1880.J 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



Selections. 



THE LUNG PLAGUE. 



Pleuro-Pneumonia Contagiosa, 

 Tliroii^li the I'iivoi- of Secretary Thomas .1. 

 Ed-^e, of the State Boanl of Agriculture, we 

 have lieeii favored willi advanced proof slieets 

 of ail able and exliuutstive article on the 

 "I>un.i; Plague, or I'leuro-pneiimonia," wliicli 

 will aiipear in the forthcoming annual volume 

 issued by tlie State Agricultural Society. It 

 is of general interest to stockmen and farmers, 

 and we avail ourselves of the o|i|)ortunity of 

 quoting from it liberally, as this fatal disease 

 lias to a limited extent secured a foothold 

 anionic the herds of lliis county, uiid threatens 

 lo prove most destructive unless our cattle 

 owners are prepared to sound tlie note of 

 warning at tlie (irst njipearance of the disease 

 and tlius keep il witliin bounds (u- exterminate 

 it entirely. 



What the Disease has Cost. 

 The immense loss which must result from 

 the infection of the large herds of tlie West 

 and Soutliwi si has been pointed out. It has 

 been shown that Kuglaiid, with only six 

 million animals, has lost more than SoOO.OOU,- 

 000 by this disease since its introduction from 

 Holland, and that in the samt' ratio the intro- 

 duction of the disea.se among twenty-eight 

 million cattle wonld cause a loss of .'|2,()U0,- 

 000,0011 in an equal time. That in our own 

 State the loss would be in a short time seri- 

 ously imjiair an important interest, and would 

 prove eminently more fatal in the West, where 

 all interests are more or less intimately con- 

 nected with that of stock raising, and where 

 all interests thrive or languish in synipathy 

 with it. 



Massachusetts, by prompt and vigorous 

 action, eradicatcil the disease from iier 

 borders, and last year ex[ieiided less than lifty 

 dollars for this purpose. It is true that the 

 struggle cost her nearly ftiS.dllO, but herstoek- 

 owners well knew that an immnnily from the 

 disease was cheaply imrcliased at this price. 

 The disease had insidiously crept from dairy 

 to dairy, from farm to farm, and from stack- 

 yard to another, until four of the leading 

 dairv counties of the eastern portion of the 

 State were infected. In these counties the 

 entrance of the di.sease inio a herd was con- 

 sidered as tantamount to a loss of from 

 twenty to lifty jier cent., and soiiietimes ex- 

 ceeded even the latter rale. Dairies were 

 broken up, the business abandoned, and, in 

 many cases, the surviving animals sold and 

 scattered, thus forming centers of further 

 contagion. 



Spread of the Disease. 



Agents of the British Government, accom- 

 panied by competent veterinary surgeons, 

 who were familiar willi the disease during its 

 lavages in England, starting from Canada, 

 fonnd it in all tlie Atlantic States, from 

 Alassachusetts to Carolina, and, reporting its 

 presence to the home tiovernmeut, a (piaran- 

 tine was ordered on all American cattle. 

 They failed to recognize tlie fact that the 

 «ittle thus imported did not come from 

 infected districts, and that they did not come 

 in contact with infected cattle; but, tinding 

 mpjKised cases of contagious lung plague 

 (pleuro-pnenmonia) in the cargo of the Onta- 

 rio, at once issued the edict which practically 

 stopped the importation of live American 

 cattle, at least for a time. 



The farmers of our State were aroused to 

 tlie imminent danger resulting from the per- 

 manent location ofthedisease in this country. 

 Several States, formutual help and protection, 

 had joined in an endi^avor to stay the pest, 

 and the assistance of our State was asked. 

 Our past losses were estimated at from S.500,- 

 000 to S7.')0.n(K>, and good judges places the 

 amount even liigher, and it was impossible to 

 estimate the loss, if nothing wa.s done to 

 prevent its further siire.ad. 



