112 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Office of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior. Each 

 year shows a marked increase in this work. 



The establishment of pure-bred herds of cattle free from tubercu- 

 losis as determined by tuberculin tests applied under bureau super- 

 vision is being materially realized by the tuberculin testing of such 

 herds in widely separated sections of the United States. 



The cooperation with the Office of Indian Affairs is resulting in the 

 eradication of tuberculosis from many of the herds at the Indian 

 schodls and in an improvement in the quality of cattle and the sani- 

 tary conditions under which milk is produced. 



In the District of Columbia, where a compulsory tuberculin test 

 has been a requirement since November, 1909, the work has been con- 

 tinued with cooperation upon the part of private cattle owners and 

 of the cattle dealers. The success of this method of controlling 

 bovine tuberculosis in a restricted area is clearly demonstrated, as 

 the percentage of this disease in the District has been reduced within 

 seven years from 18.87 to 1.1 as shown by a complete testing of all 

 cattle in the District of Columbia during the past year. 



The continuation of cooperation with Virginia farmers and the 

 Virginia Dairy and Food Division is making strong inroads against 

 the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in that State, as shown by a 

 reduction in the percentage of cattle submitted to the tuberculin test 

 for the first time to 7 per cent as compared with 18.27 per cent in 

 1910. 



The following statement shows numerically the results of the 

 tuberculin test applied in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and 

 Maryland : 



Results of tuberculin testing of dairy cattle in Maryland, Virginia, and the 



District of Columbia. 



ERADICATION OF DOURINE. 



Two-thirds of a special appropriation of March 4, 1915, or the sum 

 of $50,000, became available for the eradication of dourine of horses 

 at the beginning of the fiscal year. Practically all of this amount 

 was expended on this work in the various States by the close of the 

 summer season of 1915, and as no special appropriation was made 

 during the year, it was not possible to place an adequate force of 



