238 DISEASES OF SWINE 



cholera. It is not infrequently the practice to drive hogs to 

 shipping points, and very frequently these herds are hustled off to 

 market because they are showing evidences of cholera. We also 

 have these scavenger wagons continuously passing up and down 

 the highway during cholera outbreaks, and, in addition, we have 

 the rigs of butchers, commission buyers, and others who are con- 

 stantly in and out of hog lots, loading pens, infected chutes, cars, 

 etc., and are thus constant carriers of cholera infection. 



Hogs are always trying to enlarge the size of their range, and 

 when pastured along a public highway are liable at any time to 

 discover a weak point in the fence through which they gain entrance 

 to the roadway and, at the same time, to the cholera infection. 

 This was the cause for the outbreak in the case just described, and 

 it is a very likely occurrence at any time when hogs are allowed 

 to run in a field immediately bordering upon a pubUc roadway. 



Another danger in these pastures which border upon the public 

 highways is that frequently hog buyers will be driving along the 

 roadway and stop to look over the herd before driving up to the 

 house to try and make a purchase. It is not at all unusual if they 

 get out, climb over the fence, and go over into the field for the 

 purpose of making a close inspection of the herd. They do this 

 simply to save time and to get a little advance idea of the condition 

 of the animals. 



I happen to know of one herd which was infected in just this 

 manner. The hog lot was located about a half-mile from the 

 house in a small pasture which bordered along the public roadway. 

 There was cholera in a nearby township, and one of the hog buyers 

 from the closest village had been out in the country buying hogs. 

 He had visited the infected territory and had been in a great 

 many of the infected lots, culling out the animals that appeared 

 well enough to make the market without dying on the way. 



As he was driving past this hog lot he noticed the hogs inside 

 the fence, stopped, and climbed over into the feed lot to have a look 

 at them. He spent perhaps fifteen minutes among the animals, 

 looking them over carefully for any evidences of disease. He then 

 drove on back up to the house and went in to talk trade with the 

 owner. It so happened that this farmer was not in the notion to 

 sell and no trade was made. 



