280 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICtTLTURIST. [Oct. 1, 190S. 
THE GANGETIC PLAIN 
proved attractive for observations on soil tillage ; 
the chief crops cultivated are wheat, rice, jute and 
joar, the latter, a kind of sorghum, being largely 
grown. The general impressions of the Gangetic 
plain were that the land is diligently cultivated 
and with great labour on the part of the cultiva- 
tors, who do not, however, seem to get great returns 
from the land for the amount of labour expended ; 
the people in the villages are of little wealth and are 
obliged to strive hard to make a living. The Plain, 
moreover, was seen in unfavourable circumstances, 
it was the dry season and there had been no rain 
for a long period. The Plain cattle were of no 
great interest ; they are reared by millions by 
the ryots, but compared with the better breeds in 
other parts were " simply mongrels, or rather 1 
should say nondmcripts ; mongrels is perhaps, too 
strong a term." 
The two corner stones in cattle-breeding, said Herr 
Von Drathen, are feeding and rearing, and then 
the selection of breeding animals and the elimi- 
nation of the poorer ones must follow it up. The 
poor owners in the Gangetic Plain cannot afford to 
feed their cattle properly, and moreover no special 
fodder crops are grown. Promiscuous breeding 
is allowed, and in consequence the cattle are in 
a poor state. It is remarkable however, that in 
places one finds small "islands" where more care has 
been taken in breeding, and which shows what 
cattle can be produced from these village animals. 
INDIAN AND CEYLON CATTLE. 
One thing in India is an improvement on Cey- 
lon. The Indian ryots keep a smaller number 
of bulls then the Ceylonese ; castration is more 
largely practised, and this reduces the chances 
of promiscuous in-breeding. The bulls in the herds 
are small in number. 
THE ALLAHABAD MILITART DAIRY FARM. 
At Allahabad the military farm is worth some 
notice, and it is a striking example of what 
careful cultivation and economical management 
can accomplish. The whole system practised 
is arranged and carried out with signal success by 
Major Meagher. By his system the waste lands are 
turned into grass-land ; splendid grasses have 
been grown for daily cattle, and in the splendid 
stock were some of the finest milking buffaloes 
Herr von Drathen has seen— the milk yields being 
up to 28 seers ! Cattle are also kept there of 
various Indian breeds, pood for their milking 
qualities, which give satisfactory returns and 
v/hich supply the Hospitals and Cantonments with 
milk. Waste milk and remnants feed the 
pigs with the result that there is thus a supply 
of excellent Indian-grown hacon and ham ! The 
results obtained by Major Meagher are remark- 
ably successful, borne fine spncimens of Australian 
shorthorns are kept at Allahabad for crossing 
purposes, and of these Herr von Drathen has some 
excellent photographs. 
HORSE-BREEDING IN THE TROPICS 
can never be so remunerative as in Europe. 
In the first place there is the entire absence of 
the small producer ; and secondly the horse is 
never used in the tropics for agricultural purposes. 
Indian horses are very handy ; quiet and of great 
endurance, but mostly of little commercial value — 
and this at once handicaps horsebreeding in [ndia. 
The Director remarked, en passant, that the 
Indian Tonga horses were far superior to the Ceylon 
coach horses, and in a tonga cart ne covered 
60 miles, with a rise of 7,000 feet, between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m. with one hour's rest. These horse 
have a good deal of the Arab in them. 
From Benares the tour was made to Lucknow, 
Agra and thence to Delhi, and then to Hissar. 
There an inspection was made of the splendid 
breed of transnort bullocks. The farm there has 
been reorganised and now the stock consists of 
about 2,000 cattle, and 300 to 400 mules. The 
area of the farm is some 42,000 acres, well laid out 
with irrigation works; by this means a large supply 
of lucerne or alfalfa is grown and also sorghum, and 
is ensilaged as a reserve-supply for years of drought. 
The Bombay Presidency is the most highly 
cultivated district in the North-west. The 
management is clever and good returns are 
obtained. In the Central Provinces Herr von 
Drathen received valuable information from Mr. 
Mollison, Inspector-General of Agriculture in 
India. At Nagpur a farm has been started on 
the same lines as at Hissar. In the different 
provinces the Government is trying to establish 
types of cattle by breeding pure to the type and 
under normal conditions. The object of the farm 
is to provide transport cattle ; and superfluous 
beasts are sold to country breeders. At Nagpur — 
the centre of the cotton district — Herr von Drathen 
inspected a large native cotton factory ; from 
capital to employees all is native ; some 5,000 
hands are employed, the best and latest machinery 
is in use, and what particularly struck the two 
visitors was the perfect sanitation and ventilation 
throughout the factory— even baths being provided ! 
SPORT IN MYSORE. 
At Mysore the Maharajah, who is very inter- 
ested in stock and horses, was visited and his fine 
stud was inspected. At the Kunegal stables is a 
fine Australian stud stallion, " Courage," one of 
the finest thoroughbreds the Director has ever seen 
—a descendant of a former St. Leger winner ! 
In Mysore the splendid herd of Amrut-mahal 
cattle belonging^ to the Government were seen ; 
these are the finest cattle in India and of a very 
ancient strain, very useful for transport purposes 
and quick trotters. 
A TIGER BAGGED. 
At Mysore the two visitors were fortunate in 
having a tiger shoot, and Herr von Drathen is 
to be congratulated on ' bagging a fine tiger, 
from which he procured the rudimentary " collar- 
bones;" which, not every one knows, are found 
floating in the flesh and are considered "bailsmen" 
by the natives. 
In the Kunegal paddocks a simple and effective 
method of artificial fertilisation of the mares is 
practised, and with great success, the fertility 
having been raised from 40 per cent to 83 per 
cent ! The great success of this is due to 
Colonel Jones, the Superintendent. The stud is 
of some 30 years standing, and fine grass and 
lucerne are grown for fodder. Two onagas from 
Northern India are kept for mule breeding, and 
these are fine boned animal". 
At Sarampore the remount depot was inspected: 
there are 700 walers kept at this station. Major 
Gann of the \ eterinary Department accompanied 
the visitors to Nellore and Kistna Valley to see 
the biggest Indian draught cattle. The Nellore 
cattle breeders are well up in their business, and 
find a ready sale for their cattle at K120 to R160 
per head for bullocks, whereas the village cattle 
can be bought for K6 to R8 a head. Madura was 
also visited with its agricultural plains, and 
plantations of cotton, jute and coconuts ; but these 
