54 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



DAIRY ECONOMY AND SANITATION 



(S. J. Stanard, Supt. Division of Dairy Extension 



Illinois Department of Agriculture.) 



Selection. 



There are two ways by which we may obtain our cows. 

 One is by purchasing them and the other is by raising them. 

 The latter is, of course, the more ideal method, but it is 

 sometimes necessary to buy stock, and when this is done 

 there are many things to be taken into consideration, such 

 as: 



Health. 



Be sure the animal is "free from tuberculosis'' before 

 you make a purchase, or make it subject to the tuberculin 

 test and have that test made before you add the newly pur- 

 chased cow to your herd. 



Tuberculosis is the most dreaded of all latent diseases 

 found in the bovine animal. Often the fattest animal in the 

 herd is the most generally infected and dangerous to the 

 welfare of the herd. 



Until a few years ago the percentage of bovine tuber- 

 culosis was gradually on the increase and since that time 

 some slight reduction has been observed. However, due to 

 the fact that ninety-five percent of tuberculosis in hogs 

 is of bovine origin and that twelve and one-half percent of 

 all the hogs slaughtered in centralized markets are infected 

 it might be presumed that the apparent decrease is not an 

 actual decrease. 



Too often farmers have spent years in building up a 

 splendid herd of dairy cattle only to find in the end that 

 their herd is rotten with tuberculosis, which results in the 

 loss of years of hard labor. 



The old adage, "a stitch in time saves nine," is more 

 truth than poetry when relative to tuberculosis in dairy 

 cattle. Insist that the cattle you buy are tuberculin tested 



