STOCK RAISING AND SOIL FERTILITY 



195 



LIVE STOCK ORGANIZATIONS, IN- 

 STITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS 



In this section we purpose to bring 

 together and briefly describe all the 

 various agencies and factors that are 

 working together to foster and improve 

 the live stock industry of the country. 

 Such a discussion will necessarily take 

 into account the work of the state and 

 United States governments, the experi- 

 ment stations and agricultural colleges, 

 the national, state and county live 

 stock associations, the yearly fairs and 

 expositions and the agricultural journals 

 of the country. 



Live stock work in the United States 

 Department of Agriculture — One of the 

 most far-reaching agencies in the pro- 

 tection and promotion of the live stock 

 industry of the country is the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. At 

 the present time this department is de- 

 voting the greater share of its energies 

 to this industry. The division imme- 

 diately concerned with the live stock 

 interests is known as the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry. This bureau is 

 charged with the enforcement of the 

 laws relative to the exportation and 

 importation of live stock to and from 

 foreign countries. 



America still looks to England, Scot- 

 land and some other foreign countries 

 for much of its blooded stock. Under 

 the laws of the United States, pure 

 blooded stock which is registered in the 

 countries from which it comes, may en- 

 ter the United States free of import du- 

 ties if imported for breeding purposes. 

 The importer must first secure a permit 

 from the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. If the animals come from 

 countries in which contagious diseases 

 are prevalent, they may be prohibited 

 from entrance altogether, or may be kept 

 in quarantine for 90 days before they 

 are allowed to be shipped to interior 

 points. 



The law on this subject reads as fol- 

 lows : Any animal imported by a citizen 

 of the United States specially for breed- 

 ing purposes shall be admitted free, 

 whether intended to be so used by the 

 importer himself or for sale for such 

 purpose: Provided, That no such ani- 

 mal shall be admitted free unless pure 

 bred of a recognized breed, and duly 

 registered in the books of record estab- 

 lished for that breed: And provided 

 further, That certificate of such record 

 and of the pedigree of such animal shall 



be produced and submitted to the cus- 

 toms officer, duly authenticated by the 

 proper custodian of such book of record, 

 together with the affidavit of the owner, 

 agent, or importer that such animal is 

 the identical animal described in said 

 certificate of record and pedigree: And 

 provided further, That the Secretary of 

 Agriculture shall determine and certify 

 to the Secretary of the Treasury what are 

 recognized breeds and pure bred animals 

 under the provisions of this paragraph. 

 Cattle, horses, sheep, or other domestic 

 animals straying across the boundary 

 line into any foreign country, or driven 

 across such boundary line by the owner 

 for temporary pasturage purposes only, 

 together with their offspring, may be 

 brought back to the United States 

 within six months free of duty. 



Best known work of bureau of ani- 

 mal industry — The Bureau of Animal 

 Industry is perhaps, best known to stock 

 men fr,om a veterinary standpoint. 

 Through the work of this bureau 

 pleuro-pneumonia, which a few years 

 ago was a dreaded contagious disease of 

 cattle that had become established in a 

 number of eastern and central states, 

 and threatened the cattle industry of 

 the whole country, has been entirely 

 wiped out of the country. The disease 

 known as Texas fever, once so myste- 

 rious and little known as to inspire 

 terror wherever southern cattle were 

 taken, has been brought under control 

 by the establishment of a quarantine 

 line which limits it to the southern 

 states. The investigation of the bureau 

 has clearly indicated the character and 

 cause of the disease and that it is also 

 possible to eliminate it entirely from 

 the country. 



The stamping out of the foot and 

 mouth disease of cattle, which recently 

 obtained a foothold in the New Eng- 

 land states, is still fresh in mind. At 

 the present time the bureau is busily 

 engaged in eradicating sheep and cattle 

 scab from the western states. Entire 

 states have been freed from this disease 

 through its efforts and the work is going 

 rapidly forward in others. Blackleg of 

 cattle has been greatly reduced by the 

 free distribution of more than a mil- 

 lion doses of vaccine yearly. 



It is the stamp of this bureau also 

 which admits our meat products to 

 European countries. The large packing 

 houses which ship millions of pounds of 

 dressed meat to Europe yearly would 

 scarce find market for a single pound 



