260 MArNE STATE COLLEGE 



facts in regard to the contagious diseases of swine, as may be of 

 benefit to them. 



Here in Maine we may well congratulate ourselves upon the 

 fact that we suffer comparatively little from the effect of con- 

 tagious diseases among our domestic animals. If it were in order 

 in this connection I would like to enlarge somewhat upon the 

 reasons for this favorable condition of affairs, for the reasons are 

 not hard to find. 



What is true in a general sense is especiallj^ true of Hog 

 Cholera, so that compared with some sections of the country we 

 are unacquainted with the disease and its ravages. 



At varying intervals we have an outbreak occasionally affect- 

 ing so many hogs as to cause serious loss to a few individuals, 

 but it does not spread very generally on account of the lack of 

 communication between the affected pens and other hogs. How 

 to avoid this comparatively small loss that we suffer is a problem 

 well worth consideriug, and enough is now known of the ways in 

 W'hich the disease is communicated from one locality to another so 

 that we ought to be able to entirely protect ourselves. In the 

 West and South where large herds of hogs are kept under such 

 conditions that there is constant danger that they may contract 

 contagious diseases from neighboring hogs, and where the pastures 

 and water courses are often constant sources of infection, the prob- 

 lem of adequate protection is a serious one that often admits of no 

 solution. Here where all the channels of infection are so com- 

 pletely under our control it is our own fault if we lose any 

 hogs from Hog Cholera. Almost every outbreak in this State can 

 be traced directly to hogs imported for breeding purposes, or to 

 infested meat scrap that has been fed to hogs. The danger from 

 this last cause is so slight in this State where but little infested 

 meat scrap is fed that practically we may disregard it, but the 

 danger from imported hogs is not appreciated as it should be. It 

 is not every imported hog that has Hog Cholera, but so wide- 

 spread is this disease that the only safe course to pursue is to 

 assume that every imported hog is an infected animal until a suffi- 

 cient time has elapsed to prove him sound. By observing this 

 rule much trouble and expense will be avoided at a slight cost. 

 All that reasonable prudence would suggest as necessary is that 

 the newly imported hogs be placed in pens by themselves, sepa- 

 rated as far as possible from pens containing other hogs, and cared 

 for in such a manner that nothing with which thev come in 



