No. 2642, REVENUE, 30TH AUGUST 1911.
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The Ongole Show attracted only 729 entries this year, showing a decrease of
413 from the previous year. This was attributed to the show being held a little
earlier than usual, before the harvest was finished. There was also said to be a
falling-off in the quality of the young stock, but prices nevertheless were good, and
many animals changed hands.
The Ellore. Show was not a success. Some of the animals exhibited at the
Ongole show, a few weeks before, were again shown here, but the object of the show
being to improve local cattle, very few prizes were offered for cattle not bred in the
district. The exhibits from the district were so poor that it was considered advisable
to withhold the medals offered by Government for the best bull and best cow in the
show.
Major Dawson attended the shows at Berhampur, Madura and Tiruppur and
submitted his remarks to the Board in a separate report.
IV.—SUBORDINATE ESTABLISHMENT
The Veterinary staff at the close of the year consisted of three Inspectors and
54 Assistants as against three Inspectors and 42 Assistants the year before. During
the year thirteen new Assistants were appointed and one resigned his appointment.
Throughout the year Veterinary Inspector V. P. Subramania Mudaliyar was on leave
and his charge was held by Veterinary Assistant S. A. Padmanabha Pillai. Of the
remaining 53 Veterinary Assistants in the department, 14 were in charge of hospitals,
one in charge of the quarantine depot, Tuticorin, one on foreign service, two working
in the Madras Veterinary College and 35 on touring duty.
The clerical staff of the Superintendent's office remained the same as last year.
The clerks are much handicapped for want of room and it is hoped that the work
of building a new office for the Superintendent will be taken in hand as soon as
possible.
V.—EXPENDITURE OF THE DEPARTMENT
The cost of the department as shown in table XIV-A appended to this report
is Rs. 97,014-15-10 against Rs. 87,062-13-6 in the previous year. The increase
under " Provincial" is mainly due to the general expansion of the department
and it has more than counterbalanced the decrease under " Imperial" caused by
the retirement of Lieutenant-Colonel Gunn who was drawing a higher salary than
his successors.
VI.—GENERAL REMARKS.
A comparison between the figures of tables III, IV and V for this Presidency
and those for other provinces of the same size is extremely interesting and, in the
Superintendent's opinion, is a very fair indication of the state of this department in
this Presidency. In inoculation against rinderpest, the Madras Presidency well
holds its own, but the number of animals treated at hospitals, and by Assistants
on tour, compares very unfavourably with the returns from other provinces.
2. It is therefore on the improvement of these figures that this department
should concentrate its energies in the immediate future, and efforts in this
direction have already been made. A closer and more frequent inspection of hos-
pitals and the work of touring Veterinary Assistants is now carried out by the
Inspectors, and it is hoped that, by this, hospitals will be kept more efficient, and
touring Veterinary Assistants always supplied with what medicines and instruments
are necessary for their work.
3. But even with the closest supervision of Veterinary Assistants by the
Superintendent and his Inspectors, the returns for this Presidency will not be as
high as they should be, until more interest in the work of the Veterinary department
is taken by district officials and influential people living in the towns where
hospitals are located. It is rare to find recorded in the visitors' book of a veterinary
hospital the name of any one but the Collector of the district and the Superintendent
of the department. In the case of touring Veterinary Assistants, whose usefulness as
public servants is gauged by the number of reports they receive from village munsifs
2642 R.—2