No. 4.] REPORT OF CATTLE BUREAU. 213 



Chief of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry upon 

 the prevalence of contagious diseases among animals in each 

 State, and then the United States authority could prohibit 

 taking dogs from States in which rabies existed into any other 

 State, it would be a great protection. I understand of course 

 that in many States the State authority can prohibit bringing 

 in dogs from any other State, but the sentiment of the com- 

 munity does not always support such regulations. Local 

 sentimentality of this kind would probably have less influence 

 with the United States Secretary of Agriculture. 



Although rabies has been stamped out in Great Britain, the 

 English Board of Agriculture recommends a continuance of 

 the rigid enforcement of the law requiring dogs to be duly 

 licensed and collared, for the protection of cattle and sheep 

 against worrying. It also has authority, in localities where 

 the necessity exists, to order all dogs, or certain classes of 

 dogs, to be restrained between sunset and sunrise. There is 

 also a provision in the English law exempting owners of dogs 

 from paying licenses on " dogs kept and used solely for the 

 purpose of tending cattle and sheep on a farm." In 1906, 

 in Great Britain, under this provision of the law 1,664,824 

 dogs were licensed, and certificates of exemption were granted 

 to 347,039. 



The Year Book of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture for 1906 gives the following figures for the live stock 

 in the United States: cattle, 74,150,422 ; horses, 22,683,881 ; 

 mules, 3,990,908 ; sheep, 53,471,301 ; swine, 56,612,114. 



The report of the English Board of Agriculture shows the 

 following number of farm animals in Great Britain in 1906 : 

 cattle, 7,010,856; horses, 1,568,681; sheep, 25,420,360; 

 swine, 2,323,461. 



That is, we have 1 sheep to 1.3S neat cattle, and 1 sheep 

 to 1.05 swine; while in Great Britain there are more than 3 

 sheep to every head of neat cattle, and over 10 sheep to every 

 pig. With the present prices of wool and meat products, it 

 would seem desirable that a much larger number of sheep 

 should be kept in this country than at present ; but in many 

 of the more thickly populated States one factor that acts as a 

 deterrent is the ravages of dogs. 



