CATTLE

Breeds

Cattle of the Gaolao breed, the best in the province are extensively used in Nagpur, especially in cotton tracts, but they are usually imported from Arvi and Khamarpani in Sausar, and a few are raised in the District. Animals of this breed are usually white color with shortish curved horns, prominently convex foreheads, short ears and large eyes. They have full chests and fairly developed forearms. Their tail is long, thin and tapering. They are well built and specially adapted for fast work. The other points of this breed is mentioned by Mr. R. s. Joshi, Assistant Director of Agriculture, are tapering nostrils and black muzzles, a short neck, a board and prominent chest, black hoofs, fairly short legs in proportion to the body, and black curving gradually over the quarters and slightly hollow behind the hump. The Gaolao cattle are not very hardy and require some care and attention in breeding. Their price varies from Rs.100 to Rs. 300 a pair. The best trotting bullocks command even higher prices and harnessed to light cart weighing 90 or 100 lbs., a pair of them will do 50 miles under the 12 hours, while for short distance they can trot 8 miles an hour. The people prefer white cattle, and white bulls are usually preserved for breeding purposes. The cattle raised in the District are known as Nagpuri. The principle local breading-grounds are the north of the Ramtek tahasil. These animals are also usually of white color and have horns of medium size and flat foreheads. They are more leggy than the Gaolao cattle and may be of different colors. They are much used for roadwork in tongas or cart. They are somewhat lacking in spirit and staying power, and the cows of this breed are not good milkers. The price of a pair of bullocks is from Rs.50 to Rs.100. A third class of cattle is called Gondi. These are inferior, small and badly shaped, with thin and short horns and are probably simply the progeny of the promiscuous interbreeding of badly nourished animals. They are generally used in a rice tract. Bullocks of the Berar breed are imported from Wun and other places, and are considered to be stronger than the Gaolao animals. They are generally red in color. . Cattle are also obtained from Mahur in Hydrabad, these animals being called Mahurpatti while others bred in Chanda are called Telangpatti. The Mahur cattle are red, black and speckled, and are very strong, consisting from Rs.200 to Rs.400 a pair for the best animals. From Chanda they are usually imported into Umrer , from Yeotmal to Nagpur and from Chhindwara and Arvi into Katol.

Prices And Working Life

In 1890-95 the price of fairly good pair of bullocks was given by Mr. Craddock as Rs.80 to Rs.100, while Rs.200 was some time paid for a good pair. In 1871 Mr. Low stated in the Gosetteer that the price of a good pair of plough bullocks ranged from Rs.70 to Rs.150 and of trotting bullocks from Rs.200 to Rs.250. Mr. Craddock considered that the average prices had advanced about 40 percent. During the intervening period. There has probably being some further increase since the famines, and it is now stated that a first rate pair for the plough cannot be had in Katol from Rs.150. But those of the small cultivator do not cost more than Rs.75 a pair. As to the working life of bullocks following remarks made by him may be quoted. ' The bullock is train to the plough in its fourth year and is put to hard work first in its fifth. A pair of bullocks is generally considered as being up to full work for six years or until they are twelve years old. After this their strength is on the decline. They are then sold to a proper man at much reduced price, and after doing work for another year or two, are again sold to nominal sum to a still poorer cultivator, in whose possession they die unless they fall into the hands of the butcher. I remembered one village in Umrer with Gond cultivators, in which the bullocks used, were worn out animals, and had cost only Rs. 12 to Rs.15 a pair. Of the works in work in District it is generally estimated that about a fourth are bred in Nagpur, and Three-fourth imported from Berar or Arvi '. The working life of pair is generally estimated at twelve years if they are well-fed, and as they are castrated at about three years old, this would being their working life to 15 years or age. A plough of land of four bullocks is considered to be equivalent to 32 acres of black soil or 40 acre of gravel or bardi soil, the work of dragging the plough being lighter in the latter. In 1905-06, there were 235,000 bulls and bullocks in the District, giving a pair to every 12 acre in cultivation.

