DIVISION OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. 



The Live Stock interests of the State are valued at over $150,000,- 

 000.00. Previous to the establishment of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, five years ago, there was scarcely any official recognition 

 on the part of the State of the existence of such an industry. A 

 law did exist, passed in 1889, which authorized the Secretary of 

 the State Board of Agriculture to take action in case of certain 

 "contagious" diseases, but no skilled veterinarian was in charge 

 to make constant study of the conditions that existed and to pre- 

 scribe remedies to meet them. As a consequence, the spread of 

 certain diseases among our domestic animals was practically unre- 

 strained, and when the Department was organized and the State 

 Live Stock Sanitary Board took charge of the work, it was found 

 that fully 25 per cent, of the herds of cattle in the 'State were in- 

 fected with tuberculosis, and many of the animals were in a con- 

 dition so dangerous as to be a menace to the public health. 



The establishment of a Division in the Department, in charge of 

 a skilled veterinarian, at once placed the work of the care of the 

 health of our domestic animals under expert control, and the results 

 have shown the wisdom of this, in the decrease of the number of 

 diseased animals and the better protection of those that are in 

 health. 



The Veterinarian reports that "the losses from disease, among 

 domestic animals have been distinctly less for the past year than 

 for any previous year since the establishment of the Department." 

 The Division has "nearly 300 regular correspondents through the 

 State, and about as many more who write as occasion requires." 

 The system of reporting, therefore, is quite complete and no out- 

 break of disease can occur anywhere in the State without its being 

 immediately known by the Veterinarian and means taken to sup* 

 press it. 



Much of the work of the Veterinarian has been in the inspection 

 of herds for the detection of tuberculosis. Sixty thousand doses 

 of tuberculin were prepared by the bacteriologist of the Division. 

 Six hundred and fourteen herds, composing nine thousand two hun- 

 dred and seventy-four cattle have been tested by this method. As 

 many more were subjected to a physical examination. Out of this 

 number, 1,227 were condemned as tuberculous and killed. The law 