The result was that all the facts in the case 

 were laid before the Joint Committee of Agri- 



culture of both Houses of the State Legisla- 

 ture. A draft of an act was offered, and 

 after being amended, jiassed both branches 

 and became a law on May 1, 1879. The fol- 

 lowing is the text of this law ; 



An Act 



To prevent the spread of rontngious or infectious 

 pleuro-pneumoniu amomj the rattle in this 

 State. 



? 1. /{( it enacted, <tc.. That whenever it 

 .shall be brought to the notice of the (Governor 

 of this State that the disease known as conta- 

 gious or infectious pleuro-pneumonia exists 

 among the cattle in any of the counties in 

 this State, it shall be his duty to take meas- 

 ures to promptly sujipress the disease and 

 prevent it from spreading. 



i 2. That for such purpose, the (Jovevnor 

 shall have power and he is hereby authorized 

 to issue his proclamation, stating that the 

 said infectious or contagious disease exists in 

 any county or counties of the State, and 

 warning all persons to seclude all animals in 

 their possession that are affected witli such 

 disease or have been expo.sed to the infection 

 or contagion thereof, and ordering all persons 

 to take such precautions against tlie spreading 

 of such disease as the nature thereof may in 

 his judgment render necessary or expedient; 

 to order that any premises, farm, or farms 

 where such disease exists or has existed to be 

 put in quarantine, so that no domestic animal 

 be removed from said iilacc so (luarantined, 

 and to prescribe such regulations as he may 

 judge necessary or expedient to prevent infec- 

 tion or contagion being communicated in any 

 way from the places .so quarantined: to call 

 upon all sheriffs and deputy slieritls to carry 

 out and enforcj the provisions of such [iroela- 

 mations, orders and regulations, and it shall 

 bo the duty of all the sheriffs and deputy 

 slieritls to obey and observe all orders and in- 

 structions which they may receive from the 

 Governor in tlie premises; to employ such and 

 so many medical and veterinary practitioners, 

 and such other persons, as he may from time 

 to time deem necessary to assist him in per- 

 forming his duty as set forth in the first 

 section of this act, and to fix their etjinpensa- 

 tion;to order all or any animals coming into 

 the State to be detained at any place or places 

 for the purpose of inspection and examination; 

 to prescribe regulations for the destruction of 

 animals affected with the said infectious or 

 contagious disease, and for the proper disjiosi- 

 tion of their hides and carcasses, and of all 

 objects wliieh might convey infection or con- 

 tagion, (provided that no animal shall be 

 destroyed unless first examined by a medical 

 or veterinary practiticmer in the employ of 

 the Governor as aforesaid;) to prescribe regu^ 

 lations for the disinfection of all premises, 

 buildings and railway cars, and of objects 

 from or by which infection or contagion may 

 take iilace or be conveyed; to alter and modify; 

 from lime to time, as he may deem expedient, 

 the terms of all such proclamations, orders 

 and regulations, and to cancel or withdraw 

 the same at any time. 



S 3. That all the necessary expenses incuri 

 red under the direction or by authority of the 

 (Joverijor in carrying out the iirovisions of 

 this act. shall be paid by the treasurer upon 

 the warrant of the Auditor General, on being 

 certified as correct by the Governor: Providtd, 

 That animals coming from a neighboring 

 State that have passed a veterinary examina- 

 tion in said State, and have been quarantined 

 and discharged, shall not be subject to the 

 provisions of this act. 



The Governor Appoints an Agent. 

 Immediately after the passage of the above 

 act Governor Iloyt appointed an agent, who 

 was authorized to prohibit the movement of 

 cattle in infected districts without license 

 granted after examination. All owners and 

 employees were ordered to report all cases of 

 disease to him. Cattle infected were to be 

 quarantined or slaughtered, at the agent's 

 discretion. He was also authorized to disin- 

 fect premises and the clothing of persons 

 owning infected herds. He was required to 



certify to the vfilne of all diseased cattle 

 slaughtered, giving the owners such certifi- 

 cates, but where owners willfully withheld 

 information, no such certificates were to be 

 granted. A number of other minor regula- 

 tions were also provided for his guidance. 



