582 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



better treatment and in considering the means or methods of obtaining 

 for them more complete and efficient protection it is necessary to take 

 into account several somewhat distinct topics, namely: 



1. The value of domesticated animals as servants of man and pro- 

 ducers of food and clothing for the human family, 



2. The sanitary significance of the diseases of animals conmimiicable 

 to man, and 



3. The methods best adapted to afford them better conditions of 

 life as determined by the accumulation of knowledge concerning their 

 hygienic and physiological requirements. 



If we consider the place animals actually occupy as servants of man 

 and as factors in our economic and living conditions we shall at once 

 recognize the necessity for their proper protection. The dog, ox and 

 horse have served as the great burden bearers in nearly if not all the 

 important industries that have to do with the production and distribu- 

 tion of food. This service will continue to be important. In 1873, 

 when this country was swept with an epizootic among horses, commerce 

 was paralyzed, crops were unharvested, and had this disease been of 

 long duration much human suffering would have prevailed. 



The value of animals in the food-producing and other industries can 

 perhaps be best understood from a few statistics concerning the place of 

 animals and animal products in agriculture. The agricultural products 

 of New York state for 1911 were valued at $350,000,000 of which 

 $141,000,000, or nearly two fifths, of the total was of animal origin. 

 ]\Iore than this, the hay and forage, which constitute one third of the 

 vegetable products of the state, are valuable only because of animals. In 

 Massachusetts, of the annual farm production of $59,000,000, $27,000,- 

 000 are credited to animals and dairy products. If we take the United 

 States as a whole, we find that in 1910 the total annual income from 

 agriculture was $8,500,000,000 of which $3,000,000,000, or more than 

 35 per cent., belongs to the animal kingdom. 



It is difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the animal industry of 

 this country. The last census report states that there were in the United 

 States 24,148,580 horses; 61,803,866 cattle, of which 20,625,432 were 

 milch cows; 52,447,861 sheep and lambs; 58.185,676 swine and 292,- 

 880,000 fowls. Although these numbers are large, the report shows a 

 decrease since 1900 of 3,485,971 beef cattle, 8,011,326 sheep and 4,682,- 

 000 swine. There has been an increase in the number of dairy cows, 

 horses and poultry. The total value of farm animals in 1910 was 

 $5,296,422,000 or about 12 per cent, of the value of all farm property, 

 including land, buildings and equipment ($40,991,000,000). 



The report of the chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry shows that 

 the federal meat inspectors in 1911 passed for food 52.776, 855 carcasses 

 of cattle, sheep and swine. In addition to the fresh meat consumed, 

 there were processed under inspection 6,934,233,214 pounds of meat and 



