546 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The report continues : — 



It is pleasant to be able to report that there is now a general appreci- 

 ation of the fact that the State Live Stock Sanitary Board is organized 

 and is working for the suppression of diseases that cause great and 

 'burdensome losses every year, and that its function is to check these 

 losses and assist those who are suffering from them. It is recognized 

 by the Board that there are large commercial interests at stake, and that 

 this work should be arranged and conducted so as t© interfere as little 

 as possible with the routine of the business of the farmer, and that it 

 should be so managed as to increase confidence in animal products and 

 have a tendency to enlarge the market for them. ... At the same time, 

 it is believed that the work is without justification unless it has a per- 

 manent sanitary value, and succeeds in protecting the public and the 

 general live stock interests, as well as the individual. This community 

 of interests, this plurality of objects to be achieved and of obstacles to 

 be avoided, has given us a problem that has taxed the knowledge and 

 ingenuity of numerous officials and boards in this and other countries. 



Whatever objections have been raised in other States to work looking 

 to the suppression of tuberculosis in cattle, they are not based on a 

 desire that the disease shall not be suppressed, but upon the methods 

 employed and the expense involved. Some of the methods in use else- 

 where have placed such burdensome restrictions upon dairy farmers 

 that the measures have become exceedingly obnoxious to them ; and, in 

 order to obtain a modification of methods, they have in some cases 

 objected to the execution of all plans earned out for the purpose of sup- 

 pressing tuberculosis. This has caused false impressions, and in some 

 places led to the belief that farmers are opposed to the whole work 

 of suppressing tuberculosis ; but in Pennsylvania this is not the case. 

 The farmers here want healthy herds. 



Another point that may be of interest, especially as it confirms 

 the experience of the Massachusetts Board, is where they say : — 



A few years ago tuberculin was objected to by those who had no 

 experience with it, on the ground that it might injure healthy cattle ; 

 but experience covering thousands of cases, extending over years 

 of time, show that this view is groundless ; and, with the very large 

 number of animals examined with tuberculin in Pennsylvania, there has 

 not been a report of a single case in which it was even suspected that the 

 test had caused the slightest injury. 



Illinois. 



Illinois has no special legislation or funds for dealing with 

 tuberculosis, but it is dealt with under the general law. 



The Live Stock Commission, however, have been conducting 

 tests on herds where the owners apply for it. All animals react- 



