THE MILK SITUATION IN THE DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA. 71 



is not sustained, however, by the general consensus of opinion among 

 authorities consulted by the committee. The Chief of the Bureau 

 of Animal Industry invites attention to the fact that the price of 

 cows, as well as of other things, has increased all over the country 

 within recent years, regardless of whether the tuberculin test has 

 been applied or not, the statistics of the Department of Agriculture 

 showing that the average value of milch cows has increased from 

 $30.67 per head on January 1, 1908, to $35.79 per head on January 1, 

 1910, a ratio of 16.7 per cent in two years. 



It is Dr. Melvin's opinion that while the price of cows might pos- 

 sibly be affected if the tuberculin test were applied simultaneously 

 over a large part of the country and all reacting animals slaughtered, 

 the gradual application of the test, followed by slaughter, extending 

 over a small area would have no perceptible effect upon prices. He 

 takes the position, furthermore, that since all milk from tuberculous 

 cows is unquestionably dangerous to human health and life a slight 

 increase in price of cows and in the cost of milk should not be con- 

 sidered an adequate reason for refusing to remove this danger. He 

 refers, besides, to the fact that cows affected with tuberculosis are 

 usually not as productive as healthy cows and that their value as milk 

 producers would probably steadily decrease. 



The State health officer of Florida opines that while the immedi- 

 ate effect would be to raise the price, the ultimate tendency would be 

 to conserve the health and vitality of the cattle and consequently 

 reduce the price. Ravenel philosophically asserts that " a healthy 

 cow is worth more than a sick one." 



Dr. Coit estimates that the enforcement of the tuberculin test 

 would increase the price of cattle from 25 to 50 per cent. It is 

 assumed that he refers to the effect of national enforcement, or the 

 application of the test covering a very considerable territory, and 

 not to the influence on the price of cattie which might reasonably be 

 expected to follow the introduction of the test is so limited a terri- 

 tory as the District of Columbia. The initiation of the test judi- 

 ciously and gradually, not instantaneously and abruptly within so 

 circumscribed an area as the District of Columbia, could even less 

 reasonably be expected to produce the result predicted by Dr. Coit. 



Dr. C. J. Marshall, of the veterinarian department of the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania, expresses the belief that the enforcement 

 of the tuberculin test, if generally applied, would undoubtedly 

 increase the price of cattle for a few years. 



Dr. Goler, health officer of Rochester, N. Y., reports that the intro- 

 duction of the test has had no effect yet in his jurisdiction, while 

 Borden's Condensed Milk Co. expresses the belief, based upon its 

 investigations in Massachusetts and other States where the enforce- 

 ment of the test has been attempted, that it would very greatly 

 increase the price of cattle. 



Dr. Park, of New York City, makes the ingenious suggestion that 

 in order to counteract as fully as practicable the increased price of 

 cattle resulting from the introduction of the tuberculin test, the 

 reacting cattle be at first separated (when in sufficient number to 

 make this practicable) and their milk pasteurized and used. This 

 course would undoubtedly, in his judgment, alleviate to some extent 

 the effect on the price of cattle. 