In consequence of the above, the agent 

 issued a circular, requesting a cordial co-oper- 

 ation on the part of farmers and other owners 

 of cattle, and dwelt witli mucli emphasis on 

 the danger and loss wliich would result from 

 the concealment of diseased ca.ses, not only to 

 the individual owners, but to the State at 

 larire. He expressed the hope, that if all 

 parties would iieartily act in concert witli him, 

 the ravages of the disease could be controlled. 

 Action of the State Authorities. 

 Under the commi.ssiou before quoted the 

 agent of the Governor has, (up to November 

 I,) quarantined twenty-seven herds, including 

 four hundred and eight animals, liable lo in- 

 fection, and distributed in the following 

 counties : Adams, one; Lancaster, four; 

 York, one; Bucks, one; Delaware, four; 

 Montgomery, five, and Chester eleven. Of 

 these herds eight, (one in York, three in 

 Montgomery, and four in Cli(?ster,) have since 

 been released from the (luarantine and pro- 

 nounced safe from another outlireak, except 

 from a fresh infection from outside sources. 



As soon as the supposed existence of the 

 disease is reported, each animal in tlie herd 

 is iuspect'ed by a veterinary surgeon in 'the 

 emjiloy of the" State, and if the disease is 

 found to exist, is promptly quarantined to 

 prevent its spread to adjoining herds, in 

 order, if possiljle, to prevent further contagion 

 in the same herd, all diseased animals are ap- 

 praised and killed. 



The history of all the above herds is given 

 in detail, but we have room only for the 

 particulars of a single one given as herd No. 

 •2, containing 20 cows, 2 bulls and 10 calves, 

 which was quarantined .June 12. Previous to 

 quarantine four head had died, and after the 

 enforcement of tlie (luarantine, fourteen head 

 were killed. With one possible exception, all 

 the animals were afl'ected, and a nuint)er of 

 them are now in a condition in which the^ 

 are worse than useless to the owner. In this 

 case the evidence is strongly in favor of the 

 theory that the owner conveyed the disease to 

 his herd by assisting in the care of another 

 infected dairy. No spread of the disease to 

 adjoining farms; but it is quite probable that 

 the disease was carried from this herd to herd 

 No. 2 in the clothing or on the person of the 

 owner, who administered medicine to both 

 herds This herd has furnished an illustra- 

 tion of the disease in one of its worst forms, 

 but is now believed to be clear, but not 

 beyond the danger of infecting other stock. 



Wc may find room for another installment 

 of this article, as the most interesting partic- 

 ulars, relative to the name, history, nature 

 and svmptoras of the disease, remain to be 

 enumerated. These, when properly under- 

 stood and carefully watched for, may save the 

 farmers the choicest members of their herds, 

 and much money besides. 



OUR TOBACCO CROP. 



One of the most important and profitable 

 crops DOW grown in Pennsylvania is that of 

 tobacco, and every year the area of ground in 

 which it is planted is extended. In 1849, it 

 is stated, the crop of seed leaf in Connecticut, 

 t)hio and Pennsylvania was set down at 6,000 

 cases, one-third Of which was exported and 

 the rest sold at from 14 to Iti cts. per pound to 

 speculators. In 18o0 Pennsylvania grew 

 3,.'jOO cases, the largest crop grown in the 

 state up to that time. Since that time there 

 has been an annual increase, the crop of 

 of 1S70 being the largest vet reported. 



At the commencement" of the tobacco sea- 

 son this year the farmers in the counties of 

 Lancaster, Y'ork, Lebanon and Chester were 

 greatly troulilcd with the cut worm, and in 

 some instances it Ijecame necessary to replant 

 two or three times. Then came the dry spell 

 which lasted until nearly the middle of July, 

 and during all this time it was thought by 



