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Ferozepore and Ludhiana a week after the Show, he passed a batch of nearly
400 between the ages of 6 months and 2 years.
270. He further brings to notice the fact that dealers have an advantage
over the Army Remount Officers, as their purchases are generally finished
before the Fair commences. At this Show the Lahore dealers bought largely,
and no doubt many would have made British Cavalry remounts. It must be
remembered that the Lahore dealers are a powerful body and quite able to form
a ring which will absolutely defeat the Remount Department with its paucity
of Officers and its inability to spare more than two or three days for its Officer
to attend each Fair. The dealer or his agent will spend a fortnight in a
district before a Show is to be held.
271. The Jeypore and Gwalior State Transport were large purchasers.
Two Baggage mules were obtained by the Remount Agent.
272. Eighteen remounts were purchased by the Native Cavalry. This
makes 21 animals bought for Military purposes at a cost of R5,336; but we
find that 2,037 animals changed hands at an average of R68 each, thus showing
2,016 bought by private individuals at a cost of R1,37,088.
273. The District Board stallions continue to do good work. Four had
covered, between the 1st April and the middle of January, 92, 77, 86 and
55 mares, respectively.
274. The thanks of this Department are due to Rai Maya Dass Bahadur,
Extra Assistant Commissioner of the Ferozepore District and Manager of the
Mamdot Estate, for the manner in which he fosters horse and mule breeding
in this district.
Jhang Horse Show.
275. This Show was held on the 1st and 2nd March 1899, and was disap-
pointing as it so frequently is. Many more animals attended, 1,468 against 984
last year, and 356 competed for prizes against 294; but notwithstanding this,
there were not more than a dozen fit for Native Cavalry. This is most disap-
pointing, and is attributed by the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
to the fact that the breeders still prefer their own country stallions; in fact,
he states that they go so far as to have their mares covered by Government
stallions when not in season, in order to enable them to compete for prizes, and
then have them covered again when in season by their country stallions. A
palpable case of this sort was proved in the ring, the owner's certificate was
cancelled and he was removed from the judging enclosure.
276. There is one hope for the Jhang district, and this lies in the Lyallpur
Tehsil; and it is to be hoped that the settlers who have come into the Colony
from other districts will bring with them more enlightened ideas than are
possessed by the Jhang people. Special prizes were reserved for settlers in the
new Colony, and already a large number of mares have been branded. The
mares, as might be expected, are not of the best as yet, but, mated with a good
Arab sire, they should get good stock.
Jhelum Horse
Show.
277. This Show was held on 24th and 25th February 1899, and being
one held in a good horse-breeding district, should be a success, but this is far
from being the case. The excuse hitherto has been that the date—the end of
October—was not suitable, as the breeders were busy with the Kharif. To meet
their wishes, two days at the end of February were allotted, but I regret to say
that this had not the desired effect, as we find that there were only 304 animals
present, showing a falling off of 20 when compared with last year, and that 71
less competed for prizes. Only two classes filled fairly well; these were
Branded Mares over three years of age covered by Government stallions and
mules, but considering that there are over 500 branded mares in the district,
and that Chakwal is one of the best mule-breeding centres in the Punjab, the
numbers that were present—37 and 31, respectively—were totally inadequate.
A large number of prizes fell to other districts; for example, Gujrat took 1st
and 3rd prizes, and Rawalpindi 2nd prize in the Branded Mare class, and
Gujrat also took the prize for the best horse in the Show.
The Deputy Commissioner has recommended that this Show should be
held alternately with that held at Gujrat, but I have given my opinion dead
against this proposal. Gujrat can well maintain an annual Show, and its
partial abolition would, I feel convinced, have an injurious effect on horse-breed-
ing; but I candidly confess that I see no object in maintaining that held at