682 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 10 
TWO WAYS OF DEALING WITH 
TUBERCULOSIS. 
The way it is dealt with here in New 
England, is to test cattle "with tubercu¬ 
lin, and if they react, kill them. So far 
as I have been able to discover, the idea 
that any other course was to be pursued 
has been utterly scouted by most of the 
veterinarians, especially those connected 
with experiment stations. They were 
going to eradicate the disease, and if the 
farmer got a part of what his cattle 
were worth when killed, he might think 
himself well off. 
The veterinarian of the Michigan Ex¬ 
periment Station is the first to announce 
an attempt to cure tuberculosis. Prof. 
Grange deserves the thanks of American 
cattle growers for his new departure. 
Heretofore, all cattle in station herds 
which reacted have been at once killed. 
Farmers have been asking why an at¬ 
tempt has not been made to cure these 
animals. In the town in which I live, 
about 100 cattle have been killed by the 
cattle commissioners. While there were 
some terribly bad cases, the larger part 
of these animals were only slightly dis¬ 
eased. Some of the finest Jersey stock 
in the country was represented in two 
of these herds. One farmer lost every 
animal he had, and he was a poor man, 
too. The owners got a few dollars, but 
what is $15 or $20 for cows which cannot 
be replaced for $50, $75, or $L00 ? There 
has not been such excitement nere since 
the Civil War, or since the smallpox 
swept through the place nearly 40 years 
ago, there being 80 cases. You can im¬ 
agine how farmers would feel who had 
spent years in building up fine herds, to 
have them condemned and killed. 
Is there not a better way ? Thousands 
of farmers have all along believed that 
there is. When they have seen fine ani¬ 
mals killed, seen the veterinarians hunt 
until, at last, a small point about the 
size of a pin head was found which was 
declared to be tuberculosis, they have 
asked, with good reason, whether kill¬ 
ing such animals was necessary. They 
have felt that, with proper sanitary sur¬ 
roundings, these animals might have 
entirely recovered. The farmers have 
received help from an unexpected quar¬ 
ter. The Massachusetts State Board of 
Agriculture, and the Hatch Experiment 
Station have jointly issued a translation 
of a paper by Dr. B. Bang, who is at the 
head of veterinary work in Denmark. I 
believe that this is, by far, the most 
valuable paper or bulletin on tuber¬ 
culosis which has ever been issued in 
this country, and 1 hope that the United 
States Department of Agriculture will 
reprint the bulletin so that it can have 
the wide circulation which it deserves. 
The Danish method of dealing with 
the disease is very different from the 
American way. The statements made 
by Dr. Bang are quite in accord with the 
conclusions reached by dairymen here, 
and the wonder is that our veterinarians 
have not tried the same experiments 
which have succeeded so favorably in 
Denmark. For example, a herd of 208 
were tested and 131 reacted. In this 
country, these animals would all have 
been killed, and the farm would have 
been left with only 77 cattle. Moreover, 
here all the infected cattle would have 
been burned, no matter if it took a 
microscope to detect the disease. In¬ 
stead of this wholesale destruction, the 
Danish herd was divided into two parts, 
and the reacting animals were kept in a 
separate pasture and in a stable which 
was divided by a board partition, one 
side of which was covered with building 
paper. Precautions were taken to pre¬ 
vent infection from being communicated 
to the healthy herd, and the infected 
animals were tested yearly. Any which 
did not react, were transferred from the 
sick to the well division. In this way, 
starting with 131 reacting animals, at 
the end of the first year, there were only 
90 which reacted, at the end of the 
second year 81, at the end of the third 
year 69 , Xhl» U t*r a# the record 
goes. Besides this, the female calves 
were all kept, those in the reacting 
division being separated from their 
mothers at once. Whenever a diseased 
animal showed visible signs of tuber¬ 
culosis, it was killed. 
Now I ask whether this is not a much 
more rational plan than the immediate 
slaughter method ? I have never ob¬ 
served the use of the term ‘ latent tuber¬ 
culosis” by writers in this country, but 
Dr. Bangs makes use of it. He says, 
“ 'The majority of reacting cows have 
simply latent tuberculosis. In time, 
this may develop further in many cases. 
But my investigations have shown that 
such tuberculosis can often remain with¬ 
out development for years, and exert no 
influence on the general health or func¬ 
tions of the animal. We cannot con¬ 
clude from this observation that an 
animal which reacts with tuberculin is, 
thereby, condemned to advancing dis¬ 
ease, to wasting away and final death. 
The reaction simply indicates the possi¬ 
bility of such a result. Whether or not 
it will prove a reality, we do not know.” 
This will be good news to thousands of 
farmers. .r. w. newton. 
SOUTHERN CATTLE FEVER AGAIN. 
On page 634, J. C. Senger intimates 
that murrain, which is a common desig¬ 
nation for splenetic fever, or Southern 
cattle fever, is coincident with the ap¬ 
pearance of the cattle tick, and that if 
the latter be plentiful, the disease will 
be more prevalent. He also attributes 
the recovery of the three cattle referred 
to in his article, as well as others of his 
knowledge, to the mechanical removal 
of the feces. The experiences of farm¬ 
ers are so varied, and often conflicting, 
in the simpler matters that engage our 
attention, that it is no wonder if we dis¬ 
agree as to the causes and treatment of 
this insidious disease, when the skilled 
veterinarians of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry acknowledge, after years of 
careful investigation, that many things 
connected with the infection are inex¬ 
plicable, and that, after the disease of 
the virulent type has advanced to the 
stage at which it is distinguishable to 
the senses, there is no treatment known 
to them that can be relied on to cure. 
