194 DISEASES OF SWINE 



cessful hog-cholera eradication has been worked out and is now at 

 the command of every state in the Union. All we need to accom- 

 phsh results is a strongly organized campaign of eradication carried 

 on at the same time in every state, in every county, and in every 

 township. Cholera has met its master, and is destined to be driven 

 from our country just as surely as has yellow jack, foot-and-mouth 

 disease, and other human and animal plagues that have from 

 time to time gained a foothold on our shores. 



Preventive Measures 



Those predisposing causes which depend upon age and sex of 

 the animal are of no importance from the standpoint of prevention 

 of the disease, except that the young animals should be especially 

 cared for and protected from those conditions which tend to favor 

 the development of cholera in the herd. 



Breed. — Again I would state that there is nothing to be gained 

 in prevention of cholera by the development or breeding of any 

 special breed of hogs. Poland-China, Hampshire, Duroc, Chester- 

 White, and even the Razor-back and Mulefoot animals are all 

 about equally susceptible to the attack of the cholera germ, and the 

 death-rate is equally high in one breed or the other. Too close 

 inbreeding should be avoided, as this tends to lower the natural 

 resisting powers of the herd, and fresh stock should be intro- 

 duced from time to time to avoid this degeneration which 

 follows close inbreeding from the same strain in several succes- 

 sive years. 



Feed Lots. — Here is where the owner can begin to take such 

 steps as will result in actual good. Feed lots for hogs should be 

 kept just as clean as possible. No filth or dirt should be allowed 

 to accumulate and afford harboring places for the germs of disease. 

 Mud-holes are just as unnecessary in the hog lot as they are in the 

 dooryard, and should not be tolerated for an instant. 



Hog yards are only too common in the hog-raising belt where the 

 animals have to wade about in mud up to their bellies and grope 

 for their food in this same mud and mire. Concrete or board 

 feeding floors should be provided for use in muddy weather, and 

 the hog lots should be so drained that there is never a collection of 

 mud and mire even in rainy weather. 



