112 EQUIPMENT 



producing male calves and, in the case of some breeds, 

 for giving a little milk. A lame bullock or a sterile 

 cow has to be kept alive even though it is useless, and 

 when it dies the village Mahars claim the hide. Add 

 to these considerations the serious risk of epizootic 

 diseases and the heavy mortality amongst the young 

 stock, and it will be realised that it is not an easy 

 matter to make a profit out of cattle breeding. 

 Profits can be made when abundant free grazing is 

 available, or when care and skill are displayed in 

 breeding fine animals which command a high price. 

 What, then, is the meaning of the large number of 

 inferior cows which support life in localities where 

 fodder is deficient, and upon whose breeding and feed- 

 ing no care is taken ? They exist simply in virtue of 

 the free grazing which is available. It would not pay 

 to provide them with expensive fodder, so they remain 

 half-starved. It would not pay to incur trouble or 

 expense on the breeding of such starvelings, so they 

 are allowed to breed promiscuously. They are inci- 

 dental and uneconomic and may be excluded from the 

 picture. There are many tracts, however, in which 

 the physical conditions are excellently suited to cattle 

 breeding. Breeding depends on the principle of 

 selection in mating, which may be effected by castra- 

 tion in the case of males and by the elimination of 

 the unfit in the case of females. Hindu sentiment 

 makes the former difficult and the latter impossible. 

 These are the fundamental obstacles to improvement 

 in cattle breeding. 



