222 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and many of the older doctors will not yet acknowledge that 

 this is the case. Whether the milk and flesh of tuberculous 

 cows are dangerous as articles of food is a grave question ; 

 very rare heei from tuberculous animals is probably injuri- 

 ous ; if thoroughly cooked, I do not think it is. How much 

 the milk from tuberculous cows has to do with many infan- 

 tile disorders is another subject to be investigated. 



This disease is one of vital interest to us all, as it causes 

 10 per cent., at least, of the human deaths. It is frequent 

 among the milch cows of Eastern Massachusetts, and is 

 scattered more or less all over the State. Furthermore, it 

 is gradually increasing. Although there are no statistics 

 regarding it, I am satisfied, from all I can learn, that it is 

 more common now than it was twenty-five years ago. A 

 farmer may own a perfectly healthy herd, and introduce a 

 tuberculous cow without suspecting that she is diseased ; she 

 will communicate the trouble to other cattle, and the owner 

 some day discovers that he has a tuberculous herd ; it may 

 not be until two or three years after the purchase of the cow 

 which introduced the ailment, so subtle and insidious is it in 

 making its appearance. More than this, he may sell dis- 

 eased animals (often not knowing that they are affected) 

 into healthy herds and thus disseminate it far and wide. 



I wish that our farmers would raise more stock, where 

 they are sure that they have perfectly healthy animals, for I 

 know of nothing that spreads disease more than constantly 

 buying and selling cows. Breed from sound, healthy 

 parents on the side of both sire and dam. 



In speaking of the unrestricted traffic in live stock, I wish 

 to say a word about cars. Animals are carried from one 

 end of the country to another, the empty cars go back for 

 more, and are seldom, if ever, cleaned beyond scraping the 

 floors a little ; these trains sometimes carry diseased animals, 

 and oftentimes outbreaks of hog cholera, Texas cattle fever, 

 strangles and glanders in horses, and similar diseases, might 

 be traced to them. There should be a State law, and it 

 should be enforced, requiring the thorough cleansing and 

 disinfection of stock cars and boats, after conveying crea- 

 tures to their destination, before allowing them to depart. 



Some of our contagious animal distempers, such as hog 



