THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



89 



want of you ; I shall not let you have 

 the cattle ; you can go.'' We hope for 

 the "welfare of the community that all 

 the farmers whose herds have been visit- 

 ed by this frightful scourge are thus 

 mindful of their neighbor's welfare. 



There is great danger to be appre- 

 hended from a class of small farmers, 

 principally foreigners, who are ambitious 

 of bargains. The utmost vigilance is 

 necessary to prevent such men from 

 trafficking in cattle infected with the con- 

 tagion. A man recently informed the 

 Commissioners that he had three cows 

 which had been exposed, and wanted the 

 commissioners to take them off his hands 

 while there was yet a chnnce of his re- 

 alizing their value. The commissioners 

 promised to sell ihem as soon as possi- 

 ble, but the owner directly sold them to 

 a man in a neighboring town, where 

 they were driven into a herd with four 

 others. The commissioners learning the 

 fact dispatched a person immediately, 

 and ascertained that the three cows were 

 diseased. These, together with the re- 

 mainder of the herd, were at once de- 

 stroyed. 



On Thursday, Dr. Loring and Prof. 

 Clarke visited the farm of Mr. Thrash- 

 er, in Amherst, where four head of cat- 

 tle belonging to Mr. Edward "W. Fay of 

 North Brookfield, had been sent to pas- 

 ture. Although from the infected dis- 

 trict they had not shown signs of pleuro- 

 pneumonia. They have been in contact 

 with only three other animals, and are 

 no%v isolated and shut up in a barn. No 

 danger is apprehended from them. On 

 the other hand Mr. Ebenezer Fairbanks 

 of West Brookfield, who has a herd of 

 eighteen head, killed a cow this morn- 

 ing which had exhibited symptoms of the 

 contagion, and found the lungs very 

 much enlarged, and other unmistakable 

 signs of pleuro-pneumonia. The com- 

 missioners will examine the herd to- 

 day, and probably condemn the whole. 



The disease has obtained a strong hold 

 at New Braintee. The commissioners 

 have examined several large herds, num- 

 bering in the aggregate about two hun- 

 dred and fifty head, and found several 

 cattle to be affected. All have conse- 

 quently been exposed to the contagion. 

 The disease is supposed to have ramifi- 

 cations in Oakham, Ilardwick and Stur- 

 bridge. Since, a yoke of oxen belong- 

 ing to William Fullum of North Brook- 

 field, one of which has been killed, and 

 found to be badly diseased, have been 

 used in drawing box-lumber from those 

 towns, Dana, Pelham and places as far 

 north even as New Hampshire. 



The people are now fully awake to 

 the danger of this disease, which threat*- 

 ens to become a national calamity. Al- 

 ready meetings have been held in several 

 towns, and measures taken for the pron 

 tcction of the healthy cattle. The citi» 



zens of Warren, Mass., and Portsmouth, 

 R. I., have adopted resolutions prohib' 

 iting the passage into those towns of any 

 cattle from the infected and suspected 

 districts. The commissioners recom' 

 mend this course, and the establishment 

 of stringent regulations in all the towns 

 of New England. 



Mr. Flint, Secretary of the Board of 

 Agriculture, has been instructed to notify 

 the Governors of all the States and Ter- 

 ritories in the Union States, and also all 

 the Boards of Agriculture and Presidents 

 of State Societies, of the existence, na- 

 ture and magnitude of the ditease, and 

 of its dangerous character, that they may 

 adopt such measures for self-defense as 

 they may deem proper. 



SIEETINO OF THE FARMERS OF NOBTHAMPTOX, 



The farmers of Northampton have be- 

 come SO much interested in the subject of 

 the prevailing disease, that they have 

 sent Dr. E. F, AYood to investigate and 

 report upon the matter. 



A meeting was held in Northampton 

 on Wednesday evening, which was at- 

 tended by about two hundred persons. 

 H. K. Starkweather, Secretary of the 

 Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin Ag- 

 ricultural Society, presided. Dr. Wood 

 reportecT^ihe result of his visit to the in- 

 fected districts, stating that he was per- 

 fectly satisfied that the disease was conta- 

 gious, and that in his opinion there was 

 no way o£ exterminating the disease but 

 to continue the work of slaughter. 



