268 AGRICLXTURE OF MAINE. 



is and for what it will bring in competition with healthy cows' 

 product, keeping this up until the disease wears the animal out 

 and death thins out the diseased herd. This policy is more 

 particularly confined to Denmark, and is called the Bang system 

 after the originator, Prof. Bang. It is only because Denmark is 

 a poor country and cannot afford to pay for all animals which 

 are diseased, that such a system can be practiced. The govern- 

 ment only pays for animals that show disease in the udder, 

 which is claimed to be only one per cent of diseased animals, 

 and such payments are only about $15 on the average. Even 

 in that country, their report shows a "sad falling oft'"" in the 

 number of cattle tested each year. 



Dr. Baker of California, reported that upon twelve open 

 ranges in the centre of that state, 41,000 cattle were tested and 

 9 1-2J0 were found diseased, and in the middle West they are as 

 badly aft"ected, both among their cattle and their hogs. Dr. 

 Knowles of Helena, Montana, reported, "My observation justi- 

 fies the assertion that tuberculosis of cattle cannot exist under 

 open range conditions strictly speaking, especially in a high, dry 

 altitude such as we have in Montana, where sunshine, the great- 

 est of bacteria destroyers, is more abundant than it is in Egypt." 

 And yet he says, "Under the semi-range conditions, the number 

 of aft'ected animals in a herd, (ordinarily consisting of from 

 300 to 1,000 cattle) will be relatively small, — five or six per cent; 

 but where the shelter provided is enclosed on all sides, although 

 the cattle are fed in an open lot, only using the sheds during the 

 night, and in stormy weather, the percentage of infection is 

 usually large — in fact nearly as great as though under close 

 domestication." Dr. W". H. Dalrymple of Louisiana, reported, 

 "The prevalence of and extent of tuberculosis in the southern 

 states seemed to depend largely upon the condition and environ- 

 ment under which cattle exist and also upon the predominance 

 or otherwise of the improved breeds. The genial climate of 

 the southern states permitting an almost continuous out-of-door 

 existence throughout the entire year, should afford ideal condi- 

 tions for the maximum health fulness in our cattle. 



Reports from twelve southern states shozv — "That bovine 

 tuberculosis is prevalent, and apparently on the increase. That 

 the prevalence and increase are almost wholly amongst stabled 

 or dairy cattle. 



