284 DISEASES OF SWINE 



has done man may do, so we must simply gird up our loins and 

 buckle down to the task in real earnest. 



About the first real systematic work along the line of hog- 

 cholera eradication which was undertaken by our National Govern- 

 ment was during the summer of 1913, when demonstration stations 

 were established in Dallas County, Iowa; Pettis County, Mis- 

 souri ; and Montgomery County, Indiana. In each of these coun- 

 ties a survey of the county was first made, for the purpose of deter- 

 mining just about how many hogs there were in the district, how 

 large a percentage of the animals were effected with cholera, and 

 how many hogs had been lost during the previous year. Arrange- 

 ments were then made for serum treatment of all infected herds, 

 and simultaneous or serum treatment, as indicated, in adjoin- 

 ing herds for the purpose of preventing the spread of the 

 infection. 



In these counties there was but little difficulty in establishing 

 an understanding along the fine of treatment of infected and ex- 

 posed herds, but there was a great deal of difficulty when it came 

 to the matter of quarantine. Most of the owners did not want a 

 quarantine estabfished on their premises, and, furthermore, the 

 state officials were in many instances somewhat backward in ren- 

 dering assistance along this line. In these cases the difficulty with 

 the state officials was not a lack of willingness to co-operate, but a 

 fear of the effects which would follow if a storm of protest arose 

 from the stock raisers over the establishment of quarantine on their 

 premises. State veterinarians are, as a rule, political appointees, 

 and it is not policy for them to take part in anything which may 

 prove to be disagreeable to the stockmen of the state. 



With proper understanding of the matter, however, no man 

 should object to the establishment of quarantine on his premises 

 when cholera exists on the farm. The disease is unquestionably 

 contagious and catching to other animals, and everyone should at 

 least have the good of his neighbor enough at heart to be wilHng 

 to take any reasonable steps to prevent the spread of the disease 

 to his herd. Further than this, the neighbor should have enough 

 interest in his own herd to insist that such a method of warning be 

 established as will enable him to avoid danger of carrying the dis- 

 ease to his own herd. 



