22 



districts, there are some indications that the increase in the cost 

 of cattle and the scarcity of grazing is causing a change in pre- 

 sent conditions. Thus, the Settlement Officer of Ludhiana reports 

 that in the uplands of that district within recent years the 

 people have set themselves to breed more than the actual stock 

 required in their villages. The exodus to the colonies ten years ago 

 drained away a good many cattle, and there is always a demand 

 by the colonist for cattle from the home district. The Settlement 

 Officer of Delhi found that the value of grazing land has increased 

 to such an extent that even well-irrigated land in a village not far 

 from the city had been turned into pasture. In the Karnal tahsil 

 some three years ago a stong Jat community abandoned the cul- 

 tivation of a fully irrigated estate owned by them preferring to 

 keep it as a grazing reserve. It is not uncommon to find the owner 

 of a grazing reserve surrounded by high cultivation abstaining 

 from cultivation in order to reap the benefit of grazing fees from 

 the neighbouring villages. The Presbyterian Mission of Lud- 

 hiana have adopted this course in a large part of their Bir in the 

 Kaithal tahsil with considerable profit. 



The importing districts of the province contain only a small 

 proportion of the 5 million acres of culturable waste land owned 

 by Government, and of the 12J million acres of such land privately 

 owned. About four-fifths of the Government waste and about 

 two-thirds of the privately owned waste consists of the Bar lands 

 of Montgomery, Jhang and Lyallpur and Multan and the Thai of 

 Mianwali, Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan *. The waste lands 

 of the Bar in a few years will be diminished still further by the 

 spread of irrigated cultivation. Before land is actually distri- 

 buted it may well be considered whether extensive provision 

 should not be made for grazing land either with a view to 

 preserving the breeds of the Sahiwal and Kachi cattle which 

 are already seriously diminished, or in order to facilitate cattle- 

 breeding or cattle-rearing among the settlers who will be introduced. 

 The Deputy Commissioner of Montgomery thus describes the 

 future of cattle-breeding in that district : 



" Cattle are bred all over the district, bat in the higly cultivated 

 Dip alp ur tahsil much fewer are bred than in the other three tahsils in 

 each of which there are large expanses of waste land. It is in these three 

 tahsils that large herds of cattle are chiefly found. Cattle-breeding was 

 before the introduction of the canals the staple industry of the district. The 

 Muhammadan tribes who are the ancient inhabitants of the district 

 naturally do more cattle-breeding than the Sikh colonists as they have 

 greater access to grazing grounds, and less taste for agriculture. All these 

 tribes may be in some sense regarded as professional graziers and their 



These figures are for 19064)7. 



