396 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



The stench, soon became almost unbearable, and every hog or pig which 

 had access to the creek or river became affected with s^vijie x)lague. Mr. 

 Morris at that time had a large herd of hogs, but he kept them shut 

 up in his hog-lot away from the river, and his herd was the only one 

 within six miles on that river which remained exempt. 



8. Mr. Morrises herd of swine. — I was on his place for the first time on 

 October 31. He had then about four hundred hogs and pigs or shoats, 

 most of them running at large on a farm of 317 acres, and about forty 

 or fifty of his shoats showed such symptoms as are observed during the 

 first stages of swine plague. Only one animal had died {of. below). 

 He had bought, and received on October 18, a drove of hogs and shoats 

 — about thirty head — out of an infected herd. Some of the animals be- 

 longing to that herd still exhibited symi^toms of disease, but were con- 

 sidered as convalescent, while others appeared to be perfectly healthy, 

 or showed only slight traces of having been sick. When I was there 

 the whole drove was shut up by itself in a sei^arate hog-lot, but had been 

 driven over the farm, and was fed and taken care of by the same per- 

 sons who attended to the other hogs. The first symptoms of sickness 

 among Mr. Morris's old herd were noticed a few days ago, probably on 

 October 25. 



9. Mr. Morris's herd again. — On !N"ovember 18, Mr. Morris informed me 

 that to test whether a wound would absorb the infectious principle, he 

 had, several days before, contrary to my advice, castrated a few (five) 

 apparently healthy boar pigs, and had kept them separated from the dis- 

 eased portion of his herd. When I was there (on November 18) three 

 of these pigs were dead, and a fourth one was in a djing condition, not- 

 withstanding the very mild form in which the disease was prevailing, 

 especially in the herd of Mr. Morris. 



10. Mr. John Eagan, near Biggsville, informed me on November 19 that 

 his pigs commenced to show symptoms of disease just a week after they 

 had been marked by cutting their ears. Swine plague was prevailing 

 in the neighborhood. 



11. Mr. Pendarvis, an intelligent farmer and dealer in cattle and hogs 

 at Karitan, in the southern part of Henderson County, informed me on 

 November 24 that a few years ago one of his neighbors lost nearly all 

 his hogs. In his hog-lot was an old straw-stack, which served as a 

 sleeping-place for the animals. A few months later this neighbor bought 

 a healthy lot of hogs or shoats, and turned them into the hog-yard 

 which contained the straw-stack. Swine plague very soon broke out 

 among them, and nearly all died. A whole year later this neighbor 

 again bought a healthy lot of hogs and turned them into the same yard 

 which still contained the same old straw-stack, and soon the disease 

 once more made its appearance, notwithstanding the fact that at that 

 time no swine plague was prevailing anywhere in the neighborhood. 

 After this the neighbor inclined to accuse the old straw-stack as the 

 cause of the mischief, removed it promptly, cleaned his swine-yard thor- 

 oughly, and kept it free from old straw, &c. He has not had a case of 

 swine plague among his hogs since the straw-stack was disposed of. 



12. Mr. RickeWs herd, on Henderson Eiver, three miles from Oquawka. 

 I was on Mr. Eickett's farm on November 9. He has his herd of swine 

 divided, and keex)S one i^ortion, about thirty liead, in an inclosed yard 

 on high, dry, and bare ground, free from straw-stacks and stagnant pools 

 of water, where they receive their water for drinking- from a well close 

 to the fence. The other portion of his herd is running at large, and has 

 access to the river. Among the latter swine plague has luade its ap- 

 pearance, while the hogs which are kept in the yard are i)erre;.'tly healthy. 



