16 



^ demand is chiefly for ghi and, milk. Trade returns show that, 

 roughly speaking, the province is self-supporting as regards its 

 supply of ghi, but the universal complaints of inferior cow's milk 

 in urban areas where the consumption is greatest, give rise to am 

 apprehension that either the stock of milch cows is insufficient) on 

 that the quantity of milk they give might be largely improved. 

 According to the Crop and Season Eeport for 1908-09 the present, 

 number of cows has not yet reached the number ascertained inj 

 1894, while there are at present moment more cow buffaloes in the 

 Province than in any previous enumeration. An examination of 

 the district figures shows that in all the districts where breeding 

 is important such as Hissar, Rohtak and Jhelum the number of 

 cows enumerated in 1908-09 shows a most satisfactory increase 

 over the figures for 1904. On the other hand in the districts of 

 Lahore, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Gujranwala, where breeding is of 

 little account and draught cattle are imported, the number of cows 

 has largely decreased, their place being taken as milch cattle by 

 buffaloes. A decrease in the number of cows seems inevitable as 

 breeding becomes of minor importance. In highly cultivated 

 districts cows are valuable chiefly as milkers, and for dairy pu>i?- 

 / poses the buffalo is more profitable than the cow. The tendency 

 . therefore is for the number of buffaloes to increase. The buffalo, 

 though undoubtedly a finer animal when bred and reared in, 

 natural grazing grounds, nevertheless takes kindly to stall feeding, 

 and as there is no likelihood of any diminution in the profit from 

 dairy produce, while the male buffalo is becoming increasingly in 

 demand for draught purposes, there is every probability thai 

 the next census will show an even larger increase in the stock of 

 buffaloes. 



Practically every cultivator in the Province keeps one or more 

 cows according to his means and the facilities for grazing at his 

 disposal. But except in certain localities, these animals are not 

 noted for their milking qualities and are chiefly regarded as 

 breeders, their milk being an incidental profit. 



The two best known breeds of milch-cows are the Hansi 

 N a Hissar and Sahiwal (Montgomery) breeds. The Hansi cows are 

 merely, the cows of the excellent Hariana breed already described, 

 which besides being fine breeders also possess great milk-giving 

 qualities. The cows of the Hariana breed and good milk-cows of 

 the ordinary Desi type are seldom brought to a fair or sold at all 

 except in times of drought. Small numbers are, however, procured 

 by military dairy farms or by private dairy farms of the United 

 Provinces and Bombay. 



