TREATMENT OF CHOLERA 193 



market in the form of lard, ham, bacon, and other pork products, 

 the loss would be stated in figures half as large again as those just 

 quoted. This is a problem that is of enormous importance not 

 alone to the farmer, but to every line of business connected either 

 directly or indirectly with the farming industry. The merchant, 

 the banker, the editor, the physician, the veterinarian, the manu- 

 facturer, all depend in large measure for their prosperity upon the 

 prosperity of the farmer. If these $100,000,000 that are being lost 

 annually by the farmers of the United States through ravages of 

 cholera can be saved to them it means increased business for the 

 merchant, increased deposits for the banker, increased business 

 for the manufacturer, and increased work and wages for the men 

 employed in these industries. 



There is another factor also to be considered in connection with 

 these losses. This is the price of meat and meat food products. 

 This is a point that touches the pocketbook of every household 

 throughout our nation. The price of living is a constant source of 

 uneasiness to every householder. Daily the price of foods, and 

 especially of meats, is mounting higher. How can it be otherwise 

 when miUions of hogs are being swept away each year by this 

 disease? These deaths mean just that much less of a meat sup- 

 ply. Less supply means higher prices. Just a little reflection 

 along these lines will show that this is not a problem in which the 

 farmer alone is interested. It is much more important from a 

 national standpoint. It is a problem that strikes home to every 

 household in the land, and one which we should all co-operate to 

 solve. 



The direct losses from the disease itself, while they may seem 

 enormous, are only a part of what the indirect losses are. So wide- 

 spread has cholera become, and so frequent its recurrence in the 

 hog-raising states, that farmers have begun to despair of raising 

 swine as a profitable industry, and, accordingly, we find that the 

 farmer is no longer feeding grain into such an uncertain animal. 

 Farms which formerly produced hundreds of hogs each year are 

 now producing only just enough for home meat supply. Feed 

 lots have been given over to other purposes, and in many locaUties 

 the swine-raising industry has almost entirely disappeared. 



Yet all these losses are preventable. The entire plan of suc- 



13 



