I02 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



been destroyed and post mortems held, and they have never 

 failed to find the disease in the unvaccinated animals and have 

 found no lesions in the vaccinated animals except in a few- 

 instances where it was known that they were slightly affected 

 before the vaccination, and in those instances the disease is 

 found to have been checked. 



Ones. How long has that immunity been found to continue? 

 How many years after vaccination? 



Ans. The process is young, it is only six years old, but the 

 immunity does not decrease. Animals that have been immunized 

 have been subjected to artificial injection, and have not taken 

 the disease. The inference is that it is good for the life of the 

 animal, or for a period which would practically include the 

 useful life of the dairy animal. 



Mr. Gilman — I would like to ask Mr. Deering, when ani- 

 mals have been slaughtered what steps the cattle commissioners 

 have taken to disinfect stables? 



Mr. Deering — I am glad that that question has been asked 

 and I will briefly state what the commissioners are doing along 

 that line. Years ago we did not pay much attention to dis- 

 infecting. We would go in and kill the diseased cattle, and if 

 there was not much disease we would go on. But we learned by 

 experience that that was wrong, that we must do something, 

 and we began to increase the expenses and the work in that 

 line. And for the last four years, at least, we do not allow any 

 place to be left until it is thoroughly and effectually disinfected. 

 We find it very expensive, yet we curtail the expense somewhat 

 bv taking into account the condition the animal was in when 

 destroyed. For instance, as the Doctor has explained to you 

 here today, an animal in a certain stage of that disease has not 

 communicated it to any other animal and has not left any germs, 

 probably, in the tie-up or barn. If we find an animal but 

 slightly diseased we do not spend as much money in disinfecting 

 as we do w'here the animal is badly diseased. We have had 

 cases where we have even burned the barn. One stable in Port- 

 land we burned, on account of glanders. We very often expend 

 fifteen to twenty-five dollars in disinfecting stables and we are 

 more particular and more careful about that line of work than 



