Proceedings of the Hon'ble the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, in the Revenue and Agricultural (General)
Department, No. 989 S., dated 4th August 1897.
READ—
Letter No. 1386, dated 8th July 1897, from the Director of Land Records and i
Agriculture, Punjab, submitting the Report on the Civil Veterinary Department
in the Punjab for the year 1896-97.
REMARKS.—The Sections of the Report which relate to Horse-breeding
do not notice the operations of the Imperial Horse-breeding Department, which
are separately reported. The statistics of the number of stallions maintained are
not, however, confined to those maintained by District Boards. It would appear
that animals owned by Courts of Wards and even by private persons are in some
cases included in the returns. The Lieutenant-Governor is glad to receive
information of private enterprise in this direction, but he thinks that the opera-
tions which are conducted by and at the cost of District Boards should be
noticed separately in the report and returns, as Government has a responsibility
in connection with the expenditure of Local Bodies, whereas in the case of private
persons we can only note results and comment thereon. Taking the statistics
given in the report, we find that the number of horse stallions increased from
42 to 50 and of pony stallions from 49 to 54 during the year 1896-97. There
is an entry in Table C of an Arab pony stallion having been exchanged for a
mare, which seems to need explanation. It does not appear for what purpose
the District Board of Umballa made this exchange.
2. In many districts the District Board Funds are at present very
impoverished, but the remarks of the Director of Land Records in paragraph 3 of
the Report as to the utility of pony stallions should be communicated to them for
their guidance.
3. In regard to mule-breeding in paragraph 3 of last year's Review
inquiry was made as to the reasons for not extending the operations of District
Boards in this direction. No explanation has since been received, but His Honor
is willing to accept the assurance of both the Civil Veterinary Superin-
tendents, in which the Director of Land Records and Agriculture concurs, that
what is being done by the Imperial Department is sufficient for the present.
The question, in view of its importance, should not be lost sight of and advantage
should be taken of any favourable opportunity that may offer for the extension of
mule-breeding by the agency of District Boards.
4. In the present as in previous reports the Director of Land Records
and Agriculture dwells upon the insufficiency of the present Veterinary Staff of
the Province as an agency for the investigation and prevention of cattle disease.
In view of the ruling of the Government of India that the two Civil Veterinary
Superintendents must devote the greater portion of their time to horse-breeding,
the Local Government has not been able to secure sufficient attention being paid
to cattle. It is true that, as pointed out by the Government of India, the
Veterinary Assistants maintained by District Boards are primarily concerned with
cattle, but the Director of Land Records and Agriculture points out that till the
working of these Veterinary Assistants is directed and controlled by a skilled
Supervising agency they will make little headway even against the simpler forms
of cattle disease. The matter is being considered separately. It is probable that
nothing short of the appointment of a third Veterinary Officer for the Province,
whose duties would be confined to cattle and cattle disease, will prove satisfactory.
The Government of India has not yet passed orders on the proposed scheme of
reorganization of the Subordinate Provincial Civil Veterinary Department.
5. It is hoped that the valuable report on cattle-breeding submitted by
Veterinary-Captain Pease will serve to arouse more interest in this subject than
has been evinced in the past. Government has recently had to draw attention
to the extravagant and unsystematic way in which indents for Hissar bulls
were made, and orders have been issued which it is hoped will ensure greater
attention being paid to the subject in future. Veterinary-Captain Pease in the