Prof. Clarke of Amherst, having been 

 invited to address the meeting, spoke of 

 the contagious character and fatal effects 

 of the disease, and the absolute neces 

 sity existing for its radical and entire 

 extirpation. He defended the commis- 

 sioners against the attacks of certain 

 croakers, contending that they were pur- 

 suing the proper and legitimate course 

 open to them. The nature , of the dis- 

 ease, and its effect upon the community 

 at large, were made the subject of an 

 earnest appeal to the people to come 

 forward and subscribe to the guarantee 

 fund. 



Dr. Charles G. Loring, ohe of the 

 commissioners, also spoke by invitation, 

 defending the position and action of the 

 Board, and presented evidence of the 

 existence and effects of the disease, ex- 

 horting the people to come up and help 

 to stay the malady by subscribing to the 

 fund. 



Mathew Smith, a delegate to the State 

 Board of Agriculture from the Middle- 

 field Agricultural Society, spoke of the 

 impression made upon his mind during a 

 Stay of a few days in North Brookfield, 

 and expressed his convictions of the pro- 

 priety of the course of the commission- 

 ers. ■;' '.' ^-yy 



THE DISEASE IN AFRICA lilPOETAKT IKFORMA- 



TION. 



While in New Haven, Mr. Walker met 



the Rev. Mr. Lindsey, a missionary of 

 the American Board of Commissioners 

 for Foreign Missions, who previous to 

 seven years ago, resided at Port Natal, 

 on the eastern coast of Africa. From a 

 conversation with this gentleman, whose 

 position and opportunities for observa- 

 tion entitle him to public confidence, Mr. 

 Walker was fully convinced that the 

 commissioners had taken the only course 

 open to a complete extinction of the dis- 

 ease. Mr. Lindsey states that five years 

 before he left Africa, a bull affected with 

 pleuro-pneumonia, was imported into 

 Port Natal from Holland. In sixty days 

 after the arrival of the animal, it died. 

 In the meantime, the disease had been 

 communicated to other cattle, and spread 

 rapidly in all directions, jumping three 

 hundred miles at one time, in conse- 

 quence of one ot the tribe in the infected 

 district driving a herd of cattle that dis- 

 tance. The disease extended along the 

 entire coast, a distance of thirteen hun- 

 dred miles, sweeping all the cattle be- 

 fore it. 



The cattle belonging to the tribe in 

 which Mr. Lindsey dwelt, were, how- 

 ever, exempt from the infection, not a 

 single case occurring, and for this rea- 

 son : The chief of the tribe, impressed 

 with the belief that the only remedy was 

 in insolatiug his people and their herds, 

 and cutting off all communition by means 

 of cattle with the surrounding tribe, for- 

 bade the introduction of all cattle into 

 his domains. He cleared a belt of land 

 about three hundred rods wide, entirely 

 aro«Hid his kingdom, and this by agree- 

 ment with the surrounding chiefs, was 

 regarded as neutral ground. No cattle 

 were allowed to cross it but in the pro- 

 cess of transportation. Goods were 

 drawn to the line of demarkation on one 

 side by cattle, then carried across the 

 belt by natives, and taken up again by 

 oxen in the adjoining territory. The 

 result of this judicious action was that 

 not an animal died of the disease in that 

 tribe, while behind the belt, cattle could 

 be seen dying upon the hills, and within 

 it there was perfect security. Mr. 

 Lindsey strongly asserts that the disease 

 cannot be compromised ; that it is a con- 

 tagious consumption, which is incapable 

 of modification. It is the same in Af- 

 rica as it is in Holland, and it will be 

 the same in the United States as it is in 

 Africa, unless it is eradicated. It has 

 obtained a foothold in this country, and 

 unless some speedy and effective plan is 

 adopted it will overrun the State. 



We offer no other apology to our 

 readers than the importance of the sub- 

 ject for the space we occupy on this 

 matter. With care "n receiving stock 

 from the east we may escape the malady 

 for some years, but we have little hope 

 that now it is on the continent its pro 



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