2
previous year. This decrease appears to be due to the fact that a larger number
had to be kept at the Ahmednagar Depôt for acclimatisation or treatment during
the year under report. As remarked by the Survey Commissioner and Director
of Land Records and Agriculture, the Superintendent is not correct in stating
that a considerable decline in the demand for the services of the stallions is
noticeable in Gujarát. The following figures show the average number of mares
covered per stallion employed :—
Deccan … …
Gujarát … …
Sind and Cutch ...
…
...
…
...
1893-94.
… 30.60
...
30.49
...
35.2
1894-95.
33.25
32.12
34.83
The decrease in the average in Sind and Cutch is not explained. During the
year under review 550 foals were reported as resulting from coverings by
Government horses in 1893-94 as compared with 535 in 1892-93, the number
of mares covered being 2,017 and 2,034 respectively. The results however are
not known for 478 cases in the year under review and 476 in the previous year.
The average known produce per stallion rose from 7.58 in 1893-94 to 8.69 in
1894-95. These results, though slightly better than those of the previous year,
are still far from satisfactory. The Survey Commissioner and Director of Land
Records and Agriculture should be requested to expedite the submission of the
proposals called for from him in paragraph 5 of Government Resolution
No. 4343, dated 17th May 1894, to place the registration of mares and their
produce on a more satisfactory footing.
3. During the year under report one donkey stallion was destroyed, while
3 were added to the register. While the number of pony mares covered by-
donkey stallions in the Deccan rose from 45 in 1893-94 to 59 in the year under
report and in Gujarát from 11 to 17, in Sind and Cutch it fell from 788 to 687,
notwithstanding that the number (18) of donkey stallions employed in this Divi-
sion was somewhat larger than that (17.40) in the previous year. No explan-
ation is furnished as to the cause of this large decrease. The average of cover-
ings per stallion fell from 41.99 to 34.96, a decrease being noticeable in all the
Divisions. The proportion which the number of mule produce foaled during
the year bears to the number of mares covered in 1893-94 is slightly over 13
per cent. as compared with the percentage of 12.1 reported in the previous year.
Of the 26 donkey stallions on the register during the year under report only
3 were Arabs. As remarked by the Survey Commissioner and Director, the
results point to the advisability of increasing the number of stallions of this
class.
4. The numbers of mares branded for horse, pony and mule breeding on
the register on 31st March 1894 were 4,596, 6,215 and 1,308 respectively.
During the year under review the Superintendent branded 420 mares for horse
and pony breeding and only 13 for mule-breeding, or in all 433, being less than
half the number (868) branded in 1893-94. The explanation given is that in
several of the places which the Superintendent visited in the course of his tour
branding is still unknown. It appears however from Appendix XXVI that no
mares were branded at such places as Ahmednagar, Jacobabad, Shikárpur,
Hyderabad and Karáchi where it is understood that the brand is not now
unpopular. During the year under report 926 mares were removed from the
register owing to death or other causes, and the numbers of branded mares at
the end of the year were 10,305 for horse and pony breeding and 1,321 for mule-
breeding.
5. The number (685) of country-bred remounts purchased for Govern-
ment during the year shows an increase of 224 over the figure (461) of 1893-94,
but only 98 of the animals purchased are reported to be the produce of Govern-
ment stallions as compared with 117 in the previous year. In 293 cases the
sires could not be ascertained, and the remaining 294 animals are reported to be
the offspring of country sires. These figures cannot however be relied on for the
reasons stated in paragraph 89 of the Superintendent's report for 1893-94, and