172 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



TUBERCULOSIS IN OUR HERDS. 



By 

 Dr. H. D. Russell, University of Wisconsin. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: The question, as 

 I understand it, under discussion for tonight and one which in- 

 terests this community and this state to an unusual degree is 

 the question of tuberculosis in our herds. 



It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to approach this ques- 

 tion in a fair and dispassionate manner. There is no necessity 

 for any alarm or misunderstanding on the part of any one. 

 What you want as dairymen, what you want as raisers of live 

 stock, or as consumers of dairy products, is simply to know 

 the facts. 



All I shall try to do tonight is to put before you some of 

 the most prominent facts regarding tuberculosis. 



There is so much misinformation carried on in the papers 

 at the present time that the rank and file of dairymen are apt 

 to get a wrong understanding of the facts relative to this ques- 

 tion of bovine tuberculosis. 



We shall deal with facts and if at any time a question 

 arises in your mind that you would like to ask I shall be only 

 too glad to be given the opportunity to answer it. 



In the first place, as I said before, there is a great deal of 

 misconception relative to the effects of this disease. The paper 

 tonight makes statements that I would be very glad to take up 

 and discuss if I had that paper before me or if I knew what 

 those statements were, but statements are made of this char- 

 acter, that the tuberculin test produces tuberculosis and that it 

 is the cause of spreading tuberculosis, which is entirely false. 



After the use of the tuberculin test for eighteen years in 

 the State of Wisconsin I know what I am talking about. There 

 is not a year but what we test every animal at the University, 



