478 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Some of the trouble on the Cape was called to the attention 

 of the commission by a horse killed in Dedham. It was 

 found that this animal had only been there a few days, and 

 was brought up from the Cape. An agent Avas sent to the 

 stable on the Cape where the diseased animal brought to 

 Dedham had been boarded, and two horses were found there 

 with glanders, and were killed. 



In some towns where glanders and farcy have occurred 

 many of the animals were not owned by the towns people, 

 but by contractors engaged on public work. For example, 

 the outbreak in Sterling in December, 1900, and January, 

 1901, was among horses owned by a contractor employed on 

 the metropolitan water works. The same is true to a certain 

 extent in Framingham, several of the animals being owned 

 by a firm of contractors on the metropolitan water works. 

 In Hyde Park 5 of the horses killed were owned by a con- 

 tractor working on a section of the metropolitan sewerage 

 system. 



Mallein has been employed in the eradication of glanders 

 more extensively than in any previous year. While it does 

 not seem certain enough as a diagnostic to warrant killing 

 animals that react but which show no physical sjmiptoms of 

 disease, yet it seems to be generally believed that an animal 

 that does not react is free from glanders, and that it also has 

 a curative effect on incipient cases, and may also act as an 

 immunizing agent. Many of the animals coming under the 

 head of negative cases were treated with this agent. All 

 the horses in a stable where there was glanders in several 

 instances have been tested with mallein ; any animals that 

 reacted were retested in a month, and if any reacted they 

 were again tested in another month, until they ceased to re- 

 act. Those that failed to react on the first test were con- 

 sidered healthy. 



This method has been tried with apparent success in 

 a contractor's stable in Brookline, in a stable in Natick, 

 among the horses of the contractor spoken of in Sterling, 

 and in a stable in Fitchburg, where 1 horse was killed and 

 the 3 stable companions released after failing to react on 

 the second test. It was also tried in AVinchendon, where 3 



