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468 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
The large proportional expenses for salaries is due to the fact that — 4 
from October 1, 1886, to April 20, 1887, no cattle were paid for by the ~ J 
Department, but a large force was kept in the field investigating ag 
tothe prevalence of pleuro-pneumonia about Chicago, the sizeof the 
district that was infected, in guarding infected stables, and in sery- 
ing quarantine notices for the State authorities. AstheStateappro- 
priation was acknowledged on all sides to be too small to cope with 
the emergency, the Department of Agriculture assumed all of the ex- 
pense which it could in order that the State funds might be used for — 
the slaughter of cattle. 
Between 2,000 and 3,000 head of cattle in the distillery stables and 
on the Harvey farm were quarantined by the State authorities at a _ 
4 
nominal cost, and the animals were slaughtered by the State before — 
the Bureau of Animal Industry was given authority to expend money 
for this purpose. Neither this quarantine, therefore, nor the com-_ 
pensation for the animals appear in this report, and yet the quaran- 
tine was maintained for sixty days by guards paid by the Bureau at 
an expense of about $100 a day. Of course, cattle when in large — 
herds can be quarantined and slaughtered at relatively small expense 
? 
for salaries, but when in small lots and scattered over a large terri- 
tory, or when a constant guard must be maintained, this expense is 
greatly increased. 
Again, since the slaughter of exposed cattle was suspended, there 
has been a period of watching and investigation to make sure that 
every vestige of the disease had been destroyed. The period during 
which the active slaughter of cattle was in progress, and the com- 
pensation paid by the Department, was but little over six months, . 
while the total period during which it has been necessary to keep a 
force in the field has been fifteen months. Finally, the expenses for 
disinfection have been very heavy, and this is the only outbreak in 
which any systematic and thorough disinfection has been practiced 
in the United States by the authorities up to the time the disease was © 
eradicated. If these facts are taken into consideration, they will ex- 
plain the preponderance of salaries and other expenses over the amount 
paid for slaughtered cattle. 
WORK IN MARYLAND, 
Baltimore County, Md., has long been acknowledged to be one of 
the worst infected localities in the United States. The plague has 
been very prevalent there, affecting nearly every herd in Baltimore 
and vicinity and extending for a considerable distance into the coun- 
try. The contagion has existed in the stables and pastures there for 
so long a time that they are saturated with it, and in many cases it 
is extremely difficult to secure their thorough disinfection. The 
work there has, consequently, been as difficult as it is possible for. 
such work to be. Pleuro-pneumonia was also found to exist in the 
counties of Anne Arundel, Carroll, Howard, and Prince George's, 
in the same State. The affected herds in all these counties, with the 
exception of Baltimore, were immediately slaughtered, and the plague 
was at once eradicated. 
In city districts it is much more difficult to discover affected herds. 
‘The owners are often ignorant, with no knowledge of the law, or ~ 
having such knowledge they conceal the disease. \ It is therefore only 
by constant watching and thorough supervision of the movement of 
animals that the diseased herds are discovered. Until November 10, — 
