5

11. To facilitate reference, the average number of mares covered per
stallion in 1892-93 and 1893-94 are given below; details will be found in
Table IV:—

Demand for stallions.

12. Horse-breeding continues to make satisfactory progress in the Deccan,
Sind and Cutch. In Gujarát there is a considerable
falling off due to an outbreak of anthrax in the best
breeding districts.

Stallions which produce
the most suitable stock for
the Army.

13. By Table V. it will be seen that the Norfolk Trotter heads the list, the
Thorough-bred English second, and the Arab last. This
table, however, is apt to give an erroneous opinion on
the comparative merits of stallions for the Deccan, as
the Bombay stud contains many very small Arabs whose stock seldom exceed
14-1. I am endeavouring to weed out these galloways as soon as possible and
replacing them by pure-bred, large-boned horses whose stock will and do grow
into remounts. The large percentage of rejections is due to the fact that these
young stock were bought with a view of starting the nursery at Ahmednagar,
and as it is now well established and the field to select from increasing yearly,
the necessity for buying anything doubtful has been done away with and great
care is exercised in purchasing. The average price (Rs. 320-8-0) of the rejec-
tions denotes that though too small for Army purposes, they were shapely
animals and readily bought by the public.

Number of country-bred
remounts purchased.

14 An abstract from Table VI. showing the
number of country-bred remounts purchased during
the last two years is given below:—

15. The Bombay Native Cavalry purchased 70 more than the last year.
Of the total number (461) 117 are the produce of Government stallions as
against 57 last year. These figures are very short of the mark, as many horses,
the get of Government sires, enter the ranks of which there is no record owing
to the covering and produce certificates being lost or illegible; hence the sires
are entered by purchasers as unknown (see also paragraph 89).

                                      Mule-breeding.

Donkey stallions: number
of.

16. The number of donkey stallions on the
register on the 1st April 1893 is shown in the follow-
ing table:—

B 579—2