206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and emergencies develop men for new situations. Conse- 

 quently, we find graduates of our veterinary colleges occupy- 

 ing positions on the National Bureau of Animal Industry, as 

 State veterinarians and members of boards of health, filling 

 them as credital)ly as in any other country. When I say 

 that they fill these positions as creditably as in any other 

 country, I do not mean that they do as good work in all 

 cases as veterinarians in Germany and France ; but if they 

 do not, it is because of the inadequacy of proper legislation 

 and the insufficiency of funds placed at their disposal, to 

 always carry out the most eifective work. 



Germany has probably the most thoroughly organized 

 veterinary sanitary police system of any nation in the 

 world, both for the suppression of contagious disease among 

 animals and the protection of the health of the people, by a 

 system of meat inspection, all supervised by competent 

 veterinarians, aided by the police and, if the emergency 

 requires it, by the military. For the suppression of con- 

 tagious animal diseases, the Minister of Agriculture — (not 

 commissioner ; they recognize the importance of agricul- 

 ture, both in Germany and France, sufficiently to make the 

 position a cabinet one, and do not make it a " Secretary of 

 Agriculture and Labor" either) — is at the head of afiairs, 

 assisted by able veterinary and legal counsel. The country 

 is divided into departments, each having a department vet- 

 erinarian, and each department is divided into districts, 

 each having a district veterinarian. In the event of an out- 

 break of contagious animal disease, the police, or other local 

 officials, are to report it at once to the district veterinarian, 

 and he reports at headquarters. 



In local outbreaks, the police carry out the orders of the 

 veterinary officials in regard to slaughtering and quarantin- 

 ing infected herds and animals. In more extended out- 

 breaks the military may be called on for similar duty. This 

 quarantine not only applies to diseased and susceptible ani- 

 mals, but in outbreaks of rinderpest, for example, may 

 include men, raw animal products and, as far as possible, 

 every living thing. A dog or cat trying to cross the line is 

 instantly shot. Railroad trains even arc not allowed to 

 stop at stations in infected districts. Such iron-bound regu- 



