322 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



action and in its anthoritj. By an act passed in 1899 

 (section 14, chapter 408, Acts of 1899) the control of glan- 

 ders, farcy and rabies in the city of Boston was taken out of 

 the jurisdiction of State authority and placed nnder the 

 authority of the local health board of that city. In regard to 

 glanders, the Cattle Bureau, while it is fighting the disease 

 elsewhere in the State, and endeavoring under the most 

 eminent veterinary advice to stamp it out, is confronted by 

 the record that, while only about 91X> per cent of all the horses 

 in the State are to be found in the city of Boston, 40 per 

 cent of all the cases of glanders occurring in Massachusetts 

 last year were located in Boston. The startling proportion 

 of such cases in the capital city of the State handicaps the 

 work of the Cattle Bureau outside the limits of Boston, and 

 it may be asserted with confidence that no material advance 

 towards eradication of the menacing evil is likely to be made 

 so long as there is divided responsibility. In my opinion 

 better and speedier results would follow if Boston were placed 

 in charge of the Cattle Bureau (as is the rest of the State) in 

 the matter of glanders control. I believe that the Legislature 

 in its wisdoin will eventually come to see the desirability of 

 clothing the Cattle Bureau with as wide power in the control 

 of glanders as it has already conferred in cases of tuber- 

 culosis in the herds of the Commonwealth, and it is not 

 improbable that, subsequent to such legislative action, a law 

 will be enacted providing for just and equitable compensa- 

 tion for such animals as are killed by order of the State 

 because they are affected with glanders. 



One other recommendation will be presented to the Legis- 

 lature of 1912. The Chief of the Bureau is now appointed 

 for a term of one year. This, in my opinion, militates 

 against the efficiency of the department. Changes of policy 

 are wrought out through experiment, and policies, definite, 

 economical and effective, can onl}' be established after they 

 have been tested. If the ideal in this department is to be 

 attained, a longer tenure of office should be assured. At the 

 proper time a bill will be introduced calling for a term of 

 sufficient length to ensure the firm establishment of a definite 

 policy, and the same bill will provide for a compensation 



