the reasons for which
I give below. The plan adopted was:—An officer from the Army Remount Department accompanied me on
three occasions during my winter tour with a view of purchasing Remounts direct from the breeder. I took
them to the best places in the Rawalpindi, Shahpur and Lahore Districts. One of them only managed to procure
five remounts, the other failed to get a single one. I am not surprised now that none were procurable in the
Lahore District, especially as I see that the whole place is scoured by dealers: in fact most of the breeding
centres are too well known to them, and they are ever ready to purchase anything saleable—horse, pony, or
mule. Long notices had been sent to inform the breeders of the intention of Government to purchase
direct from them, but with the above result. It is a new departure and perhaps not properly understood,
but I am of opinion that it should be tried for three or four or more years, and by then they will learn the
advantages to be gained by bringing their animals to us direct, and will not always have to go to the dealer when
they want money. Of course, there is a difficulty hard to get over and that is the zemindar must learn
to know what class of horse is required. As already stated, some awful brutes were at times produced, and
the owners were disappointed that the Remount Officer would not look at them."
Reports by Officers
Commanding Bri-
tish Cavalry Regi-
ments as to the
class of stallions
which produce
stock most suitable
for Army purposes.
80. Last year I suggested that Officers Commanding Regiments of British
Cavalry might be called upon to watch carefully the working of the horses
got by different classes of stallions and to report the results of their observa-
tions. At the same time I asked that a report by the Veterinary Officer in
charge as to the diseases from which the various breeds suffer most, should
be added. This information would be of great value as a guide as to the
class of stallion most suitable to obtain stock for British Cavalry.
81. This information has been called for, but as yet no replies have been
received. I, however, trust that the matter will not be lost sight of, as the
information gained would guide us greatly in our horse-breeding operations.