13

Stallions which
produce the
most suitable
stock for the
Army.

71. Table V (page xiii) furnished, as usual, by the Director, Army
Remount Department, shows that the following were the results obtained at
each of the Rearing Depôts:—

72. Again, let us consider the above figures as affecting the class of stallion
by which they were got, and we find:—

The first thing which strikes one very forcibly is the fact that only 55.45 of
the young stock bought, ultimately turned out fit for the British Mounted
Branches, and that 11.84 proved either unfit or bad to be sold as being
undersized, whilst 32.70 per cent. were issued to Madras Cavalry.

Can this be attributed to any one class of stallion? I think not. The
percentage of issues to British Mounted Corps, the gets of Norfolk Trotters and
thoroughbreds, is very similar, being 69 and 65, respectively. The Arab does
not show such a good percentage, being only 55; but the great falling off is in
the class shown as "Unknown." Of these, we find that only 78 horses out of
180, or 40 per cent., proved fit for the British Services, and with reference to
this important point, I would note, as I did last year, that the number of
young stock by unknown sires is very large, and, in my opinion, must lead to bad
results.

It is only natural to suppose that the greatest proportion of these unknown
gets are purchased from dealers, as if bought from breeders, the sire by which
they were got would have been ascertained; this is further borne out by the fact
that the majority of these came from Lahore and Amritsar. If the deductions
drawn from Returns submitted by the Remount Department are correct, it will
bear out the opinion which I have so frequently expressed that the worst young
stock is purchased from the dealer class, and that strenuous efforts should be
made to buy more extensively from the actual breeder.

73. In making the above remarks I trust that I may not be thought to be
encroaching on the duties of the Army Remount Department, but, as Head of
the Department to which is entrusted the production of the young stock, I feel
compelled to try to ascertain the causes of the failures. Is it due to the fact
that we are producing bad material, is the question that so frequently occurs to
me, and if so, what steps should we take to remedy the defects? I have most