NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
13
Simla Municipal Committee, Government has made a profit
on it of Rs. 3,346.
During the year under report 39,394 deaths from
contagious diseases were reported against 28,907 in the pre-
vious year ; i.e., an increase of 10,487 deaths. Among
bovines there was an increase of 5,171 deaths from Rinder-
pest ; 6,992 from Hæmorrhægic Septicæmia and 779
from Black Quarter. Contagious disease was rather less
prevalent among equines and others, than in the previous
year. The staff were only able by various methods of preven-
tive inoculation to protect 268,775 animals against contagi-
ous diseases, this being 43,813 less than in the previous
year. Also only 131,380 bovines were vaccinated against
Hæmorrhægic Septicæmia which is 39,564 less than last
year. The reduction in the numbers of inoculation and
vaccination was due to the reduction in travelling allow-
ance. The number of vaccinations done fox Black Quarter,
however, increased by 5,953 over the previous year and
reached a total of 15,776. Farmers are now getting much
more keen on the Black Quarter vaccinations, twenty-six
ponies and five donkeys were treated for Surra at the
Sheikhupura Veterinary Hospital. Of these animals, five
ponies and three donkeys were cured totally.
Mr. Branford reports that the increased mortality from
contagious disease was partly due to increased virulence of
the outbreaks and partly due to the cut in travelling
allowance. He also states that inoculations against
Hæmorrhægic Septicæmia could not be performed in many
outbreaks partly owing to the late receipt of patwaris'
reports. In this connection, I agree with Mr. Branford
that the system of rewarding patwaris for prompt
reports of such cases, which was tried in 1922-23 ought to
be given a more extended trial.
In the face of these difficulties as regards travelling
allowance I think, that the members of the Veterinary
Department are to be heartly congratulated on the amount
of work done to combat contagious disease.
Fortunately, the year under report was a fairly healthy
one for stock, but we must consider what would be
likely to happen with the Department so greatly immo-
bilised by drastic cuts in travelling allowance in a year
when outbreaks are more virulent ; for it must be
14
remembered that the combating of infectious disease is
done largely on tours.
At the departmental meeting to consider the develop-
ment of the Agricultural, Veterinary and Co-operative
Departments held in April of this year, I drew attention to
the large number of Veterinary Assistants and Veterinary
Hospitals which must be added before we could have
hospitals at distances of ten miles apart in the province
and Mr. Branford in the report now submitted also draws
attention to the present state of affairs. He points out that
the total number of cattle, sheep and goats in the province
amounts to over 23 million (see also page ten of last year's
report) and that there are roughly 175 Veterinary Assistants
at work in the districts ; therefore that each Veterinary
Assistant has to look after the health of over 30 thousand of
these animals ; also as the area of the Province (excluding
Native States) is well over 90,000 square miles, the animals
under each Veterinary Assistant are scattered over an area of
over 500 square miles.
Had the year been an unhealthy one for stock, the
result would have been disastrous. And who would
have been the victims? Obviously the farmers in the
first instance and to by far the greatest extent. But as
already stated agriculture is the basic industry of the
Punjab and cattle are the backbone of agriculture so that
the province as a whole would have been greatly affected. Is
it then economic for the province that the travelling allow-
ance of this department should be reduced to a point which
hampers the mobility of the district staff ? The whole tra-
velling allowance of the Vetreinary Department omitting
that provided for the staff of the Veterinary College and the
Hissar Cattle Farm which amounted to as much as
Rs. 74,000 (round) in 1922-23 dropped in the year under
report to a grant of only Rs. 89,720 (round) till November
when an additional Rs. 9,440 were given making the
aggregate allotment Rs. 49,160. I have no reason to doubt
the sympathies of either the public or the Government but
I feel sure the situation is not correctly appreciated in many
quarters, and I think it is important that the matter be care-
fully considered. The question is, is it worth while to give
farmers adequate protection by the Veterinary Department
against disease among their live-stock?
