318 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



tlie slaughter, of which we have no knowledge except after 

 the fact, the disease has prevailed in the following towns : 

 New Milford, 44 cases ; Kent, 60 ; Sherman, over 100 ; 

 Warren, 17 ; Bridgewater, over 100 ; Roxbury, 23 ; South- 

 bury, 4 ; Norwalk, 42 ; Darien, 20 ; Stamford, 6 ; Greenwich, 

 10 ; Meriden, 9 ; East Windsor, 26 ; Hartford, 28 ; North 

 Haven, 20 ; Vernon, 30 ; East Berlin, 30 ; Canterbury, 26 ; 

 Cromwell, 15 ; Rocky Hill, 30 ; Woodstock, 3 ; Thompson, 

 100 ; also cases in West Hartford, Windsor, Bristol, New 

 Britain and some other towns. 



Sheep and swine also suffer with the disease, and several 

 cases occurred in both these classes of animals. 



The Cattle Commissioners of New York, Massachusetts, 

 Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut met in Albany, Feb. 

 9th. The history, character, and means of suppressing the 

 disease were thoroughly discussed. 



The " Foot and Mouth Disease " is by no means a new 

 thing, but has been long known and described as existing on the 

 European continent. Its introduction into Britain, however, 

 dates back only about thirty years. Within this time it has re- 

 peatedly overrun the whole kingdom, with the exception of 

 some isolated districts devoted strictly to breeding cattle and 

 away from the lines of cattle traffic. 



The disease was imported from England into Canada in 

 August, 1870, and came thence to Oneida County, N. Y. In 

 November and December it appeared extensively in Eastern 

 New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, as 

 emanating from the cattle yards at Albany. 



This malady, with the Rinderpest and Pleuropneumonia, 

 have sorely afflicted the farmers of Britain, so that it is esti- 

 mated that their annual losses of neat stock for the last ten 

 years from these contagious diseases have averaged the enor- 

 mous sum of £10,000,000 sterling. 



Animals seldom die with the " Foot and Mouth Disease." 

 The sickness usually lasts from three days to three weeks. 

 The damage consists in the loss of labor, of milk, and of 

 flesh, and is variously estimated in different herds as ranging 

 from ten to twenty-five per cent, of their value. Of course 



