24
breeding animals, as they lamentably fail in observing changes of condition and
health in them. They cannot in fact be trained in Zootechny in this country as
the means do not exist at present. It is expected that cattle breeding will be
transferred to the control of the Superintendent of this Department in the near
future and that Veterinary Assistants trained at our Imperial farm at Hissar
will be utilized.
181. In the United Provinces steps are being taken to acquire the land for
a bull rearing farm it is proposed to establish as an experimental measure at
Kheri. The smaller graziers here badly require assistance in procuring good
herd bulls and the people are very hopeful of the success of this venture. Good
mature bulls are very difficult to obtain in the open market and unless some
definite and progressive policy be adopted it will soon be impossible to obtain
suitable bulls for the small graziers in Kheri or for other parts of the province.
182. In the Punjab the scheme for a bull farm in the Jhelum colony has not
progressed owing to the difficulty experienced in obtaining the necessary grazing
rights. If sufficient grazing cannot be obtained the scheme will probably have
to be dropped. The Punjab has the advantage of being able to obtain bulls
suitable for many of the districts from the Imperial Farm at Hissar.
Sheep breed-
ing.
183. One has only to read the remarks in the daily papers and in the reports
of the Forest Department to realize that the improvement of the wool bearing
capacity of the hill sheep is becoming an absolute necessity. It was recently
stated that the increase in the size and number of the flocks of sheep which are
grazed for part of the year in the lower hills is a cause of anxiety. Whole hill
sides are being denuded of forest growth and in Kangra the shepherds have
had to leave their hereditary grazing grounds and go elsewhere in the winter.
It is asked, is the surplus capacity of the forest areas to be used for the produc-
tion of wool or of timber. The view of the Local Government is that hill forests
must be protected even if this implies putting a limit to the increase of flocks
kept for pastoral purposes. In short the sheep will decrease. In these circum-
stances it is well that operations have been begun on a small scale in the
Punjab and North-West Frontier Province to improve the quality as well as
the yield of wool of the short tailed Gaddi sheep. A few merinos have been
imported into the Hazara district and the Tochi Agency. There are altogether 17
Merino rams present, 12 in Hazara, 1 in the Tochi Agency and 4 in Dera Ismail
Khan. Their services are appreciated. In order to obtain any real benefit
from the operations, numbers of these sheep are required and a constant supply
must be maintained so as to gradually grade up the local sheep. A number of
New Zealand Alp rams are being imported for the Kangra district and are
expected to arrive shortly.
184. None of the other provinces report anything regarding sheep breed-
ing. It offers a great field for enterprise.
Camel breed-
ing.
185. The question of camel breeding in the Punjab has received a good
deal of attention. The breaking up of the areas in which camel breed-
ing has flourished is practically killing the industry so far as the supply
of military camels is concerned. It may not perhaps be realized that the
canal scheme in the Multan district will destroy the only remaining camel
breeding area of any size between the Indus and the Sutlej. It is no matter
for surprise, therefore, that good camels suitable for military transport purposes
are becoming very scarce, high priced, and difficult to obtain. The various
schemes which have been made, such as endeavouring to breed camels on canal
tracts were doomed to failure and nothing now remains, if the camel is to exist,
but to provide grazing in suitable surra free areas. The grazing lands of the
Punjab are being surveyed in this connection and proposals have been made to
open certain surra free grazing areas for breeding purposes in the Punjab.
(2)-EQUINES (UNDER LOCAL BODIES).
Horse, pony
and
donkey
stallions.
186. The number of horse, pony and donkey stallions present at the begin-
ning of the year is shown in Table X. There were 64 horses, 102 ponies and 99
donkeys against 59 horses, 112 ponies and 65 donkeys in the previous year.