15
While on the subject of tours I regret to have to point
out that, with the little travelling allowance that was allow-
ed, some of the officers of the Veterinary Department have
not spent as much time in village touring as they should
have done. The work of the Department lies in the villages
and it is essential that its officers shall do a good deal of
village touring. We cannot, however, expect men to face
the discomforts of touring unless the expenses involved are
fully met.
The cattle-breeding work was carried on and developed
as far as possible on the lines indicated in previous years'
reports. At the close of the year under report there were
l,774 stud bulls at work in the various districts of the pro-
vince against 1,637 last year.
The departments' activities with regard to cattle breed-
ing depend upon funds which are partly contributed by
Government and partly by local bodies. The financial con-
ditions both of Government and of these bodies in the past
years has undoubtedly made it difficult to find money to
encourage this industry, but I agree with Mr. Branford
that a factor in the case is that most local bodies do not yet
appreciate the great importance of cattle breeding to the
welfare of their districts. Gurgaon District Board is a
notable exception and although a poor board has in the past
year supplied to its farmers 110 bulls at one-fourth of the
price it paid for them. To help to provide money for this
purpose, the District Board has levied bull cess of
two pies per rupee on the land revenue and 2 annas per
rupee on the Hasiyat tax. This District Board is to be
congratulated on its efforts to improve the local breed.
There is little doubt that other District Boards could do a lot
more in this direction also if they really care to do so.
In view of the fact that the funds of District Boards
come mainly from zamindars it is expected that most of
these funds will be spent in the development of agriculture,
to which cattle breeding can contribute so much. A good
many District Boards in the Province derive handsome in-
comes from their cattle fairs, vide Table IX on pages xviii—xix
and farmers ought to insist that a good portion of 3uch income
at least be spent on improvement of local breeds. Money used
in this way is a safe investment and the direct gains go into
the pockets of the farmers. The example of the Gurgaon
16
District Board is commended to the notice of other District
Boards. I think that it would also be a great help to the
development of cattle breeding if, as Mr. Branford suggests,
District Boards would set aside for a number of years some
percentage of their funds for this purpose, so that a definite
programme of expansion could be adopted by each dis-
trict.
Mr. Branford, I think, indicates a real obstacle to the
improvement of breeds of cattle in this country as compared
with that work in other stock-breeding countries when he
says : "There would appear to be none of the social prestige
attached to the breeding of high class cattle amongst our
large land-owners such as is in other countries" and like him
I consider that the formation of cattle breeding societies will
help to remedy this defect. Such societies tend to foster
competition for the ownership of the finest animals, etc., etc.
Cattle Shows should also have a beneficial effect.
In the canal-irrigated tracts at present, farmers find
that the cultivation of crops pays them better than the
rearing of cattle, and for this reason there is a considerable
amount of apathy to be faced as regards cattle breeding in
such quarters, but considering the prominent part which
cattle play in the production of crops in the Punjab and the
extra demand for cattle which must arise when the new
canals begin the function, I feel sure it will repay farmers
to take a real interest in cattle breeding operations. Signs
of progress in this direction are not wanting I am glad to
say.
The Dhanni cattle breeding scheme continues to make
very satisfactory progress. The underlying principle is
that bulls are to be provided by grants from Government,
supplemented by at least a corresponding amount from the
District Boards concerned, In the year under report Gov-
ernment contributed Rs. 6,500 towards this scheme. At
the end of the year it had 91 bulls at work as against 88 at
the end of the previous year and the numbers of cows
covered by these bulls were 7,157 and 4,462 respectively, in
the same years. A herd-book for the Dhanni breed has been
started by the Department: also a Dhanni Cattle Breed-
ing Association has begun to work in the Gujar Khan
Tahsil of Rawalpindi District, and promises to do well.
The assistance of M. Talib Khan, Deputy Superintendent,
Northern Circle, in this connection, deserves mention. The
17
Association has collected subscriptions to the amount of
Rs. 650 for the carrying on of its business. Unfortunately,
owing to the prevalence of plague in that tract, only one
cattle-show could be held. This was held at Jatli in the
Rawalpindi District, and was very successful. The Dhanni
Scheme 'is very popular in its tract and it is interesting to
note that the Sardar of Kot Fateh Khan in Attock District
has started a small cattle-breeding farm of his own which is
weli commented on.
