Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-06-16

The terrible epidemic which has been prevailing
.mong the cattle in portion Of Massachusetts, for
.wo months past, has at length passed beyond the
limits Of that State and has naturally created very
great excitement wherever it has appeared. There
was special meeting of the New Jersey Agricul t
sural Society on the 9th inst to consider what ought
to be done in relation to this disease, which had /
been introduced into that State from Massachusetts
Aresoluton, pledging the Society to raise $1,000 to
inquire into the cause and origin Of the disease,
adopted and committee appointed to carry it into
effect.
Ii Rhode Island, stringent bill has passed the
Legislature to prevent the importation Of cattle
from Massachusetts during the pendency Of the cat
tie disease Gov. HALL Of Vermont, IS also visiting
the infected district Of the State fer investga
ton of the disease.
Serious apprehensions are felt by thestOck-raisers
of the West, whom this new plague threatens SO
seriously to affect and we see that Gov. DESEIsoS,
of Ohio, has appointed commissioners wko have
gone cas- tward to investigate this disease and make
suchlreport as they may deem necessary. 1t is
ouite likely other western States viii take some &C
ton on the subject if the disease does not abate its
violence and progress. No more serious blow could
he inflicted upon the interests of the Great West |
than the loss Dy the universal bFASoN Va -e+se
eontae,ion. Of a majority Of those useful animals,
which contribute so largely to human sustenance
and wealth The failure of the first attempts made
in Massachusetts, to check the spread Of this plagne,
have created great alarm which has lately bid fair
to become general. The mysterious breaking out
of the disease in fresh quarters no less than the
failure of the slaugherng process to prevent further
infection in its original localities, has not tended to
sllay the fears of the people. The most stringent
measures are now recommended by some of the
Eastern journals to conne the infection to the re-
piou East of New York 1t is advised that no cattle
be suffered to pass to the West bank Of the Connect
cut river, under any pretext Of sale or USE 1t is
now considered unsafe to purchase single head of
stock from Massachusetts,, even close inspection
is not regarded as reliable test Of the absence of
this terrible disease.
The commissioners in Massachusetts have ordered
the killing Of all cattle affected by the epidemic and
they have been paid for out of the fund set-apart
by the Legislature of that State. and so great has
been the number killed that that sum (S25,O0O) has
/ been nearly exhausted The New York Spirit Of
the Times has senfibe article upon the action of
I the commissioners in this matter from which we
/ make the following extract:
Where is the sense IN killing cattle suffering from
indamed lungs brought on, In all probaDlnty Oy
neglect and i'll treatment? Would 1t not be more
rational to find out the cause and adopt areme9y
| What is Dleura-pneumona? 1t IS bad enough, God
| knows but it need not brighten whole country
from their propriety it is only disease which can
be handled as well any other diseases u IS leia
cGnfq1iOs or Infectious and brought on generaly Dy
colds pPoduced by low, ilYenhlated, heated stables
with student exposure to cold, blghtlng easterly
vends getting wet their backs, and standing out
behind hedges and then again placed in those c6om-
Unable low close. confined, heated, and lll-Ventllat-
ed dens untitled to sustain animal Lie instead OF
killing them turn them out and let them live or die;
they will pick little grass, and most OF them VIII
recover. We surprised at man IKE Mr. Daa9
ordering suspected animals to be destroyed, and
having the parties for their loss. Get them good
Scientific medical aid not parcel of men who call
themselves Veterinary Surgeons, who can scarcely
write their own names Get good men, and when
Won have got them treat them well, and pay thenl'
We do not mean men who carry their grand
mothers recaipes in their pockets, but men who unS
derstand the diosyncrasy Of disease. the nature OF
} the drugs they use, and how to compound them ;
adopt every means of cleanliness and proper ventl-
latiOn and lar as possible Keep the poor animals
| III an even temperature.
What would we say of medical who was
to 90 into district infested with typhus or scarletl-
IA and order all the INFECTED" parties to be killed
and buried and their wives or husbands to be in
J Identified for the loss by public fund raised by
! substitution? Why we should think the man mad!
and would send mm to lunatic asylum. Yet Gov
ernor ganks' sapient Commissioners with Mr.. Dadd
(whO out to know better) at their elbow does TINS
very thing with regard to these poor CATTLE ana are
! commended for their wisdom.
We have a friend here who has had considerable
3 experience with pleura-pneumonla; he mad ABOUT
twenty years ago. some sixty head OF valuable mich
cows affected and many of them were total loss:
He called together number Of his friends, medlcal
men mot farriers), and with the assistance OF an
able Veterinary Surgeon had them properly treated
the same as if they had been human beings, and as
soon as the climax over he pulled down nus
! cow-houses and built one twenty-five feet high,
with four feet before and four feet behind the cows
| so that they stood at even temperature winter
and summer, and he had no more OF pleura-pneumo-
MIA. We recommend the people IN MaSsaehusGt1s 70
= adopt this common sense maxim. and they VIII soon
be rid of this cattle disease but if they rely upon
2 | Commissioners and a public fund, they VIII
have but a broken reed for their support
We Recommend that the fund subscribed LOT
wifully numbering cattle be applied to the more le-
gitmate purpose of paying talent for the recovery
and prevention Of disease.
The disease known as pleuro-pneumonia is not a
new one among cattle The first record OF Its ex-
tensive prevalence which possess, dates back to
l I744. when it was introduced into England by the
importation of :wo calves from Holland. Starting
from the stock of this single farmer, it spread,
slowly, but surely, over the length and breadth of
the land until hundreds of thousands of cattle had
been destroyed by its ravages. Notwithstanding all
efforts made to check it, it continued for eleven or
twelve years unmugated In one year no less a
sum than GI35 OOO-S675, OOO-were paid out of the
public treasury for the cattle killed according to the
prescribed orders of the government In Noting
! ham alone 1000 head of cattle persisted in six
months and in Cheshire, upwards of 10000 in the
same time. The prompt action of the government,
though it failed to eradicate the disease, is thought
, m have diminished its rayages and shortened its
period But at what a fearful cost The remedy
appears to have been almost as bad as the disease
, THE WHEAT CROP IN New YoRK.-The Rural Nelo
Yorker, of the 18th inst, says;
From personal observation, and all we have been
able to learn by inquiry, are inclined to believe
1 that the wheat crop of Western New YOrk-or at
least that portion early, on good properly pre-
! Jared soil-will this year escape the nudge, and
| produce abundantly. Much more land IS now oc-
cupied with winter wheat than usual Of late years
in this region-probablY five times that which was
/ Of three Or fOuF preceding