No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 131 



It has como to be pretty generally understood tliat an animal 

 that declines in condition without visible cause and while continu- 

 ing to eat well, should be suspected as being afflicted with tuber- 

 culosis, and should be isolated from the herd. The suspicion at- 

 tached to such an aninml is intensified if the animal is afflicted 

 with harsh breathing, chronic cough, enlarged glands or chronic dis- 

 charge from any of the natural openings of the bod3^ There is 

 still, however, need, and, in some parts of the State, great need, 

 for more attention to this fact, because it happens altogether too 

 often that cows that show S3^mptoms of a chronic disease, as de- 

 scribed, are permitted to remain in a herd in contact with their 

 herd mates until great and irretrievable damage has been done. 

 Every herd owner should have a place for isolating animals that 

 are in an unthrifty conditioai, or that may possibly be afflicted with 

 an infectious disease. The need for isolation applies not only to 

 tuberculosis, but is also important in relation to the control of con- 

 tagious abortion, contagious garget, contagious ophthalmia, and 

 other disease. Every cow showing unthriftiness or evidence of any 

 constitutional ailment should be taken away from the herd and 

 kept in isolation until it has been cured or until a positive diagnosis 

 has been made 'or, as in the case of tuberculosis, until it has been 

 finally disposed of. 



Formerly payments were not made by authority of the State Live 

 Stock Sanitary Board for any tubercular cattle unless the entire 

 herd was submitted for inspection and tuberculin test, for the pur- 

 pose of entirely eradicating infection and of putting the herd on 

 as healthy a basis as could be reached. In time, the demands for 

 herd inspections became so numerous that it was quite impossible 

 to require the inspection of a herd whenever visible tubercular 

 cattle were found, and so the system was developed of immediately 

 disposing of the animals afflicted with advanced or generalized tu- 

 berculosis, or with tuberculosis of the udder, and of deferring the 

 herd test until it could be reached in regular order or, as not in- 

 frequently happens, on account of the increased number of applica- 

 tions for herd tests, until there is additional reason for the general 

 inspection. Admittedly, it is unfortunate that every herd in which 

 tubercular cattle have been found, cannot be tested with tuberculin, 

 so that the infected cattle may be designated and kept apart from 

 those that are uninfected. It is, however, quite out of the question 

 to attempt the tuberculin test of all herds in which the disease has 

 been recognized without a very large increase of the funds available 

 for this work. On this account, owners of herds are encouraged 

 to have tests made at their own expense and tuberculin for this 

 purpose is furnished free of charge by the State Live Stock Sani- 

 tary Board. Tests of entire herds are made by this Board on as 