The Hariana cattle-breeding scheme, which is worked
on the same principles as the Dhanni breeding scheme, was,
I regret to say, handicapped by no Government funds
being provided for it during the year under report. As
mentioned in previous year's report, the district boards of
Rohtak and Gurgaon, however, in accordance with their
resolutions allotted funds for this purpose and a fairly satis-
factory beginning has been made. At present there is some
difficulty in procuring really suitable bulls for it, and young
ones have to be bought. The system of early castrations
prevalent in the locality accentuates the difficulty referred
to when young animals have to be chosen as defects only
appear when the animals grow up. This difficulty will
decrease as records of the parentages of the young animals
to be selected accumulate, i.e., the risks of selecting inferior
young animals will become less as the pedigrees of the
parents become better known. The district board of Rohtak
proposed to purchase 15 bulls of the local breed, 5 bulls
from Nagor and 5 from Sheikhawati: both of the latter
places are in Rajputana. The Board has been advised by
the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, South
Punjab, and by the Chief Superintendent not to introduce
the Rajputana strain as this is contrary to the original
scheme which Government agreed to start. I thoroughly
agree with this view and hope the Board will confine itself
to purchasing bulls of the Hariana breed.
I regret to say that both the Dhanni and Hariana cattle-
breeding schemes are suffering for want of staff. Schemes
of this sort entail a good deal of extra work, e.g., in checking
coverings, recording results of coverings, etc., etc., and the
regular veterinary staff in areas concerned are to be congra-
tulated on the results already achieved.
The Multan District Board has started a cattle-breed-
ing society —thanks to the efforts of Mr. Fyson, the De-
C
18
puty Commissioner there. The programme of this society
includes the improvement of all classes of livestock
and the encouragement of all measures to that end.
As regards cattle, the Association has started somewhat
on the lines of the Dhanni scheme and subsidises
selected zemindari bulls for breeding purposes by a
monthly premium of Rs. 10 for each selected bull.
The bulls will be selected at local fairs, etc., and reserved
for breeding purposes by the owners who will receive the
monthly subsidy. This association has collected Rs. 1,500
from the tahsil of Shuja'bad alone and has already done very
good work in the district. The subsidy system of keeping
privately owned bulls for cattle breeding has also been
introduced in the district of Mianwali by that district
board. The private cattle farm which Malik Ahmad Khan
Dhandala, a zaildar in the Bhakkar Tahsil of Mianwali
district, started in 1913 continues to be maintained by
the owner. He has now got a stock of about 300 cows
of the Montgomery, Dajal and Zar breeds. Two bulls,
one of which is the Dajal breed and the other of the
Montgomery breed, are working on this farm.
At the end of the year under report there were in the
province—
Cattle Insurance Societies ...
Cow Breeding Societies ...
Cattle Purchase Societies
...
Sheep Breeding Societies ...
Total
...
...
34
22
5
7
68
All these societies were started by the Co-operative
Department.
5 Cattle Insurance Societies were closed in Tahsil
Jhajjar in the Rohtak District on account of unsatisfac-
tory working. Propaganda in favour of cattle-breeding
societies continue.
I am glad to be able to note that the grantees of
the cattle breeding farms on the Lower Bari Doab Canal
Colony are on the whole promising well now. The
19
majority of these farms have reached their full strength
of cattle. Of the two breeds of cattle (i. e., Hissar and
Montgomery) concerned, the latter has made most progress,
and can show some good specimens of its kind. Before
the establishment of these farms, good animals of this
breed were becoming extremly difficult to find.
Milk records are now kept in some of these farms
and the grantees are beginning to appreciate the great
value of these records when attempting to breed cattle
which will give improved milk yields.
