20 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



State of New York was most active in tlio endeavors at extirpation ; and tliougli the 

 autliorities of New Jersey have been engaged at the same task for five years, the State 

 has probably never during that time been entirely free from pleuro-pnenraonia. 

 In Maryland the assertion has been made again and again that there were no cases 

 of this disease in tlie State, and yet during any jjart of this time a thorough inspec- 

 tion could not have failed to reveal a considerable number. At best the attempts of 

 the States have been spasmodic; and while one State was earnestly striving to accom- 

 plish something a neighboring one would allow the shipment of diseased cattle, and 

 counteract the influence of the foruu»r. As a rule, therefore, State action has never 

 been thorough, and the lack of unity of action between the States has prevented any 

 lasting benefit even when much has been accomplished. 



ADVANTAGES OF THE WOKK BEING DIRECTED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVEKN- 



MENT. 



A national direction of the work for the extermination of •pleuro-pneumonia 

 would overcome at once the discouraging features which have done so much to pre- 

 vent the eftbrts of the individual States from being effective. With inspections in 

 every infected State the shipment of diseased cattle would soon cease; new out- 

 breaks would thus be prevented, and the danger which has so long menaced the 

 great cattle interests of the country would be removed. The work would be more 

 thorough and energetic, because those engaged in it would not be directly or indi- 

 rectly dependent upou the good-will of the interested cattle owners for their posi- 

 tions, and the plea of inability to pay for the diseased cattle which ought to be 

 slaughtered would also be overcome. These have been the principal obstacles to the 

 success of State action, and practically they are so great as to make it next to im- 

 possible for the States alone to free themselves from this i)lague. 



THE PRESENCE OF PLEURO-PNEUMONIA COSTS ANNUALLY MORE THAN WOULD BE 

 NECESSARY FOR ITS DESTRUCTION. 



Owing to the presence of pleuro-pueumonia in the United States, every steer shipped 

 to Great Britain nmst be slaughtered withiu a certain time on the wharf where he is 

 landed. This restriction upon the export cattle trade is said by competent authori- 

 ties to make the price of our steers average $10 less than similar animals shipped from 

 Canada. With over 100,000 beeves going abroad every year, this makes a loss of 

 $1,000,000 annually, or enough to clear our country of the disease. Besides this, there 

 are the continual losses which are going on in the infected districts, and the disturbed 

 condition of trade from the many false alarms in regard to the spread of this disease, 

 the entire annual losses being estimated by good authorities as high as $3,000,000. 



IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATING OTHER DISEASES. 



The proposition of establishing a permanent bureau for investigating the communi- 

 cable diseases of anin'ials is a matter of the greatest importance. While we have no 

 more disease than other countries in proportion to the number of our animals, the 

 enornu)us development of our live-stock industry has luade the question of contagious 

 diseases one of peculiar interest to us. The cause of these plagues, which has been 

 an impenetrable mystery during all the past ages of the w^orld, is being revealed by 

 the science of to-day, and the infiuitely small organisms which are able to produce 

 such terrible havoc in our flocks and herds are at last being brought under subjection 

 themselves, and their study has revealed much of the greatest value to us in our 

 •warfare against them. A country with so much at stake, with millions of dollaivs an- 

 nually swept away by this class of maladies, cannot affoi-d to be idle. Other nations 

 which have nuich less cai)ital invested in animals than we have, see the necessity for 

 this work and are making ])rovisions for it; and it is to the credit of our country 

 that wo we're one of the first to enter this field, and that results have been accom- 

 plished which will bear comparison with the investigations of any other country. 



