14 DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTURE. 



the present year, the disease has prevailed. In five dairies I examined, within one hun 

 dred yards of each other, I found one or two sick cows .in each. The Hartford Insurance 

 Company, which has recently suspended operations, lost heavily on the insurance of cows 

 from the prevalence of this disease, and that company objected also to the practice of 

 inoculation. 



From Mr. Bedell s statement there is no doubt of the existence of the contagious 

 pleuropneumonia in New Jersey when he first bought his cattle. Mr. Robert Jennings, 

 veterinary surgeon, had his attention drawn to the disease on its appearance in Camden 

 and Gloucester Counties, New Jersey, in the year 1859. In 1860 it crossed the Delaware 

 River into Philadelphia, spreading very rapidly in all directions, particularly in the southern 

 section of the county known as &quot; The Neck&quot; many of the dairymen losing one-third to 

 one-half of their herds. The sale of sick cattle continued, as it always does, unless pre 

 vented by rigid laws. In 1861 the malady appeared in Delaware, and in Burlington 

 County, New Jersey, and the disease could be distinctly traced to the Philadelphia market. 



The records of outbreaks are by no means satisfactory, but a gentleman well known 

 in Maryland, Mr. Martin Goldsborough, informs me that the malady has been very 

 destructive on many farms of that States for the past three years. Individuals have lost 

 their entire herds, in some cases numbering twenty-four, thirty, and as high as forty-seven 

 heUd. Last year an effort was made to direct the attention of the legislature of Maryland 

 to the subject, with a view to the adoption of successful measures, but without effect. 

 Mr. Goldsborough s statement is to the effect that the disease in Maryland is due to the 

 purchase of cattle in the Philadelphia market. 



There is no doubt of the great prevalence of the malady for some years in Pennsyl 

 vania. I have seen it on two farms in Delaware County, and it has been on several others 

 recently. Bucks County has suffered much for two years. A correspondent informs me 

 that in March, 1867. a drove of cows was taken into that county, and one of them was 

 observed to be sick. These animals were distributed among the farmers, and soon the 

 plague appeared in all directions. An effort was made then to secure the aid of the State 

 legislature, without effect, and to this day the disease is in Bucks County. The last case 

 I have to report is at Newtown, Bucks County, where the disease was introduced by cows 

 bought in the Philadelphia market. 



That the malady has attained such proportions as to deinand constant attention, apart 

 from the fact that but one case on the whole continent is a source of incalculable danger, 

 is proved by a circular recently issued by gentlemen in Westchester, Pennsylvania, and 

 which is of sufficient importance to be reproduced here : 



I leitropiiriimoiiia. The great increiuie in the disease known as plenropneumoiim among cattle within a few years 

 past, its highly contagious character, and the acknowledged inability of the most skillful veterinary surgeons to con 

 trol or in the least mitigate its severity in certain stages of the disease, call for immediate and earnest attention from 

 the community. It is a well-known fact that the cupidity of many induces them as soon as the disease develops itself 

 on their premises to hurry off their stock (diseased as well as those not diseased) to the nearest drove-yard, to be there 

 sold for whatever they will bring ; to be either sold as food or driven off to new sections, and there to infect and poison 

 other animals with which they may come in contact. 



With the view of arresting this increasing and wide-spreading evil, the undersigned, a committee of the &quot; Mutual 

 Live Stock Insurance Company of Chester County,&quot; an institution established purely for mutual assistance and pro 

 tection, respectfully invite your co-operation in procuring such action at the hands of our next legislature, by the 

 passage of a law authorizing the appointment of a suitable number of qualified and conscientious inspectors through 

 out the State, whose duty it shall be to examine thoroughly all animals, especially those offered for sale, wherever 

 they may be, and to subject those offering such diseased animals to both fine and imprisonment, and to take such other 

 measures an may l&amp;gt;e deemed necessary to effect the entire extirpation of the diseii.se from our midst. 



