192 HOG CHOLERA 



to the serum used, the veterinarian goes home 

 leaving his client believing that he, and other 

 members of the profession, are shameless prof- 

 iteers. The natural inference is that other pro- 

 fessional charges as well are exorbitant, and this, 

 as all veterinary practitioners know, is not true. 

 When immunization of a herd of hogs is really 

 indicated and when a veterinarian does the work 

 thoroughly and conscientiously, he renders a great 

 and obvious service, and is entitled to a fee con- 

 siderably above that which the average breeder is 

 inclined to regard as fair. The breeder would be 

 surprised if he knew the cost of waste, breakage, 

 and overhead which the veterinarian must pay. 

 We believe though, that instead of courageously 

 charging fees which are actually their due, and 

 which will enable them to use first-class products 

 and do careful work, too many veterinarians have 

 yielded to a temptation to collect their fees, un- 

 known to the breeder, in the form of profit on the 

 serum used. The purchase price of the serum 

 sooner or later comes to light and in the absence 

 of previous explanation, the breeder naturally be- 

 lieves that the difference between the price the 

 veterinarian pays and the price he charges his 

 clients for serum is all profit. Real and imagin- 

 ary abuses in this direction have led to actual and 

 proposed legislation designed, on the one hand, 

 to place vaccination of hogs largely in the hands 



