CATTLE COMMISSIONERS REPORT. 171 



ease among horses has been found in different sections of this 

 State and the public should realize more clearly the importance 

 of stamping out this disease, as it is considered more dangerous 

 to man than tuberculosis. It should not be given a chance to 

 spread. 



FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 



Xovember 17, 1902, I received the following from Austin 

 Peters, Chief of the Cattle Bureau of the Board of Agriculture in 

 Massachusetts : "There are symptoms of a disease similar to 

 foot and mouth disease and which seems to be very contagious, 

 and which has made its appearance in Massachusetts and Rhode 

 Island." 



On November 18, notice was served on all railroads, express 

 companies, steamships and other common carriers that no more 

 permits should be granted persons wishing to ship cattle, sheep 

 and swine into Maine from any other state. 



Up to the writing of this report there is no foot and mouth 

 disease in Maine, and we consider the dairymen and cattle owners 

 in our State extremely fortunate. 



When we take into consideration that there are 290,000 cattle 

 in Maine and 90 per cent are cows and heifers, we have ample 

 proof of the fact that during the last twenty years the State has 

 all the while been growing more and more a dairy State. And 

 while this change has been going on the farmers and breeders 

 have been raising a finer bred dairy cow. By their experience 

 the Commissioners find that these finer bred animals are more 

 susceptible to disease than ordinary non-milk-producing breeds. 

 And as time goes on and these animals become more numerous 

 it will be more difficult to keep our herds healthy. 



In the early part of 1902 the Commissioners were called upon 

 to investigate several large herds which were found to be badly 

 diseased, using nearly all of the unexpended balance of the 1902 

 appropriation. This caused us to stop paying for cattle and 

 horses after March 1. This state of affairs is a hardship to 

 those who are unfortunate in having diseased cattle and horses 



and also very unpleasant to the Commissioners while doing the 

 business. Yet it was no fault of the Legislature because it 

 appropriated the amount requested by the Commissioners and 

 at that time the Commissioners thought that $15,000 would be 



