DARJEELING AND THE BENGAL TARAI 237 
The cost of upkeep of a cow reaches to about one 
shilling a year, the animals are unclean and half 
starved, and from unsupervised interbreeding they 
are of inferior quality, so that it would be a good cow 
of this description that would yield 3 quarts of 
milk a day; while milking-time is a revelation in 
insanitary practices to those who are acquainted 
only with European dairy procedure. 
The stall-feeding of cows and the disposal of their 
milk under municipal direction is no doubt what the 
residents of European settlements in the hills should 
insist upon in their own interests, and this system, 
too, is what the forester ardently desires. He wishes 
to be rid of the herds of cattle which prevent the 
natural regeneration of the forests ; which tread the 
open slopes into innumerable tracks, each becoming 
in the rains a small torrent that in course of time 
washes away the soil to the bare rock; which 
browse on the shrubs that hold together the loose 
soil on the landslips: for he is responsible for the 
sylvan amenities of the settlement, and it is his duty 
to point out any dangers that may be menacing it 
from neglect of silvicultural rules. A glance at the 
northern slopes near Darjeeling, and at the records 
of disasters in the past, will show what sort of 
dangers may result from cattle grazing on un- 
suitable ground, and unbiassed opinions may be 
formed as to whether a cheap supply of milk of 
questionable purity is worth the damage that it may 
entail. 
The whole question of grazing in India is one of 
vast importance, for the progress of any country 
may be estimated by the treatment of its cattle, and 
