STATE CONTROL OF TUBERCULOSIS. 
539 
appraise and destroy the cattle and grant the owner compensa¬ 
tion. 
This was an ideal method for both the nnscrupnlous owner 
and veterinarian ; by this method there were no restrictions 
placed on the owner; he could test as many or as few animals 
as he desired. Many times owners would have their herds 
tested without any idea of attempting to keep them free from 
disease; when the reacting animals were destroyed others were 
bought without test and often placed in the same barn without 
any attempt at cleansing or disinfection. Such a method of 
doing business was neither common sense nor business-like ; there 
was little use in the State paying for cattle that reacted to a pri¬ 
vate test, unless the owner really desired to clean up his herd 
and meant to stick to it once he began it. This is a point of a 
good deal of practical importance. The business man and the 
capitalist; the men who make a business gain out of the sale of 
milk from tuberculin-tested cows ; the men who run their own 
milk route, who have their own customers, and who get from 2 
to 3 cents more per quart because of the test; such men natur¬ 
ally wish to have their cows tested, and would naturally keep it 
up as a business investment. Then, again, the men who raise 
their own stock, and who wish to get rid of disease for the sake 
of their own herds, in which they are interested ; they would also 
be likely to keep up the work in one way or another, for, they 
think, if we can only once get rid of the disease, we stand a fair 
chance of keeping free from it. They have got an object in 
view ; they aim at something definite. 
On the other hand the dairyman who ships his milk to the 
contractor, who gets the contractor’s price, who has the surplus 
question to deal with, who sells his cow when she runs dry, and 
buys fresh cows to replace the old, he has to buy frequently, 
and test every cow he buys, and has to run chances at that. 
What encouragement has he to keep up the work ? There is no 
profit in it for him ; he has no increased price for his milk. 
There is simply added expense without increased gain. 
Is it any wonder, then, that, although he may be enthusiastic 
