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bred in a highly irrigated tract the imported stock can at least be 

 provided with excellent fodder even in the worst years, or in an 

 emergency can be fed by supplies imported from an adjoining 

 district. The working bullock in the " importing " districts is of 

 course excellently fed, and is seen as a rule in far better condition 

 than the working cattle in breeding tracts. The general conclusion 

 of the district officers is, as might be expected, that the fodder 

 supply is sufficient in the highly cultivated districts or importing 

 tracts even in times of scarcity. 



It is unfortunately otherwise in the breeding centres and 

 especially in the all-important Hariana tract. A glance at the 

 figures of the cattle enumerations held in the Hissar district 

 during recent years show the fluctuations to which the stock of 

 cattle in Hariana is liable. 



The cause of these fluctuations is obvious. From 1896 to 

 1903 the district was in the grip of famine and scarcity, hardly 

 relaxed in the good harvests of 1897 and 1 901. Supplies of fodder 

 ran so low that the zamindar was unable to keep his cows and 

 young stock, and the district from being a store-house of cattle 

 was driven to rely as best it could on scanty profits from agri- 

 culture. In the Hariana districts comparatively few cattle are 

 required for the vast areas which can be ploughed in favourable 

 rains, and the extent to which the stock available for the supply 

 of other districts was depleted is at once apparent. 



