396 INSPECTION, GOVERNMENT AND STATE. 



shall not be unloaded south of said line prior to ai-rival at Port Eoyal, 

 Cattle exported from New Orleans, La., and Galveston, Tex., shall 

 originate south of said quarantine line, and no cattle from north of 

 said quarantine line shall be exported from ports of New Orleans, La., 

 or Galveston, Tex., except by special permit from the Chief of the 

 Bureau of Animal Industry. All cattle and sheep exported from the 

 three ports above mentioned shall be inspected, and the provisions of 

 sections 4 and 5 of order of February 7, 1895, shall be applicable there- 

 to, together with such other provisions of said order as may be deemed 

 practicable by the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 



The tagging of export animals at above ports shall be discretion- 

 ary with the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 



J. STEELING MORTON, 



Secretary. 



While a strict inspection is thus maintained on all sheep 

 imported into or exported from this country, it must be acknowl- 

 edged that the regulations governing inter-state shipments vet 

 leave something to be desired. 



For instance, the interpretation of the term "inter-state 

 shipments" appears to be somewhat vague. Sheep designed for 

 shipment for feeding or breeding purposes from any of the 

 large stock-yards in the country which come under 

 the care of Fedei'al inspectors must be dipped before 

 being allowed to leave the yards. This is a most excellent pro- 

 vision, and if rigidly enforced would materially assist in keeping- 

 under, if not entirely eradicating, the disease known as scab; 

 but here arises a loop-hole through which advantage of this regu- 

 lation can be taken. Sheep shipped to a stock-yards and held 

 there for sale and which are sold at those yards and allowed to 

 remain therein several days after such sale come under the State 

 laws and are not sttbject to the restrictions of the inter-state 

 regulations. These sheep can be shipped to any point in that 

 State without dipping. 



Now, it would be evident that if the infection from scab 

 exists in the large stock-yards throughout the country as is 

 claimed, these sheep would carry the infection to whatever point 



