100 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



charge of this work acknowledge that if they should continue at 

 the same rate at which they are "going at present, it would take 

 them one hundred and eleven years to test all of their cattle once. 

 They also acknowledge that if the work should be carried on to 

 completion, they then would not have accomplished much. 



If we should attempt 10 eradicate the disease (tuberculosis) 

 in Illinois, in one year, it would cost the state at least eleven 

 million dollars, and then to keep it out we would have to patrol 

 the borders of the state day and night. We would also have to 

 police the farms and do retesting in order to kill cut that which 

 escaped us in our first efforts. Crusades will not eradicate the 

 disease; extensive testing indiscriminately will not do it; both 

 entail a great waste of money and property. 



We, all of us, would like to eradicate tuberculosis at once, 

 but by what means are we going to accomplish this all important 

 end? It is evident to my mind that the proper method of pro- 

 cedure has not a.s yet been brought to light. I believe that we 

 should study the question more carefully, and by doing this we 

 will see at once that the very first step is education. Teach the 

 owners of live stock the true nature of the disease, and the great 

 damage it does, also teach them how to protect themselves from 

 the disease. If this is done, the battle is half won, because then, 

 when you test the cattle, and by so doing, locate the diseased 

 ones and remove them from the herd, the work is completed. 



How to Resist Tuberculosis. 



We should teach every one that in order to be able to resist 

 this disease, they must in behalf of their stock, obey the laws of 

 nature. If cows are bred for the purpose of producing milk, 

 butter or cheese, breeding should not be carried to the extreme, 

 for if other attributes are neglected, the result is, that the pro- 

 tective agencies are greatly lowered, which renders them more 

 susceptible to disease. Again, cattle should be out in the open 

 air as much as possible even if they should not give quite so much 

 milk on this account. Barns should be constructed so that each 

 animal should have a certain number of cubic feet of space. 



