276 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QTTBSTION 



and cooperation of the dairy farmers must be secured; 

 They must reahze that the eradication of the disease, 

 however difficult and troublesome it may be, will 

 ultimately benefit them. Judging from the attitude 

 of the farmers in other countries upon this question, 

 from the expressions of opinion of some himdreds of 

 farmers in this country, and from the attitude of 

 the farmers' journals, there is no doubt that the 

 farmers would gladly join with the authorities in 

 a heroic campaign for the elimination of the disease, 

 provided that they are not unfairly bm-dened. 



It cannot be expected that the farmers, among 

 whom the percentage of altruists and saints is not 

 appreciably higher than among other classes, will 

 be very energetic and enthusiastic in securing the 

 slaughter of their cattle if they are to lose 60 or 70 

 per cent of the value of all animals so slaughtered. 

 That is the condition in the state of New York at 

 present. The state pays only 40 per cent of the 

 value of any animal killed by order of the state vet- 

 erinarian. It is freely admitted that in a majority 

 of cases the farmer is personally not responsible. 

 He cannot tell whether his animals are healthy or 

 not. Even a clinical examination by competent 

 and experienced veterinarians will fail very often 

 to detect the presence of the disease. It seems to 

 me, therefore, extremely unjust to punish the farmer 

 for' what is not his fault, to impose upon ' Mm: 



