Live Stook 



326 



Place of Demonstration. 



Maradankadawala 



Eppawela 



Gonahaddenawa 



Morakewa 



Kalawewa 



No. of Cattle. 



10 



3 

 58 

 26 

 32 



Province op Uva 



No. of Owners. 



8 

 1 



52 

 24 

 32 



Men Trained. 



Men Trained.— Babanhamy, Buttala ; Appuhamy, Okkampitiya. 

 Place of Demonstration. No. of Cattle. No. of Owners. Men Trained. 



Buttala Dit ision : — 



Okkampitiya 



10 



Kahambaii i 



2 



Marawa 



4 



Kolanwinna 



15 



Vedykumbura 



2 



Halandewa 



5 



Kurundugastota 



3 



Buttala 



2 



Weragoda 



1 



Badalkumbura 



7 



Ankade 



6 



Total ... 



1,518 



1,214 



65 



Colombo, November 20th, 1905. 



G. W. STURGESS, m.r.c.v.s., 



Government Veterinary Surgeon. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF INDIAN CATTLE. 



The Madras Government have approved the Board of Revenue's recommen- 

 dations in regard to the measures to be adopted for the improvement of the breeds 

 of work cattle and milch cattle, and practical action on the lines suggested will 

 be taken without delay. The Board's recommendations are based on the advice of 

 Major W. D. Gunn, Superintendent of the Civil Veterinary Department, and may 

 be divided under the following three heads :— (1) The improvement of Indian 

 work cattle for agricultural purposes ; (2) the improvement of Indian milch cattle ; 

 and (3) the age at which bulls should be sent out into the herds. 



With regard to the first, all the expert evidence points to the importance of 

 the principle of " improvement from within," i.e., selection from purely local breeds, 

 and of improving herds by using only the very best bulls of local breeds. All past 

 experience points to the conclusion that the selection of suitable sires from indigenous 

 breeds is preferable to cross-breeding from cattle of other places. Next to the 

 selection of sires the most important point is the provision, for the breeding cows 

 and their progeny, of suitable grazing, proper food, and adequate shelter. 



The principal defects to be contended with in the existing system of cattle 

 management are insufficient feeding, depriving the calves of their natural nourish- 

 ment and the keeping of large herds of " wasters," as Major Gunn calls them, which 

 are neither good for breeding nor work. As Major Gunn points out, the latter 

 wretched creatures eat fodder which should be reserved for the better class, but 

 he doubts if the ryots will ever be brought to accept the view that it is better to 

 keep a few cattle well than a lot of cattle which remain thin and starved and are 

 incapable of giving milk or doing work. The provision of a good stock of good 

 fodder is indispensable to the success of any scheme of improvement of either work 

 cattle or milch cattle. Experiments which have been carried out at Saidapet prove 



