142 



the State, aud there is a growing desire to breed up the 

 native cattle. Improved stock have been shipped from 

 the North, Northwest and West for this purpose. 



One purpose of this article is to acquaint present and 

 prospective breeders with the nature of the disease and 

 warn them of the dangers of introducing a disease which 

 would prove detrimental to the business. The first requi- 

 site in breeding beef cattle is to secure the greatest num- 

 ber of vigorous calves. Infectious abortion strikes with 

 certain fatality at this part of the industry. The only 

 way to avoid incurring the dangers of an infectious dis- 

 eiise is to prevent its introduction. 



Dairymen, especially those who keep cows for milk 

 and milk products, often fail to realize the economic im- 

 portance of the disease. Such dairymen do not value the 

 calves. Indeed, the loss of the calf in this case amounts 

 to nothing, and the matter might be dismissed if there 

 were not other sources of loss. There is another reason 

 why some persons are led to believe abortion is no disad- 

 vantage. Occasionally a cow having missed one calving 

 period, aborts before the next and begins to give a full 

 flow of milk. 



This is well illustrated by the report of four cases 

 which came under the observation of W. W. Cook of Ver- 

 mont Experiment Station. So also is the pecuniary loss 

 illustrated. 



One cow aborting two months before the time to drop 

 a calf, yielded 200 gallons of milk, or the equivalent of 

 70 pounds of butter less than she had yielded the 

 previous year after normal birth. 



Loss from the second cow was 240 gallons of milk with 



a butter equivalent of 60 pounds and from the third 200 

 gallons of milk or 75 pounds of butter. The fourth cow, 

 which had been milking 16 months and had carried her 

 fu^tus 7 months, miscarried without aparent disadvan- 

 tage. In fact, this cow the previous year, 5 months after 

 delivery, gave 15 pounds of milk per day and 21 pounds 

 per day 5 months after aborting. 