Through the enthusiasm and perseverance of Syed
Muhammad Hussain, a colony of small cattle-breeding
holdings ranging from a half to two rectangles each has
been started near Shergarh (the home of the Sahiwal breed
of cattle). The lessees are Janglis and Syeds of that
neighbourhood and have to maintain two approved
Sahiwal cows per rectangle. Many of the cows so far collect-
ed are unusually fine animals. The progress of cattle
breeding on these small holdings will be watched with
great interest as the beginnings indicate that this may
turn out a better method of stimulating cattle breeding
than by making the much larger cattle breeding grants
which have been made in the past.
I regret to say that the lessee of the Sir Louis Dane
cattle farm near Kaliana has taken little or no interest
in his grant.
The Montgomery and Lahore Dairy farms are still too
new to make much comment upon.
Little has been done so far in the matter of buffalo
breeding. Municipal Committees who should be interested
in the question appear to be apathetic.
With all the disabilities which the department has to
face I am of the opinion that the progress made in cattle-
breeding during the year has been very satisfactory.
As regards horse and mule-breeding, I may mention
that the Palwal and Ballabgarh Tahsils of the Gurgaon Dis-
trict were transferred to the Army Remount Department
c2
20
for this purpose. These Tahsils have been added to the
"selected"* districts.
Consequently two horse and two donkey stallions were
transferred to that department reducing the sanctioned
scale of horse and donkey stallions for non-selected districts
from 73 and 82 to 71 and 80, respectively. At the close of
the year there were 62 horse and pony and 76 donkey
stallions in non-selected districts compared with 65 horse
and 70 donkey stallions last year. The province is at present
short of 9 horse and 4 donkey stallions, but funds are
being arranged to meet the cost of their replacement.
The total number of mares covered by these stallions
were :—
Stallions.
Horse
Pony
Donkey
Year 1922-23.
Mares covered.
... 128
... 3,640
... 3,242
Year 1923-24.
Mares covered.
100
3,617
3,240
As an experiment, the Karnal District Board was per-
mitted for a year to charge covering fees for their stallions
to meet part of the cost of the stallions' maintenance. The
trial gave very good results and Government has now per-
mitted that Board to continue charging covering fees for
their stallions. This practice of levying a stallion covering
*Note.—"Selected" districts of the province are those in which horse and mule
breeding operations are conducted by the Army Remount Department. The remaining
are "non-selected" districts and horse and mule-breeding are under the Civil Veterinary
Department.
These are :—
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Selected districts.
Palwal and Ballabgarh Tahsils of
the Gurgaon District.
Ferozepore.
Lahore.
Amritsar.
Gujranwala.
Sheikhupura.
Gujrat.
Jhelum.
Rawalpindi.
Attock.
Shahpur.
Montgomery.
Jhang.
Multan.
Lyallpur.
Dera Ghazi Khan.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Non-selected districts.
Gurgaon except Palwal and Ballah-
garh Tahsils.
Hissar.
Rohtak.
Karnal.
Ambala.
Simla.
Kangra.
Hoshiarpur.
Jullandur.
Ludhiana.
Gurdaspur.
Sialkot.
Mianwali.
Muzaffargarh.
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fee is also being brought to the notice of the other District
Boards. This seems to me to be another indication of the
awakening of farmers to the value of breeding from good
animals only.
I sincerely hope that substantial additions will be
made to the district staff of the Department, and that
sufficient money will be provided for travelling allowance
in order to enable the department to cope successfully with
outbreaks of contagious disease and other important work
which it is carrying on for the good of the agricultural com-
munity.
I feel that congratulations are due to the staff of the
Department for the excellent work its members have done
in the face of the many and exceptional difficulties which
they had to contend with in the year under report.
In view of the fact that Major Sikes is about to leave
the department, I wish to place on record my appreciation
of the excellent work he has done for the province through-
out the four years he has served here. He has been a steady,
sound and energetic worker and has greatly improved the
tone of the work in his circle.
I wish also to gratefully acknowledge the assistance
given to the Department by many district officers during
the year under report.
Hissar Cattle Farm—The report of the Superintendent
of this farm will be found on page 51.
