Final settlement report of the Simla district, 1915-16

· 1917 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

2Kanet. who bréeds from immature hulls before gelding them for the plough,

3causes a deterioration which will not be met by the mere introduction of new

4blood. The number of cattle at last settlement and this was declared by the

5villagers as follows : —

7’

8— | Plougha, t Plough-oxen. Buffaloes. Calves. Sheep and goat.

10i¢Then . $B 1,901 1,009 1,891 1,220 1,806

11Bharol: ... { SS SSS eh :

12'CNow ... 982 2,282 2,753 H ae 1,749 2,380

13‘2 ofan 08 Then ... cea 4,162 horned nee F . nee 1,810

14Kotkin! 4 cattle.

15iQNow ... 1,052 | 2,293 oe 2,869 2,505 2,274

16. i ( Teen ee tes 2,607 borned ae i nae oes 1,859

17Kothoarh . cattle.

18(UNow .. 739+ 1,639 2 1807 1,265 1,461

19The figures for Bharoli are. probably correct, those for the Kotkhai Tahail!

20are certainly wrong. At last settlement the people in fear of a grazing tax

21made false declarations, and actually there has been no such increase as the

22figures show. The villagers themselves state that owing to rinderpest of which

23there have been several bad epidemics, cattle are now fewer than they were

2430 venrs ago. As the tahsil carrics as much stock as it can, this is true only

25to the extent that the grazing has been spoiled by new cultivation.

26The following table shows this very clearly :~—

27er

28-— No. of cattle. Aran of grazing in acres, Area of manored land in

29acres,

30Bharoli 8,000 13,000 | 2,000

31Kothhai 10,000 9,800 4,250

32Kotyarh 6,500 6,000 2,600

33Iv Bharoli where the cattle and grazing are ample but not in excess the

34proportions is 8,18, 2. In the other two alagas it is 10, 9, 44 and 6}, 6, 23, that is

35to suy, the eattle are insufficient for the manured arca, and the grazing is in-

36sufficient for the cattle. The figures for the Kotkhai Tahsil are not absolutely

37correct, as about half the villages have grazing-rights in reserved forest. Pro-

38bably the figures 9 and 6 should be increased to 12 and 8. To remedy this

39shortage of grazing the people ask for the opening of all Government forests,

40but. this could only result in the recurrence of the difficulty in an aggravated

41form after the destruction of the forests in a couple of generations. In Kotkhai

42where a large area of the great forest of Chambi Kupar is at present uscless, a

43revision of the working-plan, perhaps accompanied by a grazing-tax, which

44tho villagers would now cheerfully pay, should do much to ease the situation,

45but in Kotgarh no such measure is possible, and in both ilaqgas the real diffi-

46eulty is over-population, which has destroyed the balance of cultivated land and

47grazing. Throughout the district there is a religious prohibition of the drink-

48ing or sale of milk. It does not extend to ghi, which is a most important item

49in the dict and budget of the zamindar.

5014, Since settlement the population of Bharoli has decrcased by 12 and

51that of Kotkhai and Kotgarh has increased by

52een 7 and 23 per centum respectively.

53The figures arc :—

54Bharolt. Kotkhas. Kotgarh.

55At settlement en vee AAO 6,190 3,444

56Now... es a = 3,856 6,620 4,223

57he incidence on the cultivated area is in persons to the acre—

58Bharolt, Kotkhas. Kotgarh,

59At settlement vs Mes 17 LA 13

60Now.» * V6 15 15

61The incidence in Bharoli is the highest on paper only, and actually the