46

return which he hopes will secure an improvement. Some such system could
possibly be introduced here. Inquiries are being made and a final report on the
subject will be submitted to Government, if not simultaneously with, yet very
shortly after, this review.

Suitability of stallions to
produce remounts for British
Cavalry.

11. The appended table gives a much better idea than the statistics of
any one year of the result achieved by the differ-
rent classes of stallions in producing stock suitable
for remount purposes, after rearing in a nursery
depôt:—

From the figures of 1896-97 Captain Morgan concludes that the first cross be-
tween the Arab sire and the Deccani mare will not be large enough for British
Cavalry purposes. This conclusion is very possibly true, but it is not supported
by the combined figures of 1894-95 and 1895-96, when the Arab as a getter of
remounts handsomely beat the Thorough-bred and was not far behind the Norfolk
Trotter. In 1893-94 results were similar to those of the present year, and there
was a large percentage of rejections. But the fact was then attributed by Captain
Morgan to the small size of the Arab stallion, a mere 'galloway' as he termed it,
which he intended to replace with a larger class of horse. Whatever may be
the value of the first cross, I shall be surprised if, from the large and
powerful Arab stallions which I saw at Ahmadnagar, in a few years a con-
siderable percentage of British Cavalry remounts is not obtained. In furnishing
British Cavalry remounts it will not fail to be observed that the Norfolk Trotter
stallion stands well in front of the others—another argument against allowing
this useful class of stallion to be displaced by the Thorough-bred. As regards
the quality of remounts obtained in this Presidency, Veterinary Captain Morgan
informs me that the Inspector-General of Cavalry and the Principal Veterinary
Officer in India concurred at their last inspections in considering the country-bred
remounts at the Ahmadnagar Depôt the best they had seen.

Remounts purchased.

12 The facts that the Thorough-bred beats the other stallions in obtain-
ing prizes at shows, and that produce rejected for
remounts obtains high prices when sold to the public,
are so far beside the question that they do not prove that Government, by means
of the class of stallions in favour, is accomplishing its main object, namely, to
provide a breed of remounts. Even if it is, the horses, being also valuable for
other coveted purposes, are apparently becoming too expensive for Government
to buy. Principally, according to the Superintendent, in consequence of this
high price of the produce of the Government stallions, and the snapping up of
them by private parties, among whom it is believed are many buyers for the
Nizám and his nobles, the number of remounts purchased has again this year
fallen. The figures for the last three years are given below:—

The only remedy, which the Superintendent suggests, is the maintenance of a
lien on the produce of Government stallions. The possibility of introducing such