37
PART I.-IMPERIAL REPORT.
IV.—INSTRUCTION FARM.
N.-W. Provinces.
238. Tables XV to XIX may be referred to. Of 12 mares employed on the
Farm, 3 colts, 2 fillies and 2 mules were dropped, making a total of 7.
One colt was sold to the Army Remount Department for R425 and one
was cast, realizing R138, under two years of age.
There were 7 Arab ponies at the Farm during the year, 5 of which were
sold to the Provincial Government and to District Boards.
The season has been a very bad one and some of the crops entirely failed
whilst others turned out badly. From 15th September to 31st March only 1
inch of rain fell.
Balance Sheet (Table XV) will, however, show that no loss was sustained,
but on the contrary there was a saving of R96-14-2.
Punjab.
239. Tables XVI to XIX may be referred to. Of 10 mares served by horse Punjab
stallions, 4 produced foals and 2 were in foal on 31st March. This will show
what can be done by careful attention to ordinary common sense rules before
and after covering.
Three colts were sold to the Army Remount Department for R 1,000,
whilst one being rather small was sold for R250.
There were 10 Arab ponies at the Farm during the year, 6 of which were
sold to District Boards.
Cultivation was much hampered by continued drought which threw an
enormous amount of work on the Farm animals in the way of irrigation, still,
notwithstanding the unfavourable season and that the stallions were supplied
with all they required in the way of green food, etc., the Balance Sheet (Table
XVI) shows a saving of R148-1-8.
GOVERNMENT CATTLE FARM, HISSAR.
240. The following short notes on the working of the Hissar Farm by
Veterinary Major W. D. Gunn are given in extenso as they will serve to show
what has been done during the past year.
241. Had-it not been for the enormous efforts made to grow fodder wherever
water was available, the expenditure would have increased enormously and the
death-rate must have been much greater.
242. Rinderpest claimed many victims, but the death-rate was greatly in-
creased by the weakness of the young stock. I do not, however, regret their
death as few, if any, would have been fit to put into the herds and they were a
useless drain on the fodder resources of the Farm during such a year of scarcity.
243. Veterinary Major Gunn, Superintendent, Government Cattle Farm,
Hissar, states:—
"The Government Cattle Farm at Hissar was taken over by the Civil Veterinary Department on the 1st
April 1899. On assuming charge, the Farm was found to be in a very dilapidated condition. The cows were
weedy and in bad condition, the bulls, with very few exceptions, were quite unsuitable for the work, the carts
were all unserviceable and there were only 13 serviceable ploughs. In addition to this state of affairs, the
various agricultural implements and valuable machines were mostly broken and out of repair.
"The most urgent matter was to put as much land under crops as possible in order to reduce the expendi-
ture of feeding such a large number of animals, therefore agricultural operations were pushed on vigorously.
"To aid this, 200 new ploughs were made and 27 new carts were built. The latter were very necessary to
cart rations to the various paddocks and to carry manure to the fields.
Machinery.
"In a large Farm like that at Hissar it was evident that extensive use of machinery would tend to economi-
cal working: with this end in view sanction was obtained for the purchase of such as was considered absolutely
necessary. The following were obtained :—
1 Vertical Engine and Boiler of 6 HP.
2 American Chaff cutters.
1 Winnowing Machine.
1 Threshing Machine.
2 Cultivators.
1 Seed drill.
1 Hand Threshing Machine.
1 Rope making Machine.