Observations on the breeding of horses, within the Provinces under the Bengal establishment, submitted to the consideration of the President and members of the Board of Superintendence [of the East India Company, 1814].

  • Moorcroft, William.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the breeding of horses, within the Provinces under the Bengal establishment, submitted to the consideration of the President and members of the Board of Superintendence [of the East India Company, 1814]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    39/72 (page 24)
    And ths produce ronch t)io Anny through the Commisaariat. ( 24 ) These conclusions er- roneous. For the Civil SeiTants could not gji.'iro time for tho sujieriutcn- dcnco, Vi-ithout detri- ment to their own do- tartments. whilst the best produce would be- come the prize of s]>ecu- litors, nnd the worst be u£fcrcd to the Cavalrj-. And, altliougli the produce might not, by passing throuf^h the Stud, demonstrate the total amount in utility of tL Stallions thus employed, yet proceeding through the Com- missariat, it would not be less beneficial to the Army. Closer examination, longer experience disturbed both the premises and the conclusion. The supposition that these Gentlemen could abstract from their own Department, with convenience, the portion of time necessary for well conducting this new occupation, was erroneous. And that the desirable produce wduld find its way through the regular channel to the Army, was equally un- founded. The best would be seized by speculators, the indiflferent would be tendered for the service. In the present scarcity of good Horses, it cannot be otherwise. every meritorious exertions of the Commissariat are to «t the^age°’’o^fSdn!i^^ fullest extent acknowleditred. But their powers are lunited. They cannot procure Horses at three years old worth more in the market than the prices allowed by the Service. Yet Horses of higher marketable value than 400 or 4o0 Rupees, might be raised through the means of Go- vernment Stallions. But TTorscs of higher value produced by tital- lions kcj)tat the expense of the State, woula nei- ther improve the breed in the British provinces, nor bo obtained bv Go- vernment, but fall lo the lot of neighboring Chiefs nnd of itidividuals giving more than tho regiincntiu price. And Government, in bearing a portion of the expense have a claim to a portion of the benefit originating from their measures. If I understand rightly, it is desirable to improve the quality of the Horses of Hindoostan, as weU as to increase their numbers. But Government, by adopting a loose general system without checks, would become the direct instrument of raising, at a heavy expense, superior Horses for neighbor and individuals, of rearing middling and inferior animals for public use. To secure the desirable produce for the service, (I put e fact roundly, and without fear of refutation,) the State must interfere by purchasing it at an early age.