13
much to be regretted, for the tendency will be for us to get somewhat in-
ferior men. But District Boards which provide the pay of almost the entire
staff, could not, I fear, afford to contribute much more than they do at present.
VII.—TOURS OF SUPERINTENDENTS.
Veterinary Captain Trydell, North Punjab, visited 9 districts, attended
4 horse-shows and also inspected the Kashmir and Jhang dâk lines. Mr. Oliver
visited 15 districts and attended 8 horse-fairs and inspected 7 dispensaries.
Veterinary Lieutenant Smith inspected the Simla dâk line. Veterinary Cap-
tain Walker inspected 8 hospitals, some of them on two or more occasions.
Nineteen Veterinary Assistants and their equipments, visited 4 outbreaks of
disease, inspected 2 dâk lines, attended 6 cattle fairs and shows, and acted
as an Examiner at the Lahore, Ajmere and Calcutta Colleges. All officers
deserve credit for the amount of inspection work done.
VIII. —GENERAL.
Mr. Sykes, last year, indicated the following measures as necessary to
make the scheme of a subordinate veterinary service a complete success:—
(1). The establishment of a Veterinary Hospital at the headquarters
of every district.
(2). The provision of an itinerating Veterinary Assistant for each
tahsil in the province with a small dispensary at the head-
quarters of the tahsil.
(3). The appointment of a grade of Veterinary Inspector, one for
each division, and one as assistant to the Superintendent.
A scheme is now before the Local Government with reference to (3). We
have had some correspondence with districts as regards (1) and (2), but very
few District Boards are in a position to increase their expenditure, and the
department will have to look to Provincial Funds for any material extension.
Transfers of men, consequent on the forming of the Remount Department
will leave us with 62 Veterinary Assistants and, to provide one man per tahsil
and one man per District Veterinary Hospital, we should require 113 plus 27
men, or 140 men. The subordinate establishment would thus have to be more
than doubled.
Veterinary Captain Walker makes the following remarks on the utility of
the Department:—
" The total cost of this circle of the Civil Veterinary Department for "
" the year under report was Rs. 42,822 including my own salary." " Excluding"
"goats and sheep, 23,467 cattle and buffaloes were inoculated during the year"
" in actual outbreaks of disease. It is fair to presume that at least one-fourth "
"of these would have died but for inoculation. Putting the average value "
" per head at Rs. 25 (cattle and buffaloes included), which 1 consider reasonable,"
" the total value of the cattle saved (i.e., one-fourth) roughly amounts to"
" Rs. 146,700, excluding goats and sheep. If this sum is put against the total "
"cost of this department, it will be seen that a sum of over a lakh of rupees"
" has been saved to the Province. This work, moreover, is not our only sphere "
"of usefulness."
I do not think that the cost of medicines and equipments which
is paid for from Local Funds is included in the above figures. It is
impossible to place any great reliance on a calculation of this nature, but with
the measures now at our disposal for the prevention of disease, 1 think that a
Veterinary Department, if well supervised, should more than pay its own way
in the direct benefits which it confers on the cultivators. The standard aimed
at in (2) above, has been approved on several occasions, but lack of funds has
stood in the way of any action being taken. I hope, however, that the Veteri-
nary Department has established a claim for favourable consideration as soon
as funds are available.
Only brief reference need be made here to the changes impending in
consequence of the transfer of Imperial Horse Breeding Operations from the
Provincial Department to the newly constituted Army Remount Department.