34 



(it) Cattle Fairs. 



The course of the cattle trade is marked by a large and 

 increasing number of cattle fairs, most of which are devoted 

 to a distinct class of business. The transactions in the great 

 fairs at Rewari, Dadri, Narnaul, Bhiwani, Hissar, Sirsa and 

 Jehazgarh are almost entirely confined to the best Hariana stock. 

 The Chakwal and Talagang fairs are the principal markets 

 for Dbani-Potwar breeds. At present there is no corresponding 

 fair for the western breeding centres, but with the development 

 of railway communication this deficiency will doubtless be supplied. 

 At the Abohar and Muktsar fairs, and at the great Jaitu fair 

 and others in the Phulkian States, the sales are partly of Malwa 

 cattle but principally of high class Hariana cattle reared in the 

 tract irrigated by the Sirhind Canal, and of the best buffalo 

 Btook. 



The fairs at Ludhiana, Jullundur, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur 

 supply some of the demand for small sized cattle to work hart 

 wells in the Bet villages of the Beas and Sutlej or for ploughing in 

 the submontane tracts. Bat at these and other fairs on the Grand 

 Trunk Road the business i^ very largely in worn out or worthless 

 ^ cnttle destined fertile slaughter-house and the hide merchant. The 

 Lyallpur and Eminabad fairs are very largely attended and a 

 certain number of good cattle b> ought from Chakwal or locally bred 

 are offered for sale. But their principal use is to provide the 

 colonist with an opportunity for "scrap-pirg" his worn out bullocks 

 which are bought up in large numbers by Pathan traders. The 

 fair recently started at Hafizabad is of the same character. A 

 comparatively recent development in the cattle trade is the system 

 of weekly fairs held at Hassan Abdal and Gondal in the Attock 

 District and continued at various points along the road to Peshawar. 

 A similar weekly fair is held at Nuh in Gurgaon at the other end 

 of the Province. The large majority of the cattle sold at these 

 fairs find their way to the slaughter-house. 



The only fairs of a general character at which every class of 

 business is transacted are the large fairs h^ld at Amritsar at the 

 Bisakhi aod Diwali festivals and the Gulloo Shah fair in the Sialkot 

 District. Every class of cow, bullock and buffalo may be purchased 

 at these enormous gatherings, while the trade in old and worn out 

 stock is as brisk as at Lyallpur or Eminabad. 



These large fairs are all under Government supervision and a 

 considerable source of income to the District Board. There are 

 however a number of small local fairs initiated by Arora and other 

 traders who collect their clients at convenient centres to dispose 



