NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 107 
Second: What relation has bovine tuberculosis to human health, and is 
there any reason whatever for us to tackle t-his problem from the stand- 
point of public health of our nation? 
From the farmer's standpoint let me say that tuberculosis is an eco- 
nomic scourge. Whether you think it is right or wrong, it is an actual 
fact that many of the cities throughout the United States are passing laws 
requiring that milk, butter, cheese and products of cattle sold in those 
states shall come from tuberculosis-free herds. I believe it will take a 
long time to upset these ideas. Before long the farmer who has tubercu- 
losis in his herd is not going to market his product at all, or if he does, 
he will not be able to market them profitably. 
There is one little sidelight on that, and probably some of you gentle- 
men know a good deal more from this standpoint than I do. The packers 
in our country estimate that they lose $3,000,000 a year through tuber- 
culous cattle, counting hogs as cattle. How long are they going to stand 
for that? Some of them are kicking already. Some of them use this 
argument: "We have to deduct from our profits our losses when we buy 
tuberculosis cattle which our government condemns. If we could be sure 
that when we buy a hundred head of cattle, every one is going to be mar- 
ketable and can pass our Federal examination, we could pay the farmer 
a better price. ' Some of you may think the packers are a pretty tough 
lot and that they will squeeze you anyhow, but so true is this that the 
packers themselves are working for uniform laws in the different states 
of the upper Mississippi valley, so that each state will handle this tubercu- 
losis problem in the same way. 
Some of our states have laws prohibiting the importation of tuberculous 
cattle. We have such a law in the State of Wisconsin, and we have some 
of the best breeders of fine cattle there that can be found in the United 
States. Before tnose men can sell an animal to go to any other part of 
of the state they must show us that it has been tuberculosis-tested and is 
an absolutely healthy animal. If you buy an animal that proves to have 
tuberculosis, the sale is off and you are not obliged to pay one cent for 
it. It is a common-sense rule; a man has no right to sell me a diseased 
animal. 
There is another point of view. I believe I am right in saying that the 
creamery'method of handling milk is" increasing'^ it "at^the^present "time. 
Mr. A. has a perfectly healthy herd of cows; Mr. B. also has a healthy 
herd; Mr. C. has two or three sick cows. They all send their milk to the 
same creamery. They get back their skim milk and feed it to their cattle. 
What is the result? By-and-by they all have tuberculous cattle. One man 
who doesn't believe in the tuberculin test or that tubeculosis is a danger- 
ous disease can infect his neighbor's cattle. If I had my lantern slides 
I could show you where two creameries spread tuberculosis to twenty or 
thirty farms. 
Iowa is a hog-raising state. You know that tuberculosis is increasing 
among swine tremendously, not only in the United States, but in every 
country in the world. It is nearly three times as prevalent among hogs 
at the present day as it is among cattle. Swine get it from these skim 
milk products, and also from following tuberculous cattle and eating their 
droppings. In Wisconsin there is a man named Jones who makes sau- 
