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American Agriculturist, April 21,1923 
An Unsolved Problem! 
Abortion Still Baffles Our Livestock Men 
I HAVE received a 
most interesting let¬ 
ter from Mr. Sam Patch of Oneida 
County, N. Y., in which he brings up 
one of the biggest problems the dairy¬ 
men have to face to-day. His letter is 
as follows: 
“I read in one of your articles some¬ 
time ago that the greatest trouble 
you have had in 
By H. E. COOK 
H. E. COOK 
your herd was 
with abortion and 
failure to breed. 
Now, I have run 
into that same 
t^rouble for the 
past three years. I 
have been having 
from two or three 
cows lose their 
calves after they 
have carried them 
from five to six 
months. I keep 
them from the 
bull four or five 
months, and then 
breed them. Last 
week I lost a calf from a five-year- 
old registered cow that had been bred 
to a very fine registered bull that has 
never done service outside of the herd 
he has been in, and was held for $100 
service. She carried the calf for six 
months. I am a milk producer, and want 
most of my cows to come in the fall, but 
this year they are coming in at all 
times. The cows all seem to be in per¬ 
fect condition. The barn is new—I built 
it three years ago, putting in all modern 
improvements, drinking bowls, etc. 
No Fault in Treatment 
^^rxiHE animals are curried every day 
-L and get exercise twice a week if the 
weather is right. We feed silage, clover 
hay, oats on the straw—grains and oil 
meal. The cows are never abused, and 
are not allowed to fight. I would ap¬ 
preciate it if you would let me know if 
there is anything to be done. I would 
also like to know how long, in your 
opinion, it is safe to breed a cow after 
she has lost her calf. Is there any 
truly perfect abortion remedy?” 
If I could answer that letter my 
reputation or fortune would be made. 
Losses from the causes mentioned are 
probably greater than from all other 
sources combined in the dairy herd. 
I have never been perfectly free from 
it in some form, and this year has 
been the worst of many. The stages 
are from a failure to breed along to 
calves that are dropped alive. Now 
the rules call for immediate segrega¬ 
tion, which we obeyed for a time, say 
20 years ago and back of that for 20 
years, but I found the plan a burden¬ 
some one without the apparent advan¬ 
tage our authorities claimed. 
I have no hospital artificially heated, 
and it would be a case of cruelty to 
animals to put them in the winter 
where they would nearly freeze. We 
do not keep them in our certified herd 
until they are clean and normal again, 
and that is usually for about four 
weeks, feeding their milk to calves. We 
do, however, daily flush out the uterine 
passage, using from 8 to 10 quarts of 
water, to which is added disinfectants 
and a bit of salt. We have a pump 
with a rubber hose attached that 
reaches nearly to the uterus. 
Disinfection is Thorough 
T his treatment prevents odor and is 
also a germicide. In addition to this 
treatment, we wash the rear parts of 
the body with the same solution, includ¬ 
ing the tail. It is no burden to do these 
things, because we are all of us trained 
in cow washing, a very' necessary part 
of clean milk production. From the be¬ 
ginning I have been educated to breed 
the cow only after three or four months 
has elapsed, which is, I think, sound 
practice, and yet I have had cows bred 
within one month and produce a full¬ 
time living calf. 
Investigators for a time were sure 
that the abortion germ was respon¬ 
sible until Dr. Smith proved that it 
might be and might not be. Other 
germs were found present also that may 
have some effect. We were taught for 
a time that infection was carried by the 
bull. Authorities believe now that such 
is not the case. We 
followed the practice 
for several years of disinfecting the 
bull before and after service. I am not 
sure we profited thereby—abortion has 
not been more prevalent among cows 
purchased than among those raised on 
the farm. More youn^ things seem to 
be infected than are the older cows. 
It is our pi'actice to both dispose of 
them and keep them. If they are in¬ 
clined to fatten and to dry off, they are 
sold otherwise; if they are better than 
the average in milk and butterfat, they 
are kept. Our veterinarian has given 
the ovarian treatment to a considerable 
number that failed to breed succeeding 
in more than half the cases. 
An Unanswered Problem 
B asing a summary upon what I read 
and my own experience, there is no 
agreed-upon cause and no specific to 
apply. We are safe, and probably good 
results come from douching and keeping 
the cow thoroughly washed and others 
near her with disinfectants. Keep the 
good cows if they milk fairly well and 
sell others and wait till somebody finds 
out a cause and remedy. 
I have had a theory for a long time, 
which can be taken for what it’s worth. 
A cow has two main functions—one to 
reproduce and one to give milk—each 
drawing heavily upon her vitality. The 
one main object of our breeding is to 
develop the milk-producing function 
and resistance to physical weaknesses 
resulting therefrom. But we have not 
studied how to strengthen the repro¬ 
ductive organs. 
It is a well-known law of plant and 
animal development that the develop¬ 
ment of one part of function long con¬ 
tinued has a tendency to weaken other 
parts. This law taken in connection 
with reproduction so delicate and the 
least understood of any bodily function, 
makes it possible to conceive that this 
theory might have some weight. Fur¬ 
thermore, a general weakness of these 
organs fits into the present theory that 
there may be more than one cause. A 
weak animal or plant, or person, or 
organ always becomes a prey to de¬ 
structive bacteria or agencies, what¬ 
ever they are. 
Wanted! A Resident 
Country Physician 
{Continued from page 357) 
those of us that live on one of these 
roads surely cannot sound our praises 
high enough for them. We cannot all 
live on these paved roads, we must 
think of the many by-ways that lead to 
these paved roads. 
We live in a country where the health 
officers and milk inspectors are on the 
job when it comes to looking after our 
dairy herds, sanitary condition of the 
stables, etc. I am not finding any fault 
with this. I believe they should enforce 
these laws, but we have some very un¬ 
sanitary condition existing in some 
homes that should be investigated. I 
wonder what the score would be if there 
would be a home inspector come and 
look after the sleeping quarters of some 
homes that have come under my ob¬ 
servation. 
If every community were to have a 
visiting nurse to cooperate with the 
country doctor, his work would be easier 
and more effective. 
Then I think of another way. We 
read in the Great Book that we should 
“bear one another’s burden.” If it is 
not clear to us how we may be able to 
do this, turn your attention to that 
strong passage in James 5:16 “The ef¬ 
fectual fervent prayer of a righteous 
man availeth much.” 
In conclusion I would say we may help 
our country doctor by building better 
roads, better organized communities to 
look after the sanitary condition of 
every home, a wide awake visiting nurse 
and Red Cross organization. Last, but 
not least, more good old-time Chris¬ 
tians that believe and practice prayers. 
—Mrs. Edna Wheelock, Union, Ohio. 
I think your paper is better than 
last year. It is all right.—Delbert 
Dick, Troy, N, Y. 