Cows

Cows are kept for breeding and for manure, which they afford. Cows milk is not usually made into ghi or melted butter, and most cows are not milked at all, as the owners consider that the calves will be weakened if deprived of the milk. The best cows of the Gaolao breed will give 40 lbs. Of milk if properly fed and looked after, and a few of them are sold to Europeans as milch cows. Cows of Nagpuri breed give about 6 lbs. Of milk. A cow gives a calf as a rule in every eighteen months, and seven or eight calves are obtained from one cow on an average. The price of cow varies from Rs.15 to Rs.50. In 1905-06, the number of cow was 153,000 giving 66 to a village and less than one to a household. Mr. Craddock remarks as follows on the general uses of cattle. ' Cows are not kept for milking purpose, except in the towns, and the reason advanced for the herds of ill fed, undersized cattle which one sees in the village is the manure which they field. But, since their feeding is of the poorest, and the manure is mostly wasted in the jungle and grazing grounds, it is certain that the return from these cattle is not worth even the folder, which they consume. In the jungle localities, notably in the Dongartal tract, the Gaolis keep buffaloes and breed cattle on a small scale, making their profits from the sale ghi and three is always a sprinkling of cultivator in most villages, who keep a few buffaloes for this purpose. No serious attempt is made by the people improve the breed of cattle, but occasionally a bull is imported by some enterprising malguzar. The Cow Protection Society has acquired a village, with extensive grazing-grounds, a few miles south of Nagpur, but the place is rather the refuge for moribund animals snatched from the butchers than a breeding-ground.'

Food Given To Cattle

Cattle are fed on karbi or juar-stalks, cotton-seed, straw and arhar. Oil cake is given rarely, as it is an expensive food. The stapled food is karabi, which is fed to them for 6 or 8 months of the year. It is stated that the one-acre will yield 200 to 350 bundles of karabi, according as the crop is sown, thin or thick. But after the crops are cut the cattle are turned into the fields and with the grazing they obtain from the waste ground, 2000 bundles will last them for year. About 6 acres of land will therefore afford fodder for a pair of bullocks. The chaff of juar (kutar) is also a valuable fodder. In the hot weather cattle received cotton-seed, between 5 and 8 lbs. being given daily per yoke. This food is considered to be bad for them in the rains and is not given then. The practice of making cotton-seed cake dose not usually obtained, and the seeds are given dry and uncrushed. Oil cake of till and linseed is a fed to cattle round Nagpur. Mr. Craddock remarks on the subject of food as follows: -' in the cotton-juar country the bullocks are better fed and have a lighter work, but in the wheat and rice country and especially in latter, they are poorer both in size and strength and a very hard-worked. The good cultivator give his bullocks a daily feed of grain for four to six month in each year during the season of hardest work-- April to November. In the cotton-juar country the bullocks have cotton seed and tur, gram or tiura (Lathyrus sativus) and in the rice country lakhori or the small tiura and popat beans. The garden bullock is usually the best fed, while the needy cultivators animals have a very wretched existence. They have already passed the prime of their strength and are over-worked and under-fed. The contrast between the bullocks of well-to-do malguzar and those of a poor tenant is very marked. Plough bullocks are not usually sent to any distance for grazing, and if there is no forest in the village are left to pick up what they can along the banks of fields. Other animals are sent to the Government forest of the District and to Berar. In the Katol tahasil there is scarcely any grazing, but in Umrer and the north of Ramtek it is plentiful. Only a few proprietors keep a land under grass, as the return, except in the immediate vicinity of Nagpur, is said to be very small. Salt is given to all kinds of cattle two or three times a year in July, August and October in doses of from 10 to 20 tolas. Cow and she-buffaloes also get a little salt at the Diwali festival. Gaolis also give milch cows and buffalo cows a pinch of salt daily when they are milked, while at the commencement of the rains cultivating cattle get a handful for seven days consecutively.

Buffaloes

Buffaloes are bred in the District and the cows are valued for their milk from which ghi is made, and also for the manure which they afford. The milk and butter sold in towns, but Hindus do not care about butter and always turn it into ghi by boiling it. The price of a she-buffalo varies from Rs.30 to Rs.100 according to the daily supply of milk, which it gives, the usual rate being Rs.10 for every seer (of 2 lbs.) or somewhat more. No value is set on the male calves and they are frequently allowed to die from neglect, or they are disposed of to the Sarodis, a wondering caste of quasi-religious mendicants, who taken them to the rice District of Bhandara and Balaghat and sell them their. In 1905-06 there were 36,000 cow and 6000 male buffaloes.

