BY" ISHMAEL " "It is by no means easy to say exactly who won the war for the Allies." Daily Chronicle. Instance that pompous, podgy prig, A model of all snobs The War has made him "something big," How? Well, he owns a "bit of skirt " Oh soldier brave, of simple soul, So bend your heads, ye fighting men, And bugs with gilded wings; But he who pulled the strings. * The spoils of office: the loaves and fishes: the perquisites. (American.) BY MR. NILANANDA CHATTERJEE, M.A., B.L. MILK-A COMPLETE AND INDISPENSABLE FOOD HE principal elements of food that we require for the maintenance of our lives can be divided under three heads viz., (a) Proteids, (b) Fats, and (c) carbo-hydrates. Dr. Rai Bahadur Chuni Lal Bose M.B., F.C.8, I.S O., Chemical Examiner to the Government of Bengal has shown that of all the foods that we generally use, Milk alone contains all the above three elements, and no other article does. You cannot live entirely on Meat, or entirely on Rice, Wheat or Nuts, but you can do so on Milk. Expert medical men consider milk to be a Perfect Food, and to be absolutely necessary, specially in a country like India, for the nutrition of the young and the old, the healthy and the diseased, the weak and the strong alike. But it is a matter of grave concern that this very important article of human consumption is getting dearer and dearer everyday and its supply is running short at such a rapid rate that economists and statisticians often make the gloomy foreboding that fresh and pure cows' milk will vanish altogether from India in the course of a decade or two The abnormal rate of infant mortality, the prevalence of wasting diseases such as tuberculosis, heart-failure etc., and the weakened vitality affording a comparative facility to diseaseattacks amongst Indians, can be directly traced to the regular want of sufficient nutritive food, chiefly pure cow's milk. SHORTAGE IN THE SUPPLY OF MILK It is a well-established fact that in the palmy days of India there was super-abundance of milk -milk was flowing like water, and it could be had for the mere asking. Milk-selling was at 40 that time considered dishonourable. Even fifty years ago, and living persons can bear ample testimony to this fact, milk-supply was much larger than at present, and its price was considerably cheaper. The supply was fairly commensurate with the demand, and the average rate at which it was sold was eight times lower than the average rate that is current to-day. No doubt with the progress of civilisation the price of labour as the price of every commodity is rising gradually, but the present rise in the price of milk throughout India is so sudden and SO abnormal that it cannot be the effect of this all-round tendency to rise. For in such countries as Great Britain or the United States of America, where the prices of all other articles are double and even three times those of similar articles in India, milk sells there from one to two annas a seer (= 3 pints) on an average, while in all parts of India, whether in the towns or villages, the average selling price is from 4 to 6 annas per seer. The following figures will show at a glance the total inadequacy of milk-supply in India as compared with other countries of the world. From these statistics it follows that the proportion of milch-cattle to population in the United States (3: 13) is one-and a half times the same in India or Bengal (2: 13). It has also been found from these figures that while every individual in the United States gets on an average about one seer of milk per day, every Indian gets on fundamental defect. It is the want of good breeding bulls. Let us examine these factors one by one, and try to find out their remedies. The first cause, as we have already noticed, is the high death-rate of Indian cattle owing to the prevalence of epidemic diseases, chiefly Rinder pest and want of proper treatment. an average less than 2 chitaks (= of a seer) per day. This is extremely inadequate and it is strange that we remain satisfied with our present position. For the preservation and improvement of the Indians as a nation we require that immediate attention should be paid by all of us towards finding out and eliminating those factors which are working to diminish the supply of milk and to raise its price by leaps and bounds. In, the present state of society nothing can be more beneficial or of greater consequence than the adoption of means and methods for increasing the supply of milk and cheapening its price at the same time. THE CAUSES AND THEIR REMEDIES. The present abnormal shortage in the supply of milk is mainly ascribable to two patent causes viz (a) diminution in the number of cows and (b) deterioration in their milk-producing capacity. The first primary cause viz diminution in the numerical strength of milch cattle is contributed to by three important factors, which are (a) Diseases, chiefly Rinder-pest, and want of proper treatment of animals in health and disease, (b) Want of fodder, chiefly due to the diversion of pasture lands for other purposes, and the comparatively less cultivation of fodder-crops and last but not the least (c) Thoughtless and indiscriminate slaughter of prime cows, calves and breeding bulls. The second cause viz deterioration in the milkproducing capacity of milch-cattle is brought about by the above three factors and over and above these there is still a fourth and ver The Government Cattle Census Reports show that 20 per cent of cattle die every year in India. Of these about 5 per cent. are slaughtered and 15 per cent. die of diseases or old age. This is a rather high number, and compares very unfavourably with other countries. It is no wonder therefore that the number of Indian cattle is gradually diminishing every day. CATTLE-DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. India has been the home and the originator of veterinary treatment in the world. It is a thousand pities that the science of cattle treatment which had been so successfully developed by Maharajahs Rituparna and Nala, by Maharshi Palakapya, by Nakul and Sahadev and latterly by persons like Chakrapani Datta, have been neglected and allowed to be lost to mankind. Even the go-baids who used to roam