F. WARE                                         71

cattle rapidly deteriorate. Of the different breeds of buffaloes in India, the
Murrah has been most developed for milk production.

The following table shows the averages of latest lactations and the highest
lactation obtained in this breed of buffaloes and also in some of the less develop-
ed breeds of cattle :

In order to obtain a correct picture of the improvement which has been
obtained in some of India's milch breeds it is necessary to compare the yields
obtained in farms run on modern lines with the performances noted in village
breeding-areas. The following are the details of some breeds made available
by an inquiry conducted in certain typical breeding tracts and made the sub-
ject of a special report [1]:

The interesting point which arises out of this inquiry is that, where village
cattle are concerned, there is no significant difference in the levels of production
of these different breeds, except the Murrah buffalo. This exception is largely
explained by the fact that the buffalo is kept almost entirely for milk production
and therefore more attention is paid by the villager to the rearing of heifer
buffalo calves than to cow calves. Moreover, as the buffalo is not a sacred
animal, some culling of this species has always been practised by the villager.

The similarity in the yield of village cattle of the above breeds leads to
the conclusion that the differences noticed in different herds may be indicative
not so much of the intrinsic values or potentialities of the different breeds as
milk producers, as of the differing amounts of attention paid to them. From
the high levels already reached by certain breeds it is reasonable to assume
that when equal attention is paid to all those showing potentialities as milk
producers, they will respond equally well and provide breeders with satisfactory
results. Another striking fact is the rapid rate of evolution which seems to be