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of grass.1 This typical instance is illustrative of four
important features of rural life e.g.
(i) the intense love of the farmer for his cattle;
(ii) the proverbial lack of capital in the hands of an
average farmer ;
(iii) the incurring of debt at any unfavourable turn of
the season ; and
(iv) the way in which the rural capitalist exploits the
farmer's necessity in times of difficulty.
The decrease in the year of enquiry is explained by two
circumstances : (i) the year 1925-26 witnessed a fodder
famine; and (ii) the fodder famine wats accompanied by
cattle-diseases like sore throat, diarrhoea, cough and
others*
In the case of ovine animals which do not eat grass,
the decrease in their number in 1918*19 is difficult to
explain. Probably a number of them succumbed in the
rainy season of 1917-18 when it rained excessively. The
same thing happened in 1926-27. Excess of rain, as we
learnt from shepherds of this place, proves injurious to
ovine animals in two ways : (i) goats and sheep cannot go
out in the open to graze on areas of green vegetation with
which they are mainly fed by their masters in this part;
and (ii) rain water penetrates the feeble roofs of their
sheds, wets the floor and rots their feet, causing death in
some cases.
This explanation of the variations in the number of
cattle at different censuses suggests that either the vita-
lity of the cattle as a whole is too low, because of con-
stant underfeeding, to resist any attack of disease or re-
duction in what little food they usually get; or that the
purchasing power of their owners is low and seriously
dwindles in times of famines. We believe that both are
responsible for the poor state of cattle in this place, as
we shall presently see.
1 This means that the price per 1000 bundles of grass was Rs. 166
whereas the ordinary price in the year of enquiry was Rs. 10.
IT