40 



obtained 10 or 15 years ago. The sale of cows is comparatively 

 rare, but the same increase in value appears to have taken place. 

 A good cow which formerly cost Rs. 30 cannot now be bought 



v for less than Rs. 60. For the milch cows of Hariana or Montgomery 

 as much as Hs. 120 is obtained, and at the Amritsar fair the prices 

 given for good Sahiwal cows are nearer Rs. 200. The prices 

 of cow-buffaloes vary greatly, ranging from Rs. 40 to Rs. 150, 

 and even double this high sum has been realized for high 

 class Kundi buffaloes purchased for Bombay or Calcutta. The 

 prices paid for yearling stock, such as are bought by the 



- Banjaras in the south of the province, range from Rs. 10 to Rs. 30. 

 The average price paid by Aroras for good three year old stock is 

 about Rs. 70. Butchers' prices range from Rs. 15 to Rs. 40. 



Conditions are no better in the hills. The small type 

 of cattle imported from Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur into 

 Kangra only cost from Rs. 15 to Rs. 50 each. But prices 

 have risen everywhere in the same proportion as in the plains. 

 In Kulu the price of a yoke of plough bullocks is reported to have 

 risen from Rs. 8 to a maximum of Rs. 24 within living memory. 



Apart from the general rise of prices and wages, which has had 

 its effect on cattle-breeding as on every other industry, the reasons 

 for the enhanced cost of cattle are, as had already been stated, 

 firstly the spread of cultivation throughout the province and the 

 consequent increased demand for draught and milch cattle of all 

 kinds, and secondly the years of famine and scarcity between 1896 

 and 1903, which reduced the supply in the breeding and exporting 

 tracts to an extraordinarily low level. As has been already shown 

 there is little hope of an increase in the number of animals bred 

 in the villages of the fully cultivated districts and consequently no 

 hope of a reduction in price. But if favourable seasons continue 

 the stock of cattle in the exporting tracts is bound to increase, 

 and if this stock can only be maintained it may be hoped that 

 no further rise in prices will occur. 



The Settlement Officer of Hissar has been at considerable 

 trouble to collect information as to the profits from the breeding 

 and rearing of cattle. Several villages in that district are owned 

 by Mahajans who interest themselves in cattle-rearing. They buy 

 good yearling stock at fairs, or take them from their tenants in 

 payment of debt. After rearing them for 2 or 3 years, and using 

 them in their carriages they are able to clear a good profit by an 

 advantageous sale at the half-yearly fairs. The cost of rearing 

 shown below being based on the actual prices of fodder is probably 

 higher than would be incurred by a zamindar who is able to use up 



