22 ■ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



it come? The information was voluntarily proffered. It was brought 



over by a cow in a ship from England about the year 1850. This cow 



was taken on board to supply milk, and after the arrival of the ship, 



was sold to a dairyman near the South Ferry, in Brooklyn. This cow 



had the veritable pleuro-pneumonia, which she disseminated and which 



previously had never been known there. The disease spread with great 



rapidity, aimually taking off more than fifteen per cent, of the cattle. 



The practice of inoculation was resorted to but without beneficial results. 



The value of the milk business in that section is nearly destroyed. The 



cattle that do not die are fattened and killed for beef, which confines the 



disease, happily, to that region. 



Farmers of Massachusetts ! be not beguiled into a false security. By 



efficient regulations and prompt action, this fatal disease may be excluded 



from the limits of our State. But in this matter, the price of exemption is 



eternal vigilance. Be on your guard ; keep all unknown and suspected 



cattle far from your herds. See that no stray cows are allowed to 



wander in your streets, and even take care to know the state of each 



herd whence come cows to be served by your bulls. Especially be 



cautious as to the cattle sent to a distance in the country to be ])astured 



and do not allow them to be returned to your farms in the fall without a 



clean bill of health. Be not afraid of being thought " fussy," and, in 



particular, [)Iace no reliance upon the theories of inexperienced or 



prejudiced parties who may strive to persuade you that this disease is 



not infectious, or that animals which have once had it and have recovered, 



are safe companions for other cattle. Total abstinence from all that can 



contaminate is the only safety. This is our faith, the result of our study 



and experience. Jamks Ritchie, 



E. F. Thayer, 



Henry L. Sabin, 



Cattle Commissioners. 

 Boston, June 3, 1862. 



The facts which liavc thus been brought to light, by the 

 action of the second board of coniinissioners, would authorize 

 the coniniittcc to sustain in full the action of the first board; 

 and it is a simple act of justice to remind the public that the 

 course adopted at Brookfield, where the disease first attracted 

 attention, has been followed out at Quincy, and other [jlaces 

 where it made its last appearance. 



Your committee are convinced that the board of commis- 

 sioners, authorized by the statute of 1862, should be kept in 

 organization, ready for any emergency ; thus avoiding the 

 delay, and consequent spread of the disease which has occurred 

 upon both previous occasions of its appearance in Massachusetts. 