In an experience that I do not care to 
have repeated, I have made a few obser¬ 
vations, and the knowledge acquired of 
ticks and murrain does not sustain Mr. 
Senger in his opinions. That ticks do 
communicate the disease to healthy 
animals I do not deny ; but that an in¬ 
creased number of ticks, even on sus¬ 
ceptible cattle, are not accompanied or 
succeeded within the period allowed for 
incubation, by a corresponding outbreak 
of the disease, I can positively affirm. 
If some ticks do transmit infection, there 
are others that do not, or else the power 
to transmit is dependent on other con¬ 
ditions. During the past six years, we 
have had ample evidence of it. Two 
instances will suffice to demonstrate. 
In 1895, my milch cows pastured in 
fields beyond those in which the young 
cattle and dry cows ran, but passed 
through them each morning and night. 
Ticks were present from .1 une to Septem¬ 
ber inclusive, but became unusually 
plentiful on the herd that was not being 
milked, towards the end of the summer. 
It is no exaggeration to say that each 
animal carried thousands, and five figures 
might be needed to count them on a few 
individuals. In this herd which num¬ 
bered over 60, not an animal showed the 
slightest symptoms of the fever, and all 
were in good condition in the fall. Ten 
per cent of the milch cows died. 
In 1896, ticks did not make their ap¬ 
pearance in appreciable numbers until 
August. During June and July, the 
fever was extremely virulent, and the 
mortality in the herd that escaped in 
1895, reached 25 per cent. During August 
and September of this year, both herds 
have enjoyed complete immunity from 
the disease, although ticks have been 
abuodant through these months, Wo 
might infer from Mr. Senger’s article, 
that the clogging of the intestinal track 
is the immediate cause of death. Con¬ 
stipation is a frequent symptom al¬ 
though, in a large percentage of cases, 
a laxative condition prevails, and my ex¬ 
perience leads me to believe that the 
recovery of the animal is not assured by 
maintaining a free passage. The dis¬ 
ease is seated in the blood, and is caused 
by a minute animal organism which at¬ 
tacks and destroys the red corpuscles. 
The liver becomes clogged with these, 
and its functions are suspended. Diges¬ 
tion is, therefore, imperfect, and con¬ 
stipation may result. Removing the 
constipated matter may give some relief, 
but it cannot free the liver and spleen 
from their enormous load of destroyed 
blood corpuscles. A post-mortem ex¬ 
amination always shows these organs to 
be in a very unnatural state, always 
much enlarged, and the spleen when cut 
appears as a dark, reddish-brown, dis¬ 
integrated mass. 
After drenching with all sorts of stuff 
advised by farmers as well as veteri¬ 
narians, including salts and linseed oil, 
and practicing the operation recom¬ 
mended by J. C. S., I have come to the 
conclusion that it is a very difficult dis¬ 
ease to master ; and that it is well-nigh 
useless to administer medicine or do 
anything but give the patients a cool, 
quiet place until the distemper has run 
its course. Then, if they do not suc¬ 
cumb, temiff their appetites with some 
nourishing food. There seem to be two 
forms of the disease—a mild, and an 
acute form, with symptoms very similar. 
If taken by the latter, you may as well 
give the cow up. If by the mild form, 
the chances are that she will recover. 1 
think that the cattle of which J. C. S. 
speaks, would have got well anyhow, 
though the treatment he suggests could 
but do good. But it certainly did not 
reach the vitals involved. In making a 
close study of the environment, we in¬ 
variably find that stagnant water is 
associated with the fever. It may be 
only coincident, but still it is strange 
that even when ticks are common, there 
is no fever when stagnant water is not 
accessible. albert b. beli.wood. 
Virginia. 
SOME FOUR-LEGGED MILKERS. 
cat.f’s stomach for milk fair. 
Mr. 0. W. Mapes, of Middletown, N. 
Y., is known to R. N -Y. readers chiefly 
as a “hen man.” His “Hens By the 
Acre” articles have been widely dis¬ 
cussed. Last week, I visited Mr. Mapes’s 
place to look at a new feature of the 
business. In former years, Mr. Mapes 
has kept his hens in groups of 50, each 
group in a little house of its own. These 
houses are scattered over a rocky pas¬ 
ture, and the hens run at large without 
fences of any sort. 
This was, in one sense a revolution, 
but now Mr. Mapes’s son has gone to 
the other extreme, has put up a build¬ 
ing 16 feet wide and 320 feet long, and 
is stocking it with 1,000 laying hens. 
This building stands at the center of a 
10 acre lot of rough pasture land. The 
hens run about at will, for there are no 
fences around the house. Here is a very 
interesting experiment under way. In 
one case, the 1,000 hens are kept in 20 
scattered houses, while in the other, 
they are all under one roof. In future 
articles, I hope to compare the two 
systems and point out some interesting 
features. 
Mr. Mapes, like most other Orange 
County farmers, keeps a small dairy. 
Just now he has nine cows. They work 
up the wastes on the farm — stalks, 
apples, etc.,—and make a better use of 
the rough pasture land than any other 
stock would do. For a time, Mr. Mapes 
sold bottled milk, but a small dairy is 
always at a disadvantage, especially 
when it is located some distance from 
town. It is much the same with butter¬ 
making in a milk district. Mr. Mapes 
(Contirmed on next page). 
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