120 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



quently, this outlet for tuberculous cattle, through appraisal and de- 

 struction by the State is not suilicieut. The only other outlet that 

 is available is the slaughter house, and to butcher milch cows is to 

 incur great loss. Many of these cows might safely be used for vary- 

 ing periods, up to a few years, in the dairy and for breeding if 

 certain and well known and perfectly well understood and estab- 

 lished i)recautions were observed. If certain farms could be pro- 

 vided and set aside for maintaining herds of cows that have reacted 

 to the tuberculin test, this would provide another outlet for such 

 animals, no farmer desires to keep tuberculous cows in contact 

 with healthy cows. Such exposure occurs through the unwitting 

 purchase of infected animals and then through keeping them in ig- 

 norance, or from the fact that to dispose of them would cause more 

 loss than the farmer feels he is able to bear. If there were a cer- 

 tain demand for reacting cows from men who v^'ould isolate them 

 and keep them under the strict, sanitar}^ supervision that would be 

 necessary, an additional encouragement would be afforded the ow^ner 

 of tuberculous cows to get rid of them by providing a higher price 

 than is paid by the State. This would greatly facilitate the concen- 

 tration and sequestration of infected cows, under conditions where 

 they could be carefully w^atched and their products pasteurized 

 so that they could do no harm, and would tend to encourage their re- 

 moval from unwatched, uninspected herds v\iiere they now exist in 

 large numbers and where the raw, virulent milk is sent to market 

 W'ithout pasteurization or restriction of any kind. 



The above suggestion has been made by me before, but it has not 

 been possible to put it in operation and it may not be in the near 

 future. It is believed, however, that it is well to make the sugges- 

 tion so that this and other plans may be considered to the end that 

 a method may be found for ridding aur herds more rapidly of tuber- 

 culosis. 



The cows that spread the greatest amount of infectious material 

 are those suffering in the more advanced stages of disease. It is re- 

 quired that all such animals shall be reported to the State Livestock 

 Sanitary Board and that they shall be destroyed. Unfortunately, 

 however, there is no provision for searching for such animals through 

 the agency of a systematic inspection of dairy herds. The time is 

 rapidy approaching when such an inspection will be demanded both 

 b}' the producers and consumers; b}' producers for the protection of 

 their herds and for the improvement of their markets and by the 

 consumers for the protection of health. 



A good deal of progress in the repression of tuberculosis of cat- 

 tle is being made, but the disease is so widespread and so dangerous 

 that it is desirable that more rapid progress shall be made. The 

 question is largely one of finance. The method for dealing with 

 tuberculosis is the same as described in detail in the report for last 

 year. Considerable progress has been made in relation to the vac- 

 cination of herds against tuberculosis. The present status of our 

 work in this direction is as stated in the following address by the 

 State Veterinarian to the Eastern Guernsev Breeders' Association, 

 Bala, September 18, 1906, 



