t 582 ;] 



tr*~"^ 



them free from contamination with native breeds, on some 

 hill station. The Jersey breed is specially mentioned as it 

 comes from a fairly warm locality, is small in size, and is an 

 excellent milking breed. The Ayrshire and Short-horn breeds 

 though heavier milkers are not so suited for crossing with 

 the smaller sized Bengal cattle, nor are they so adapted for the 

 Indian climate as the Jersey cattle. Of the South-Indian 

 breeds, may be mentioned also the Mysore cattle as a superior 

 draught animal and the Nellore cattle as a superior milk-pro- 

 ducing cattle. But they are large sized animals and heavy 

 feeders and are not therefore recommended in the same way 

 aS the Bankipore cross-bred cattle and the Nagpur cattle as 

 the basis of improvement in Bengal. The Kathiwar or Gir 

 cattle are good both for draught and milk purposes and they 

 are not so large as Mysore or Nellore cattle and may form the 

 basis of selection for both types in Western India. His High- 

 ness the Gaekwar of Baroda has lately brought to the notice 

 of the English public the excellence of this breed. The hill 

 cattle are generally small in size, with undeveloped humps, 

 but, as a rule, powerful. Those and the Burmese cattle are 

 the worst milkers. Of North-Indian cattle, the Hissar and 

 Mewat breeds are the best for draught purposes, and the 

 Hariana and Kosi breeds the best for milk. Sayad Maham- 

 mad Hadi, Asst. Director of Agriculture, N.-W. P. and Oudh, 

 recommends the use of Kosi bulls for improving both draught 

 and milking breeds. Kosi cows are small sized animals but 

 they yield as much as 7 or 8 seers of milk per day. Some 

 of the best milking cattle of Calcutta belong to this breed. 

 Hundreds of cattle find their way annually from the Kosi 

 fair to Calcutta. The excellent commissariat animals of Cal- 

 cutta belong to the Hissar breed. Of Bengal cattle, the 

 Sitamari breed alone may be mentioned as worth keeping up. 

 977. Cross-breeding with the Jersey may prove very 

 beneficial to milkers, but, as a rule, cross-breeding with foreign 

 cattle should be deprecated, as the native breeds are hardier 



