Uki i, iSSf.J !•«£ tROPlCAL AdRfC0Lt'0ftlSf, 



719 



general horticultural purpsses, and the granulated 

 for conservatory use and potting. 



Enormous quantities of this Coconut fibre refuse 

 are produced by the firm, A heap is shown behind 

 the tank in the engraving, and I was imformed that 

 it was no uncommon thing for them to despatch 20 

 tons in one consignment, and that the material is 

 sent to all parts of the world, including America, 

 Africa, Australia, Sweden, (?ermany, France, Holland, 

 &c. — the latter countries using it extensively for bulb 

 growing. It is not a little remarkable that this refuse 

 Coconut fibre should, in some cases, find its way 

 back in a changed form to the countries from whence 

 the nuts were originally brought. 



It. conclusion, I have to acknowledge my indebted- 

 ness to Mr. Thomas Nevell, the present proprietor, 

 for his kindness in allowing me to inspect the works, 

 for his courtesy in personally showing me over them, 

 and carefully explaining the details of manufacture; 

 as well as for much the information contained ia 

 this paper.— John E. Jacksox, Museum, Royal 

 Gardens, Kew. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



INDIAN CATTLE AND ^^ SHEEP. 



In a country such as India, where the agriculturist 

 and the carrier depend almost entirely on bullocks 

 for doing their heavy work, special attention, one 

 would think, should be paid to the breeding of ani- 

 mals fitted for draught purposes. But with few ex- 

 ceptions the natives seem willing to allow natural 

 selection to work unhampered, forgetful that Nature 

 at best works slowly, and that much may be done 

 to aid her by the judicious selection of breeds, and 

 careful crossing. Now thsit interest is being shown 

 in the improvement of Indian agriculture, and that 

 the introduction of new ploughs, which do something 

 more than scratch the surface, renders it necessary 

 to have powerful bullocks, the ryots are beginning 

 to appreciate the importance of improving the breed 

 of their cattle. Of course it will take many years 

 before ruuch will be really done in this direction, 

 still it is encouraging to see that even a few are 

 willing to take steps to make use of the facilities 

 offered by Government for improving their stock. 

 The plan recently approved of by Government for 

 purchasing sires, and placing them in selected tracts, 

 ought, before long, to lead to a marked improvement 

 in the breed of cattle in the selected districts. The 

 proposal is to open a central depot in the South 

 Arcot District, where a number of selected stock 

 animals could be kept; these, when of suitable age, 

 would be distributed through the district, or districts, 

 chosen for the experiments, in the same way as is 

 now done with stallions in the Coimbatore district. 



If this scheme is to work successfully, it will be 

 necessary for district oflBcials to exhibit some sus- 

 tained interest in the matter, for we have by no 

 means as yet got beyond the stage in which a little 

 interest shown by one in power acts as a strong 

 incentive to work in the way desired. If this interest 

 is to be an intelligent one, the district oflScers must 

 themselves know something of the subject, and fortun- 

 ately the necessary imformation is ready at hand 

 in the second edition of Deputy Surgeon General 

 Shortt'6 work on Indian Cattle and Sheep, which was 

 recently published * This little book gives a tolerably 

 full account of the various breeds of cattle and sheep 

 which are either indigenous to India, or have been 

 imported from other countries, along with practical 

 instructions as to their management, both in 

 health and in disease. The Indian ox, we are told, 

 is still met with wild in some parts of the country^ 

 but we fancy it must be very rare. The only two' 

