BUEEAU OF ANIMAL. INDUSTRY. 101 



necessity for driving cattle long distances to the nearest vats in 

 operation. 



CONTINUED EXCLUSION OF FOREIGN DISEASES. 



• 



Quarantine regulations proved effective during the year with the 

 result that no destructive foreign plague affecting livestock gained 

 admittance to the United States. Never in our history has this 

 country been so nearly surrounded b}'- foot-and-mouth disease as in 

 recent years. Its ravages liave been reported from most European, 

 Asiatic, and South American countries, but it has thus far been kept 

 outside the barrier of the Federal quarantine stations. Other serious 

 foreign diseases which have been effectively excluded are contagious 

 pleuropneumonia, rinderpest, surra, and Malta fever. 



LIVESTOCK IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES. 



Of the many varied lines of work conducted by the bureau, few 

 have met with more support from outside sources than the systematic 

 effort to improve domestic animals in the country. This work, 

 popularly known as the " Better Sires — Better Stock "' campaign and 

 begun three years ago. developed rapidly during the year. By the 

 close of the fiscal year nearly 8,000 livestock owners had filed state- 

 ments with the department that they will use good purebred sires 

 exclusively in their livestock breeding operations and for all classes 

 of animals kei)t. These agreements affect the use of nearly a million 

 head of breeding stock and are certain to have an important effect 

 on coming generations of domestic animals. 



State and local officials, breeding associations, and the agricultural 

 press have given practically unanimous support to this constructive 

 work. The figures mentioned showing persons and animals directly 

 associated with the activity are believed to be small compared to 

 those indirectly affected. Leading States in the work are Ohio, 

 Virginia, Nebraska. Washington, and Kentucky. 



UTILITY VALUE OF PUREBRED LIVESTOCK STUDIED. 



During the year the bureau made a study of the utility value of 

 purebred livestock and of results to be expected from the use of 

 purebred sires. Based on the experiences of more than 500 persons 

 who were known to be using purebred sires and who kept female 

 stock of varying quality — including purebreds, crossbreds, grades, 

 and scrubs — the results showed a marked superiority in earning 

 power of well-bred over common stock. For all classes of animals 

 the average reported superiority of purebreds over common stock 

 was approximately 40 per cent. Offspring of purebred sires were 

 shown to be practically 50 per cent more valuable than the offspring 

 of nonpurebreds. Besides, the better bred young stock was more 

 readily salable and had greater utility value when kept on 'the farm. 

 Other related information on the subject was obtained, analj^zed, and 

 prepared for publication. 



EXTENSION WORKERS AND COUNTY AGENTS ACTIVE. 



The influence of the bureau's efforts to interest livestock owners 

 in improved animals and methods of breeding has been greatly ex- 



