No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF ASRICULTURE. 103 



caliMi lilt ion. Oil l.j,()OU cows this means §15,000.00 expense or cost 

 of ii)si)ecti(!U. Is'ow, what is the gain? Since two and one-half per 

 cent, of tlie cows examined are tubercular and aie prevented from en- 

 (rring faruiers' herds, 375 cows are thus directly excluded. At the 

 reasonable average of $40 per head this means that $15,000.00 worth 

 of tiib(?rcular cows are denied sale in Pennsylvania. That is, the 

 purchaseis of out of KState cows ])ay $15,000,00 for the inspection, but 

 save $15,000.00 that they would otherwise expend for tubercular 

 cows. But this is not the only saving.. From two to three times 

 as many tubercular cows would be brought into I'eiinsylvauia and 

 sold, were they not inspected, so that the direct saving may be 

 safely estimated at $30,000. Ot), Moreover, many of these tubercular 

 cows would spread infection and some of them would start dis- 

 ease that would undoubtedly infect whole herds. (As one of many 

 examples the Piollet herd was thus infected by a cow from New 

 Jersey and 150 cattle became tubercular involving a loss of more 

 than $0,000.00 on this single herd.) If each cow should infect 

 an average of but one animal the loss would be doubled and would 

 reach $00,000.00 per year. I believe that this estimate is most con- 

 servative and that the money spent in testing cows from other 

 States is the means of saving, to cow owners, at the very lowest, four 

 times as much in direct loss from tuberculosis." 



Several brilliant illustrations of the value of the inspectiosi of 

 cattle from outside of the State have been afforded during the past 

 year. As an instance, in two car loads of cows from Virginia it 

 was found that one-half were victims of rather well marked and ad- 

 vanced tuberculosis. Notwithstanding this fact, these cows were 

 offered for sale and would have been sold in Chester county if it had 

 tiot been for the required inspection. As it was, they were reK;urn«d 

 to Virginia. Perhaps one of the most beneficial features of the in- 

 spection law is its effect in causing cattle dealers to exercise great 

 care in selection of cows to be shipped to Pennsylvania and especi- 

 ally to avoid purchasing them in districts where tuberculosis is pre- 

 valent. 



I wish to call attention again to a statement made in my report of 

 last year, which, upon further consideration, 1 rc^gard as entirely 

 feasible and worthy of adoption. Last year it was put forward 

 tentatively but now I am convinced that a plan such as pro- 

 posed below would be of great value to the live stock interest of the 

 State. 



''There is still much damage done by the sale of tubercular herds. 

 When it becomes evident, through the death or debility of some of 

 its members, that a herd is tubercular, some owners submit to the 

 strong temptation to sell their cattle. They reason that, by so doing, 

 they are violating no special law and that they will wceive more for 



