STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 365 



been noted an increase in tuberculosis in hogs, within the last few years, 

 and that this has been traced to the large dairy centers where the skim 

 milk is fed to pigs. If pigs contract the disease so readily, why not 

 children ? We have been accustomed to regard the pig as a very resist- 

 ant animal. 



There is a difference of opinion among bacteriologists as to whether 

 the tubercle bacilli of cattle is identical with that which is found in 

 human tuberculosis. This is not a matter of such moment as the fact 

 that both cause disease in the human being. My firm belief is that the 

 extermination of the disease in cattle will be followed by a marked im- 

 provement in the health of the human family. 



I know that it is the desire of the dairymen of this Association to 

 put upon the market ptire, healthful dairy products, but this cannot be 

 done from a herd containing tuberculous cows. 



In closing, let me repeat and emphasize my belief that nothing is 

 more important for the success of the dairy industry of this State than 

 to free our herds from tuberculosis,, and to keep them free. The aid 

 which the Board of Agriculture is offering through its veterinary ser- 

 vice is timely, and I hope that every member of this Association will 

 call on Dr. Luckey for a test of his herd— and of every animal added 

 thereto. 



Mr. Marple — I would like to ask Dr. Luckey what his opinion is 

 of the per cent of tuberculous cows in this State. 



Dr. Luckey — I don't know how many herds of this State are af- 

 fected with the disease, but I think there is only a small per cent of 

 either beef or dairy herds. 



Mr. Carroll — Is it a fact that tuberculosis spreads more rapidly 

 among dairy cattle than beef herds? 



Dr. Luckey — No. Whenever tuberculosis gets in a herd it spreads 

 among them all, regardless of breed. 



Mr. Carroll — The reason I ask is I saw an article in Hoard's Dairy- 

 man stating that the disease was more extensively developed in dairy 

 herds than among beef herds. 



Dr. Luckey — There is no ground for that conclusion. The regis- 

 tered beef and dairy cattle are kept very much alike; and in this con- 

 nection I will say that I notice tuberculosis spreads very rapidly where 

 the animals are fed from a common trough, or where they are fed on 

 the floor, because after eating what one animal leaves is swept along to 

 the feeding place of another, and one animal eats after another. On 

 the other hand, there were tuberculous cows in a herd for five years, 

 and out of 50 head only 16 contracted the disease. In this case they 

 had individual troughs — each cow stayed in her own stall. 



