458 EEPOKT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 

 CAUSE OF THE OUTBREAK, 



In looking about for the cause of this outbreak, the buildings and the 

 lay of the laud in the immediate vicinity of the premises were thoroughly 

 examined. The homestead is a meadow farm, lies well, and is inclosed 

 by small hills, with a brook running a crooked course near to the build- 

 ings — a place that, in the fall of the year, would retain the fogs rising 

 from the water for a considerable length of time. Further investigation 

 proved this theory correct. 



The calves, when removed from the meadow, where one or two of them 

 had taken cold, were, about the 10th of November, put into a close shed 

 18 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 7 feet high. Here they were tied up in 

 two rows, and were so close together that they comiiletely packed the 

 pen. This huddled condition, to my mind, furnished ample cause for 

 the outbreak, for I do not think that a pen of such dimensions, with so 

 many animals confined in it, could be sufficiently ventilated to preserve 

 health in the absence of mechanical means. I advised the erection of 

 another pen and a division of the herd. 



I found that the cows had caught cold from being constantly subjected 

 to a draft of cold air, so applied as to keep their bodies constantly 

 bathed in a cold current. The arrangement of the barn is given in the 

 following diagram : 



"DOOR I. ., . DOOn 2. . POOR 3, 



3r 



m 



Ml 



BARN ELaOR g 



The yearlings were turned in through door No. 1, and divided from 

 the cows by a partition. This door was then closed, and they were left 

 to themselves. The cows were turned in at door No. 2, which, together 

 with the large barn-door, was open a considerable portion of tlie time. 

 Door No. 3 was seldom used. Between the cows and the barn-floor was 

 a board partition, with the board at the bottom fixed to lift i(p, thus leav- 

 ing an open space fifteen inches wide directly in front of the cows and 

 down at the floor. Except in very cold weather, this novel ventilating 

 device was left open all the time. The air rushed in through the wide 

 open door and the opening in fr-out of the cows, passing over and bath- 

 ing their bodies, and especially the under part of their breasts, chests, 

 and abdomens, on its way out at door No. 2, which, by the way, is a 

 little larger than any of the doors on this side. This cause I regarded 

 as sufficient to give the toughest animal a cold. 



In order to prove this theory correct, it is only necessary to state the 

 following facts : Cow a in the diagram, a small and nearly black one, 

 stood in the corner against the partition, j^^sf out of the line of draught, 

 and has never even coughed. Cow h was tlie first animal taken sick, and 

 the only one that died. Cow c was sick, but not so bad as either cows 

 hov e. ' Being next the partition, even if on the cold side of it, may ae- 



