THE SANITARY PRIVY. 
SOIL POLLUTION. 
It is common knowledge among intelligent farmers that in many 
instances when live stock, suclr as horses, cattle, sheep, or hogs, are 
pastured year after year in the same field, the animals do not thrive; 
in fact, that, sooner or later, many sicken and die; this is especially 
true of the young animals. 
The explanation of this fact is clear. Animals harbor parasitic 
worms and germs in their intestines; the worms lay eggs, which are 
passed in the droppings; the eggs develop into young worms, which 
in turn reinfect the live stock. If a pasture is in constant use the 
ground becomes heavily infested with young worms and other germs; 
the smaller the pasture in proportion to the number of animals kept 
in it, the more intensified the soil pollution becomes. Warmth and 
moisture are especially favorable to the hatching out of worms from 
the eggs passed in the droppings, hence, during warm, moist seasons, 
or in warm, moist localities, the infection of the stock is hkely to be 
more severe. The more heavily the animals are infected with para- 
sites, the less they thrive; their digestion is weakened and their 
blood becomes watery, so that a considerable proportion of the food 
given them is wasted in that it does not go to make meat; their 
growth is retarded and their fertility is lessened; and finally infec- 
tion reaches such a degree that many of the animals can no longer 
withstand it, and they sicken and die. Thus, the soil pollution of a 
field by the live stock eventually renders the pastures unfavorable 
for raising animals. The practical farmer, having observed this fact, 
moves his stock to other ground in order “ to give the old pasture a 
rest; ” by so doing he removes his animals from exposure to infec- 
tion, allowing the infectious germs and young worms in the old 
pasture to die out. 
The foregoing facts regarding the effects of soil pollution upon 
the health of animals, such as horses, sheep, cattle, swine, and chick- 
ens, apply with equal force to human beings, because human beings 
also harbor parasitic worms and germs, which are discharged in the 
excreta, pollute the soil, are again conveyed to people, and thus con- 
tinue the round of infection at an increasing rate. Soil pollution by 
Nore.—A list giving the titles of all Farmers’ Bulletins available for distri- 
bution will be sent free upon application to a Member of Congress or the Secre- 
tary of Agriculture. 
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