52 



owned and kept afc stud, as they are in the latter tracts, the 

 system of making the z<uldar responsible is unsuitable. The 

 soundest method of encouraging breeding is to provide private 

 I owners at a reasonable cost with bulls for which they charge fees. 

 Conditions in the northern and western districts seem most 

 favourable to such a development of District Board action. 



The condition of the district bulls is reported on from time 

 to time by the staff of the Civil Veterinary Department, and in 

 some districts the location is changed at more or less regular 

 intervals. In the worst cases, but not with sufficient frequency 

 or system, an old or diseased bull is castrated or removed to the 

 protection of a local gaushala. It must be confessed that hither- 

 to no District Board has evolved a completely satisfactory 

 arrangement for the maintenance of bulls, and the absence of 

 system goes far to lessen the value of the Board's generosity. 



It may be noted that the efforts of Government and the 



District Boards have been directed solely to the breeding of 



v/ / l draught cattle. No special attention has been devoted to the 



improvement or preservation of breeds specially suited for dairy 



purposes. 



(3). District Board Cattle Fairs. The benefit which the 

 cattle trade of the provinces derives from the large fairs has been 

 already described. These fairs are managed by the District Board 

 either on behalf of the Provincial Government as contractors, or on 



' their own account. A small fee is charged on each sale within the 

 limits of the fair, and except in a few cases, the Board, after 

 paying rent to Government and necessary expenses, clears a 

 considerable balance. The annual profits from cattle fairs usually 

 exceed the yearly expenditure on District Board bulls. It is 

 perhaps too much to hope that all these profits should be ear- 

 marked for the improvement of cattle-breeding, but it would be 

 only just for the expenditure on such improvements to bear some 

 relation to the advantage which the District Boards reap fro re the 

 cattle trade of the Province. Prizes are given at each fair to 



| encourage breeding and rearing. 



(4). Takkavi. The arrangements for assisting the replace- 



^ ment of agricultural cattle by the grant of taJckavi loans are dealt 



with in the Financial Commissioner's Standing Orders. Between 



1896 and 1904 Government distributed no less than six lakhs in 



5 taMavi loans for agricultural cattle in the Hisaar District alone, 



apart from the free grants given for that purpose from charitable 



funds. Of this amount large sums were remitted. It is a matter 



for consideration whether in view of the large sums expended 