Ponies And Small Stock

Ponies are not bred in the District to any extent worth mentioning, nor is the taste for riding prevalent among the landowning classes. The numbers of ponies in 1903-04 was 4500 or about two to a village. Sheep and goats are kept by the Dhangar or shepherd caste. The number of goats in the Districts a very a large, amounting to 124,000 and being the highest figure in the province. Many cultivators have also begun to keep flocks of goats for the sake of the manure which they afford. The Dhangars keep goats for the sale of the meat, and also make ghi from their milk and sell it to the Banias for export. There is no demand for it locally, the people refusing it for consumes goat's milk either in its natural state or when made into ghi. The Dhangars also let out there herds for being penned on the fields. A sum of Rs.2 for 10 khandis or 200 goats per night is an average rate, but it varies according to the facilities afforded to the Dhangars by the proximity or absence of water and fodder. Goats sell for two to seven rupees apiece according to their size. Sheep are less expensive, as their flesh is not as like that of goats. The flesh of ewes is also eaten, but not to a very great extent. The number of sheep is 44,000 and this is also fairly high as compared with the Districts. Sheep are kept for the sake of their wool, from which country blankets are made. Donkeys are kept only by Kumhars and by Dhimars who in Wardha are known as Bhois. Many of these Bhois make a profession of carrying goods on donkeys for hire. They also keep pigs and generally occupy a lower position than the Dhimars of other Districts, though Kunbis will take water from them.

Diseases

The local names of the ordinary cattle diseases are phansi, sarphansi, and ektongia for authroised diseases, khuri for foot and mouth disease, mata for rinderpest and phopsa for pleuropneumonia. Phansi is what is called malignant sore throat; the throat becomes much swollen. The local remedy is to brand the throat and sometimes to cut the ears so as to let the blood flow from them. When the lungs are affected, the diseases is called sarphansi, and this is said to be much more fatal. Ektangia is apparently the local name for the black quarter, an anthracoid disease in which one of the fore or hindquarter becomes affected and swells. This disease is rare and said to appear at intervals of some years. Rinderpest is said usually to be prevalent in the hot weather, but accounts, as to the time of its appearance, vary so much that little reliance is to be placed on them. It is generally supposed to be less common in Nagpur country than elsewhere. The animal is given ghi and buttermilk to drink to cool the liver, but no medicine is administrated. Segregation is rarely practiced owing to the difficulties which it presents, and the utmost that some malguzars do is to prevent the cattle of their village for mixing with the herds of neighboring village where the disease exist. Recently inoculation for rinderpest has had successful result in some villages. Phopsa or pleuro-pneumonia is not very common and is not locally considered to be contagious, though as a matter of fact it is so. But cases of inflammation and congestion of the lungs are often mistaken for the contagious disease. Real pleuro-pneumonia is usually fatal and medicine has little effect on it. Khuri or foot-and-mouth disease is the most common but is not usually fatal. Ulcers appear on the leaps, and blood and pus ooze from the hoofs. If the hoofs split, the animal becomes lame for life. Ghi or butter and alum are applied to the tongue, and dikamali or the resin of the Gardenia lucida boiled on linseed or tilli oil to the feet, or mixture of powered tobacco and lime. Or the animal is made to stand in mud or the hot refuse of mahua. The disease is most virulent in the cold weather. Two veterinary dispensaries have been established at Nagpur and Umrer.

Cattle-Farm And Weekly Markets

A cattle-breeding farm for the production of bulls to be used to improving the agriculture stock of the southern District was established at Telinkheri in 1902, being stocked with a herd of 34 cows, 12 calves and a bull. The cow and calves were all purchased from the famous Jaitpur herd of Gaolio cattle, which is considered to be the best breed in the Nagpur country. The young bulls are given on loan to landlords who take an interest in cattle breeding, and six Gaolao bulls have already being given out in this way. The herd undergoes a careful inspection annually and all the young bulls and heifers, which are not considered true to type or are unshapely or otherwise undesirable for breeding purposes, are discarded, the heifers being sold and the young bulls castrated and kept for farm work. To prevent in-and-in breeding the old bulls are replaced from time to time to by best young bulls of the herd. The principle weekly cattle-markets are held at Saoner in the Nagpur tahasil, Umrer in the Umrer tahasil, Ramtek, Khapa, and Kodhamendhi in the Ramtek tahasil, and Mowar in the Katol tahasil. The average number of head sold annually at the Khapa market during the Three years 1901-04 was 634 and at Kodhamendhi 366. At the other markets the sales are very small. Registration fees varying from one to three pies in the rupee are levied on the sales in most of the markets.