228 
SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
value of many classes of horses is greatly reduced, their owners 
are less willing than formerly to expend considerable sums for 
the treatment of their various ailments, and the one-sided veter¬ 
inarian finds his services in less demand than formerly. I can¬ 
not believe, nor do those who should know most about this 
matter think, that the present low prices can long continue. j 
Some horses are being sold for much less than the cost of produc¬ 
tion, and the breeding of horses is being discontinued in many 
places ; but our export trade is rapidly growing, and as soon as 
there is a revival in the tone of general business in this country 
the demand for horses must inevitably be greater, and the supply 
and prices will go up 5 then also the legal restrictions that 
have been placed upon racing must soon become so obnoxious 
to free, self-respecting Americans that they will be materially 
modified, and racing, the sport of kings, will again become popu¬ 
lar, with the attending impulse that this will give to the horse 
breeding industry in every section, even the most remote, of our 
country. O11 the other hand, our live-stock industry is in a most 
flourishing condition, and more attention is being devoted to 
dairying, the production of superior cattle, sheep, swine, dogs 
and fowls than ever before ; and the broad veterinarian, whose 
work includes the consideration of the sanitary, medical and 
surgical questions in connection with these last industries has his 
hands full and his services in increasing demand. . 
The value of expert veterinary advice in relation to the dis¬ 
eases of many of our domestic animals has never been sufficiently 
appreciated, through lack of opportunities to draw upon the 
knowledge and skill of the veterinarian. Breeders and farmers 
in many parts of the country have fallen into the habit, which 
is usually an inherited one, of depending upon their own narrow 
resources when their animals become ill or unthrifty from causes 
which they do not understand. A great part of the responsibility 
for this state of affairs rests with the veterinarian, because he has 
specialized to such an extent upon the diseases of horses that his 
broader domain is not sufficiently recognized. 
It is the duty and privilege of the veterinarian, and this 
should be more generally understood by the public, to advance 
in every possible way the true and permanent interests of the 
live-stock industry, for this is the industry that we are trained to 
advance and protect, and from which we derive our livelihood; 
to do otherwise would be impossible. Notwithstanding this, 
veterinarians have recently been accused by some, who certainly 
must have known better, of conspiring to injure the source of 
