142 HOG CHOLEBA 



nor breeder should throw stones until he is sure 

 he is not living in a glass house. 



Shipping hogs immediately after simultaneous 

 treatment has been administered, or worse still, 

 holding them three or four days and then shipping 

 them so that they will be on the road at the time 

 the reaction following treatment is in progress, is 

 a fruitful cause of serum "breaks." We are 

 aware that this practice is stoutly defended by 

 many, principally by those who administer the 

 treatment in stockyards, see the hogs loaded in 

 cars, and never see them again. The practice is 

 not defended by veterinarians who are on the re- 

 ceiving end of the line, for it is a well-known fact 

 that "serum breaks " often occur soon after these 

 hogs reach the farms on which they are to be 

 fattened, and it is fortunate indeed if hog cholera 

 is not thus transmitted to other herds in the vi- 

 cinity. This method of handling hogs may be 

 necessary under present conditions, even if it must 

 carry with it the risks we have mentioned, but 

 granting that it is necessary, let us at least recog- 

 nize the dangers in their true proportions, and 

 work toward a better method of handling feeding 

 hogs. 



Lowered resistance due to shipping accounts 

 for many of these "breaks," yet the tendency is 

 to charge them to impotent serum. The best se- 

 rum that can be manufactured will not protect all 