The rainfall was again above the average in the year
under report and was well distributed for raising grass on
uncultivated areas. This was very fortunate as the farm is
largely dependent on rainfall, only 2,003 of its 39,844
acres of land being under canal irrigation and cultivation.
According to Mr. Branford the year was by far the best, so
far as ' Bir ' (uncultivated jungle) grazing areas are con-
cerned, since 1911, when his personal experience of the farm
began. He thinks that at a moderate estimate about three-
fourths of the 'Bir' carried at least three times as much
grass as he has ever seen before.
Sixty-two thousand three hundred and ninety-two
maunds (82 lbs. per maund) of 'Bit' hay were saved.
This is three times as much as the record since the
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Civil Veterinary Department took the farm over in 1899.
More hay could have been saved but for an epidemic of
Malaria and Dengue fevers in the autumn which seriously
affected the labour supply. Canal supplies were on the
whole good throughout the year, and it is gratifying to note
that the farm has now a substantial reserve of dry fodder in
hand. This reserve amounted to 134,730 maunds on 31st
March 1924 as against 51,726 maunds on the 31st March
1923. In addition the farm has a good deal of ensilage
which has been in pits for two years and is of very good
quality.
On account of good rains and consequentey of sufficient
grazing the condition and growth of stock during the year
under report was satisfactory : cattle having done excep-
tionally well.
The table bealow gives the number of the more import-
ant animals sold in the year under report and in the pre-
vious year :—
For the year ending 31st
March
(a) For breeding purposes.
(1) Bulls (stud and supernumerary)
(2) Heifers
... ...
(3) Donkey colts ... ...
(4) Cross-bred Merino ram lambs
(5) Cross-bred Merino ewe lambs
(b) Service Animals.
(1) Bullocks (ordinary service)
(2) Mules (for ordinary and transport)
1923.
225
59
21
87
121
57
30
1924.
241
101
13
84
82
53
6
A large number of other animals was also disposed of.
Regular milk records of a number of cows during the
whole of their lactation periods have been introduced at the
farm. This is indispensible in the attempt which is being
made to develop the milking qualities of the Hariana breed
of cattle in combination with their celebrated draught quali-
ties. The maintenance of these records necessitates extra
staff and accommodation of course.
23
The Superintendent states that the financial returns
from sales of donkey stock for the year were poor owing to
the fact that Army Department refused at the eleventh
hour to take over 7 jacks which they had indented for at
the beginning of the year. In this connection, the Director
of Remounts in his letter of 26th February stated that "in
view of the issue of Government orders for retrenchment it
has been decided to reduce the complements of donkey stal-
lions in the horse-breeding areas of the Army Remount De-
partment and therefore it would be impossible for the Array
Remount Department to purchase any donkey stallion from
the Hissar Cattle Farm that year." The Civil Veterinary
Department will make use of these animals elsewhere.
The Superintendent regrets that financial regulations
prevent such animals from being sent off to fill existing
vacancies in the Government stallion cadre maintained by
District Boards in non-selected districts of the province.
Since his report was written, Government has issued instruc-
tions that provision for the purchase of donkey stallions
from the Hissar farm should be omitted from my budget
in future, and that such transactions should be simply shown
in the pro formâ account which the farm maintains.
No mules were issued to the Military Department dur-
ing the year under report, owing to the change of system of
issue and the rise in the price of these animals recommended
by the Quinquennial Valuation Committee of 1923. We
are in correspondence over this case. The mules are still on
the farm.
The farm stock of sheep continues to flourish and to be
profitable. The demand for cross-bred (merino X desi) ewe
lambs continues to exceed the number that can be supplied.
Cross-bred lambs got by mating the pure Merino rams im-
ported from Australia in 1922 with the pure desi ewes are
very promising.
Arab horse-breeding is doing well. One Arab stallion
was issued to the Gurdaspur District Board and one young
stallion will be ready for issue next year, but will probably be
retained on the farm as he is an exceedingly fine and highly
bred animal.