574 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



far ahead of any other country in swiiio breedin*^, not only in a purely agricultural 

 st'US(\. but in the development of tlie liog, in the matter of record boolvS, iu swine 

 allows, extent and encouragement of swine breeding, and the utilization of swine. 



Is in-breeding of farm animals unqualifiedly deleterious and rejectable ? E. O. 

 Arexandkr {Kgl. Laitdt. Akttd. llandl. Tidskr.,S3 {1S04), pp. £''27-,'?.?9).— Answered in 

 the negative; a historical sketch of the ])ractices of breeding adopted by eminent 

 breeders as Bakewell, Colling, Booth, Webb, Fink, etc., are included in the paper. 



Live stock and poultry at Calhoun, Louisiana, J. G. Lek, (Louisiana Sfax. Bnl. 

 29, 2d so-., pp. 1010-/014). — liricf notes on the cattle, sheep, and hogs grown at the 

 station and a record of eggs laid by hens of different breeds. 



VETERINARY SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 



The diagnostic value of tuberculin, Bang {Paper read at Enjlith 



Inter nutlonal Cowji'eHH of Hijijlens {lS9i); ahs. in Ztschr. Flelsch- und 

 Milchhyg., 5 {1894), p. 2). — Of 207 animals which gave a well-marked 

 tuberculin reaction, aud on which the autopsy was properly performed, 

 the autlior fouiul 03 per cent tuberculous. To fatten and slaughter 

 all animals which react appears to him not feasible, for iu some herds 

 80 i^er cent are diseased. He recommends that those which manifest 

 no signs of disease be simply separated from the rest of the herd and 

 used as before, even for breeding purposes. Calves must be taken from 

 the infected stables immediately after birth. 



In infected calves tuberculosis was, in the majority of cases, trace- 

 able to infected milk. Unboiled milk should not be fed to calves 

 excepting the colostral milk on the first day. This might be heated to 

 65° C, to reduce the virulence of the tubercle bacilli. 



The author illustrates this mode of suppression with a striking exam- 

 ple. Two years ago a herd of U08 head of cattle showed upon the 

 injection of tuberculin, 80 per cent of the cows, 40 per cent of the steers, 

 and 40 per cent of the calves infected. The stable was thereupon thor- 

 oughly disinfected and divided into two stables by means of a board 

 partition. After removal of those animals which showed distinct signs 

 of the disease the healthy and the presumably infected (those which 

 appeared still healthy) were kept separated and taken care of by differ- 

 ent persons. The calves of the infected cows were removed immediately 

 after birth, fed with boiled milk, and tested a few weeks later. None 

 of these has thus far given a reaction. 



The whole herd was retested twice a year. In the first year after the 

 segregation 10 per cent of the presumably healthy gave a positive 

 reaction with tuberculin. After this second weeding out only 1 out of 

 107 gave a reaction, and this spring (1894) only 2 out of 122. None of 

 the calves of diseased cows has shown any disease. 



This the author regards as the most natural and cheapest method of 

 eradicating tuberculosis. 



This experiment was made at Government expense. Denmark passed 

 a law in 1893 granting for 5 years a yearly sum of 80,000 crowns. 