 instances of its being shot, which Dr. Shortt seems 

 able to mention, are in 1843 and 1848, and these 

 dates are rather a long time ago. The last case we 

 remember to have heard of was one in which a sports- 



* A Manual of Indian Cattle and Slieep, tlieir'Sreeds, 

 Management and Diseases, by John Shortt, m.d., v.s., 

 ?.L.s., F.L.S., 4,c. Second Edition, Higginbotham & Co., 

 llidiK, ISSo, 



man after having, as he thought, obtained a specimen 

 of this rare uiiimal, learned, to his chagrin, that he 

 had shot not a wild ox, but one which had been 

 turned loose in the jungle some years before as being 

 too old for work. In any case, they are so rare 

 that thej' can hardly be considered an important 

 branch of Indian cattle. Of the cattle of the Madras 

 Presidency, the most important are probably those 

 of Myt-ore and Nellore. The Mysore bullock is from 

 twelve to fifteen hands in height and is celebrated 

 for his spirit and powers of endurance. The Amrit 

 Mahal herd is said to date back to the time of the 

 Hindu Government, but it,s special development for 

 transport service was due to Hyder Ali, who, by 

 introducing a breed of cattle from the Trichinopoly 

 district, and crossing them with the indigenous Mysore 

 stock produced the Hallikar breed, which is generally 

 reckoned the best of the various breeds in the country. 

 The importance to Hyder Ali of this superior type 

 of cattle for transport purposes was very great. They 

 enabled him, for instance, to march 100 miles in two 

 days to relieve Chilambram, and, after a repulse, to 

 draw off his guns in face of the enemy. The Duke 

 of WelUngton, when on service in India, experienced 

 the value of this herd, and durinc: the Peninsular war, 

 as his despatches show, he often wished that he 

 could have had Amril Mahal cattle with him in Spain. 

 An interesting account of tin,' mauasrement of these 

 herds is given by Dr. Shortt, but it is not brought 

 up to date, the historical account ending with 1871 

 since which time various changes have taken place. 

 The Nellore breed is famous rather for dairy pur- 

 poses than as draught cattle. They grow to a very 

 large size, sometimes reaching a height of as much 

 as seventeen hands, and when well bred, they can 

 draw very heavy loads. As milkers they are much 

 sought after in Madras, and some have been known 

 to yield as much as eighteen quarts of rich miik in 

 twenty-four hours. First class animals consequently 

 fetch high prices in the market, cows selling for 

 R200 each, and bullocks for from R150 to R350 per 

 pair. Bulls have been boueht for importation into 

 other districts at E300 to R350 each. Various attempts 

 have been made to obtain improved breeds by crossing 

 the better kind of cattle, and considerable success 

 has been met with, especially by the introduction 

 of cattle from Guzerat, Aden, ind England. But much 

 yet remains to be done in this direction. The efforts 

 hitherto made have been chit-fly spasmodic, and carried 

 out by individuals having no permanent interest in 

 the country. Dr. Shortt complains greatly of the 

 want of interest shown by the ryots — " why, they 

 argue, should they trouble themselves about improving 

 their cattle, which will cost money when they have 

 none to lay out, while, by following the practice of 

 their forefathers, things take th'-ir natural course ?" 

 This, doubtless, represents pretty accurately the opinion 

 of a majority of the ryots, but it is by no means 

 true of all, for many are showing a distinct and 

 growing interest in improved methods of agriculture 

 as is proved, amongst other things, by the large 

 numbers of European ploughs that have been sold 

 in the Presidency during the last few years. 



Turning now to the subject of sheep, we find that 

 Nellore comes well to the front again. The Nellore 

 sheep is the tallest in India and, well fed, will 

 weigh from 80 to 100 pounds when alive. In Ooim* 

 batore there is a wool-bearing breed of sheep, and 

 though small, these fatten well and yield a mutton 

 which is probably as good as any that is to be had 

 in India though it is closely approached by some ob- 

 tained from Mysore, where there is another breed of 

 wool -bearing sheep. The latter breed furnishes the 

 chief fighting rams in India. They are very pugnacious, 

 and not only butt furiously, but also use their fore- 

 feet, and at times even bite. During Sir Mark 

 Oubbon's time of office there was an exper msntal 

 sheep farm at Heraganhalli, under the charge of a 

 European Commissariat subordinate officer. For this 

 farm merino rams were imported annually from Austra- 

 lia, and the distribution of the cross breeds raised 

 from these has improved the sheep throughout the 

 c9uDtry to a marked esteut, as regards both eia^ 