about in towns and villages and effectively cured many cattle from many virulent diseases, have become scarce. Their place has been sought to be taken by the Veterinary Assistants turned out by the Government Veterinary Colleges. Their number, however, are so limited and their modes of treatment so costly and unsuited to the constitution and conditions of Indian cattle that hardly any help is derivable from that quarter. To my mind the best course under the present circumstances appears to be to revive the old and indigenous system. Taking all facts into consideration the following methods seem to be most effective in coping with the high mortality of Indian cattle. First. The Government should compile hort treatise in different varaaculars containing ก the symptoms of the important cattle diseases and their methods of treatment and distribute copies of the same broad-cast or sell them at a nominal price through all Post Offices and Police Stations. Second. A list of persons who know how to treat cattle-diseases in either Indian or European methods with their addresses and other particulars may be published by Government for each Province or District and similarly distributed or sold, Third. The number of Veterinary Colleges and Veterinary Surgeons may be increased, and every District Board, Municipality and Village Union should be required to engage an adequate number of such surgeons. Fourth. Cattle-inspectors may be appointed all over the country who would inspect cattle in their respective areas and look to their comfort, proper treatment, and segregation at the time of the outbreak of epidemics. PASTURE-GROUNDS. I come now to deal with this very important item with which the conditions of cattle are so intimately connected. Partly due to the greed of the landlords, the negligence of the authorities and partly due to the foolish indifference of the people, pasture-grounds are gradually vanishing. It may be argued that these lands are now being used for a more beneficial purpose viz., for raising crops for human consumption. This position is hardly tenable. Let us compare the methods that have been adopted in other countries. With the demand for more food-crops to supply the growing population, other peoples have not encroached upon their pasture-grounds, but have adopted improved methods of cultivation and managed to raise more crops from the same areas. But in this cursed country we have made no attempt at improved agriculture and are haphazardly cultivating more and more land although the outturn is getting poorer and poorer. We introduced the system of keeping reserved tanks in villages for supplying drinking water. If a suitable belt of land around such reserved tanks be acquired for the purpose of grazing that will advance the cause to a great extent. In any case Government must see see that adequate pasture grounds at least one-tenth the area of each village-be reserved for each village, and the cost of acquiring such land may be met by Government funds, road cess funds or by new taxation. Indeed the matter is so urgent that any delay will be simply disastrous. We must not be content however with providing pasture-grounds alone. Proper steps must also be taken to ensure maintenance of such lands in proper condition and for the raising of fodder-crops. BREEDING-BULLS. The third and by far the most important item is the want of good breeding-bulls. The quantity of milk that a cow would yield, as also the health size and the milk-producing capacity of the calf that is to be born, depend entirely upon the breeding bull. India is a poor country and the institution of breeding-studs with high fees for breeding is not at all suited for this country. The purpose was however very aptly served by our Brahmani bulls-the animals dedicated by Hindus at the time of the funeral ceremony of their relatives-but thanks to the senseless judgments of the Indian High Courts (2) such bulls are declared res nullius and they are being freely stolen, slaughtered, and used for scavenging purposes. The Brahmani bulls had been so long supplying the needs of the whole of India, but the present unbridled system of slaughter and diversion for other purposes have caused such a want that one can hardly imagine the extent of it. Fancy in a populous district like Howrah these is one (2) I. L. R. 17 Cal. 852; I. L. R. 8 All 51, 9 All 348: I. L. R. 11 Mad. 145. Brahmani breeding bull for every 1541 cows. (3) It will appear strange that the breed of cows should at all continue. It is desirable that the inhabitants of every village should combine and keep one good breeding-bull for every 50 cows, It is necessary to raise the yield of milk and improve the breed of lower grade cow by getting it crossed by a superior grade bull, and in many cases judicious cross-breeding is particularly desirable. In the larger towns and villages the Municipalities and District Boards should provide for such bulls. It is further necessary that legislation be so amended as to counteract the evil effects of the res nullius judgments of the High Courts referred to before, and to authorise Municipalities, District-Boards and Village Unions to maintain Brahmani bulls for breeding purposes. Such breeding-studs should be either absolutely free or only a nominal fee should be charged for breeding. CATTLE-SLAUGHTER. This is one of the vexed questions that have rent the country from time to time. The slaughter of cattle, specially milch-cattle, for religious purposes is comparatively few, but the numbers daily slaughtered in India for food of European soldiers and the civil population, as also for hides are simply appalling. The All-India Cow Conference Association of Calcutta have collected some figures from the different centres of India. Their estimate is that over 10 lakhs of cattle are slaughtered every year in India. They have not obtained figures from all the centres nor all such centres are known to them. It is therefore reasonable to think that their estimate is much less than the actual number slaughtered. To my mind the number of animals yearly slaughtered seems to be above 20 lakhs, (3) Survey and Census of Cattle in Bengal 1915 by Mr. Blackwood Director of Agriculture, Bengal. |