104 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



owners of cows, with the aid of the local veterinarians or far- 

 mers do it themselves? No. Then who shall do it? I say it 

 should be done by competent and trained men of authority, who 

 are perfectly reliable and absolutely under state control. To 

 illustrate: Here are four or five farmers in one neighborhood 

 who have gone to the trouble and expense of testing their cows, 

 and they have sustained losses by destroying the reacting animals. 

 These farmers desire to keep their herds clean; can they do it? 

 No. They are confronted with the same questions to which I 

 have already alluded. 



They must have the protection of the state in order to 

 accomplish anything, and such aid and protection should be at 

 the expense of the state. Now, suppose that we should have 

 an appropriation sufficiently large to carry on this work, a dairy- 

 man desires to have his cows tested, and the state does the work. 

 If there should be five, ten or fifteen per cent or more of his 

 animals respond to the tuberculin test, what should be done with 

 them? Should they be slaughtered? No, not necessarily. 

 There are one of two things to do : First, if the cows are not of 

 too great value, a board of officers should fix their value, and 

 the owner should receive at least seventy-five per cent of the 

 full appraisement. As to just how much the owner should re- 

 ceive, I find that there is a difference of opinions. If only a 

 percentage is given, another question arises, as there are about 

 two per cent of all cows reacting which will not show the lesions 

 of tuberculosis on post-mortem examination. You cannot say 

 the disease is there. 



To illustrate: If a needle is placed in a large pile of hay, 

 the most careful search may fail to locate it, although it is known 

 to be there. In order to do justice to the farmer, when on post- 

 mortem examination no lesions are found, then such animals 

 should be regarded healthy, and full compensation should be 

 allowed. Second, if the cattle are purebreds, or valuable dairy 

 cows, instead of destroying the reactors, they may be handled 

 under Bang's system, where it is practicable to do so, under 

 state control. This method has proved very satisfactory in all 

 the herds where we have tried it. By following this method in 



