234 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ation of the measures to be undertaken for its suppression ; and 

 this, in its turn, comes to a discussion of the best means of over- 

 coming the causes. 



The causes are, to repeat shortly, a peculiar condition of body, 

 and the presence of the contagious principle. 



We have found that, so far as we know, this peculiar condition 

 of body is most readily brought about by breeding from animals 

 that are themselves diseased, or from those belonging to families 

 that are known to have been consumptive in the past. Closely 

 following this is a system of ill-judged in-and-ia breeding, the 

 frequent bearing of young, and the great and continued production 

 of milk. 



Other causes are those that may be put under the head of bad 

 sanitation, which includes the feeding of rich grains in too great 

 quantities ; of food that, while it may be sufficient in bulk, is still 

 of such poor quality that it cannot furnish sufficient nourishment ; 

 overcrowding animals in the stable ; housing them where the air is 

 not sufficiently pure, or where they are exposed to cold draughts ; 

 and in allowing them insufficient exercise. 



The remedy in each of these cases is clear, and may be easily 

 applied. 



To get rid of the contagious principle is by no means such a 

 simple matter ; and it can never be accomplished except as a result 

 of concerted action. It is because of this fact that the suppres- 

 sion of tuberculosis has been so generally undertaken by the vari- 

 ous governments all over the world ; and measures have been put 

 into the form of laws ; and officers have been appointed to execute 

 them. 



In the application of these laws it is always well to remember 

 that the nature of this particular contagious principle is such that 

 it by no means follows because tuberculosis is discovered to exist 

 in one animal of a herd there must necessarily be others there that 

 are diseased. It will not therefore be within reason to condemn 

 and destroy entire herds, or even to condemn the milk from them ; 

 the process of elimination must, necessarily, be a slow one ; and 

 will consist nearly always in an intelligent, systematic, repeated 

 and long-continued "weeding out" process, if the term may be 

 used in this connection. 



Second cases, in a herd, should always be carefully looked for, 

 and will be more likely to be found among those related to the dis- 

 covered case. 



In certain rare instances, wherein the disorder persists unac- 

 countably after repeated careful examinations of the animals and 

 their surroundings, together with the destruction of those that have 



