THE LUNG PLAGUE OF CATTLE. 105 



It \vas stated that three had died in that time. The Sheds were the ordinary wooden 

 oin >. There \\ere none affected with lung plague. 



I visited t IK- rendering \\orksof Axmati A Co.. who get the dead cattle from the 

 distillery sheds. The lillliilier ]er year obtained Was given at from 'JIM I to :'()( I. 1 

 examined the lungs of several that had been recently obtained, and they showed no 

 lesions of lung plague. 



INDIANAPOLIS. 



Indianapolis. Ind.. wa> the next place visited. Dr. .JrHrrie-. secretary of the hoard 

 of health, said that so far as his observations extended the cattle here \\ere \ery 

 healthy, Feed was abundant, so that the dairymen were not obliged to keep their 

 cows tied up in close st a Ides and feed t hem ferment ing food, like lire \\ers' Drains and 

 >lop, except I'or a short time during the winter. The dairies were in tin- snlmrhs, 

 \\ here ahimdant past nrage could lie obtained. 



(apt. A. D. Harvey has been engaged in gathering,' statistics for the Bureau at 

 Washington upon the diseases in neat stock lor this township. He stated that tin- 

 only affect ion he had learned of aiming cattle was " sore eyes," where one-third of 

 the animals attacked became blind, lie had never heard of any ot her disease among 

 the cattle in the State. 



E. H. I'ritchard, V. S., has been practicing- in this city nine years and has not had 

 a single case ot' lung plague. He lias had extensive practice in herds of impoited 

 cattle in this State and in Eastern Illinois. ( 'omplaints connected with calving, and 

 parturient apoplexy, are the chief causes of death among- cattle. 



John H. Navin. veterinary surgeon, said that in fourteen years' practice here he 

 had not seen a single case of lung plague. In IH.'H there was an outbreak of Texas 

 fever among some of the dairy cows. Other veterinary sui'geons also said there was 

 no lung plague among t he catt le here. The Union Stock Yard Company have !"> 

 acres devoted to their purposes of which 1(5 acres are shedded over. The receipts of 

 cattle for 1HHO were l:fc>,<;:>5 head, the shipments 11l,f!H> head. 



Col. M. A. Downing, superintendent, said there had never hcen a disease of 

 any description among the cattle at these yards. Texas cattle come here, but not 

 direct from the plains. The great bulk of the trade is in cattle shipped from the West 

 to the Kast. find that the trade in the opposite direction consisted principally in 

 blooded stock " from Kentucky and Ohio, not extending further east than the latter 

 State. Even from Ohio there had not been a dozen car-loads of stock since the yards 

 v. en- built. The yard-master as well as several commission merchants were unani- 

 mous in declaring that no contagions disease was known among the cattle here. 



M. II. Wright renders the dead animals of the yards. He stated there had been no 

 disease among the cattle. The dead cattle averaged two or three per month. Refer- 

 ence to his accounts showed in September three, August four, October none, and in 

 November three. 



Adjoining the yards were fields in which 18 cattle were grazing. They were healthy, 

 .and 1 was assured by the owners that none had been sick or in any way a fleeted. 

 They were on stormy nights put into the pens for cattle. All about upon the unoc- 

 cupied lots were stray cows feeding unmolested wherever they chose, often straying 

 into the alleys of the cattle pens in search of ears of corn or other food. A cow had 

 even intruded into a park in the very center of the city, and was feeding upon the 

 grass on the lawns. 



A. H. Barker's Sons distillery, Mount Jackson, is the only place where cattle are 

 fed. Tin- present number is 350 head, of which 260 are tied up in a stable, and the 

 remainder are loose in a yard. The cattle were bought, part of them in the stock- 

 yards, and part of them in the country. They were put in about September 1, and 

 twelve had died since that time. It was stated that no contagious disease ever ex- 

 isted among the cattle, nor was there any when I examined them. The drainage and 

 ventilation was very good. The stable was built of boards, and gave 4*20.8 cubic 

 fei-T space to each steer. Slop is fed three times a day, and wheat-straw once. 



Birk & Miller, who render the dead animals of the city, said that the number of 

 cows average per year about 50, and that milk fever was the principal cause of death 

 among them. 



The following city dairies I examined, and did not in a single instance tind any cat- 

 tle with lung plague: 



J. YV. Bruce. College avenue, has 30 head, including 20 cows. He states lie has not 

 lost any for three years. He raises his own cows by keeping the heifer calves of his 

 besr cows: keeps Th'Mii in a pashiiv, except during thetitrie they are milked. Part of 

 the summer they were turned upon the commons near by where were cows from vari- 

 ous parts of the city. No disease was contracted. In addition to hay and grass, he 

 gives cut corn-fodder, cabbage, and refuse from corn-starch factory, mixed together. 

 and steamed until soft. 



J. L. Kenyon, Central avenue, has 46 cows. His practice is to buy fresh cows at 

 stock-yards, keep tin-in until fat, and sell to the butcher. They are kept in a fenced 



