92 THE LUNG PLAGUE OF CATTLE. 



Mr. Alexander, Howard street, lias six cows, which I examined and found healthy. 

 They are pastured near the stock yards, and could come in contact with the cattle in 

 the yards. Mr. A. stated that he had not lost one cow in the six years he had been in 

 the milk business. He was formerly a cow-dealer and had accommodation for fifty cows, 

 but has never seen any disease among them. 



I was present at the meeting of the board of health, and was informed that they had 

 never known of any contagious disease among the dairies in the city, and were con- 

 fident that no lung plague existed among the cattle here. L. Taylor, one of the mem- 

 bers of the board who was formerly a cattle-dealer, and who had taken considerable 

 interest in the spread of this disease, stated that it did not exist among the cattle here. 

 Mr. Taylor visited with me some of large feeding stables. 



Thomas Farthing feeds about 220 bulls and steers upon distillery slops. The loss 

 during the feeding season, five to six months, he stated to be about 1 per cent. The 

 stables were not full at the time of my visit, but the cattle that were there were free 

 from lung plague. Fresh stock is bought at the stock yards, and State cattle are pre- 

 ferred, as they fatten more readily upon the food given. 



Ullman and Block have just completed a new stable capable of holding 243 head of 

 cattle. At the time of my visit there were 240 head which were free from lung plague. 

 The annual loss was said to be about 1 per cent. The cattle are tied in three double 

 rows, two rows facing each other, and eating hay from the same rack ; consequently 

 their noses would come ill contact and the germs of lung plague would be carried by 

 the breath into the lungs, provided any animals were affected with it. 



Dr. Firmenick feeds his milch cows upon the refuse of his corn-starch factory. At 

 present the stables contain 210 cows. His method is "to buy fresh cows at the stock 

 yards or of the farmers in the vicinity, to milk them as long as they give milk, and 

 when dry to fatten them and sell to the butchers. As a rule they remain in the stable 

 a year and are then replaced by new ones. About a dozen of the cows were not 

 doing well, were running down in condition, growing poor, and were so weak as to 

 require help to rise up. I made a very critical examination of the lungs of these 

 cows, but they presented no lesions. They did not show an elevated temperature, 

 102 Fahr., and had no cough, and were not snifering from lung plague. As it - as 

 not a contagious malady, but one manifestly connected with the feeding, I did not 

 investigate further. 



J . C. Hamliu feeds cattle upon the refuse of his grape-sugar manufactory, at Aurora, 

 15 miles from Buffalo. He said there were at present only 50 head in his stables, as he 

 had just begun to buy fresh stock for the winter. Says he has never had any die 

 from disease, but those that have died suffered from accidents or injuries unavoid- 

 able where large numbers of cattle are kept together. 



Visited C. Gilbert's starch factory, Black Rock, and interviewed the man who has 

 charge of the cattle. The present number is 150 head, of which 75 are cows, and their 

 milk is sold in the city ; the remainder are bulls and steers that are being fattened. 

 He stated that the annual loss was not over 1 per cent. No contagious disease has 

 appeared among the cattle. The cattle remain in the stables about one year, and a 

 fresh supply is taken from the stock yards or the surrounding country. 



I also made inquiry of the leading veterinary surgeons, Sumrnerville & Sons, and 

 was told that they had never met with any cases of lung plague in their practice in 

 Buffalo, which extended over a period of about forty years. 



From this examination of more than 700 cattle that are confined in stables here and 

 brought from various parts of the country, and not a single case of lung plague among 

 them and 110 report of any such disease by men who are constantly dealing in cattle 

 and who are financially interested in them, I concluded that this market must be free 

 of that dread plague. 



SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 



From Buffalo I went to Suspension Bridge. The stock yards here are used only to 

 feed, rest, and water the cattle that are destined to eastern markets. No cattle from 

 the east going west come to these yards, as Canada will not allow such cattle to pass 

 through her territory. But very few cattle have been shipped through these yards 

 this season owing to the ''cutting of rates" by the railroads. The majority of the 

 eastern bound cattle go to Buffalo or via the Grand Trunk Railway through Canada. 

 The superintendent here, W. A. Homan, is from Putnam County, New York, and has 

 seen the ravages of lung plague among the cattle there, but has never seen any cattle 

 affected with it at these yards. The cows of neighboring farmers do not come near 

 the cattle in the yards, and would not become infected even if the cattle passing 

 through were diseased. 



ROCHESTER. 



Rochester, N. Y., was the next place visited. There are no feeding yards, here 

 simply a few pens for unloading stock that is brought here on the Central Railroad. 

 The person in charge of these pens said that on an average seven to eight car-loads of 



