, 1884-04-09
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.

grasses; andathe mortality is ascribed I
poverty. Very few northern eattl
taken south survive this disease-and his
tory is replete with accounts of this dis
ease developing in northern herds afte
the passage of apparently healthy south
ern herds. tAEG LIAhL
Gentlemen, / am no alarmist, but Tde
| sire to warn you of the results of import
ing cattle by rail from the gulf states.
am aware of the necessity gilmore cattle Il
| stock our ranges, but you cannot afford t.
endanger your home herds. ~ ~
In 1868 when so many northern state
was afflicted with Texas fever, the fedora
government employed Prof John Gamget
to investigate and his report is IN file il
Washington Z n e
i THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
is at present investigating the cause OF
this malady, but owing TO its limited re.
sources, the progress is slow. During al
these years of excitement occasioned by
Texas fever, the people of Texas loudly
proclaim that their cattle are innocent,
and the Texas authorities maintain o
mastery inactivity, instead of endeavor-
ing to ascertain the cause and abate it.
Foot and mouth disease is a highly
contagious and infectious febrile disease,
associated with a vascular eruption in the
mouth, between the pedal digits and
around the coronets. In some cases the
mouth only is affected: in Others the feet
may be the seat of the eruption, the
membranes of the mouth remaining free.
Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs are affect
ed by the contagion in the order named,
and instances are on record in which
horses, dogs and poultry have been
infected.
On February 2, 1884, the steamship
Ontario, from Englands arrived at Port.
land, Maine, and landed twenty-eight
Hereford cattle suffering with foot and
mouth disease. By negligence on the
part of those in charge the disease spread
to the surrounding country before its
character was recognized. .HfffI3EH.
AT latest accounts the authorities had
the matter in hand and all known infected
places and sick cattle were ~quarantined.
Still new centers of contagion were being
developed, and grave fears are entertained
as to the result.
FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
was reported among the cattle near
Neosho Falls, Kansas, last month, pro
ducing the greatest ~excitementJ among
people interested in agriculture and stock
ElOninE. Ina SlllC WIS utterly uDDTC-
pared for such an emergency, as they had
no sanitary laws in force aud no funds
provided with which to indemnify owners
or investigate and control the spread of
contagion. s't| AFt jug
The urgent necessity of prompt, action
induced Govarner Click To call a special
session of the legislature to enact such
laws as were necessaryto stamp out this or
any fittnra Inuacion nf ,nnto rtn,,g lfganr,
Many veterinarians and gentleman exper-
fenced in handling cattle visited the in
fected farms, and soon the theory of con.
tagious foot and mouth disease was dis
proved.
A LOOK INTO KANSAS.
/ was provided, through the kindness
of Hon. Thomas Sturgis, with a letter of
Introduction to Governor Click, of Kan
sas, and | was afforded every facility for a
thorough examination of the cause and
symptoms of the disease among the cat
tie. | visited many farms near Neosho
Falls and found that the cattle are fed on
wild prairie hay. corn-fodder and straw;
in some places hard, finty corn, on the
ear, was added to their r%ations, care being
taken to have pigs run in the same lot to
utilize the corn in the droppings of these
animals. ,- -.I
1t is a grave mistake to feed young cat
tie with a food that they are unable to
masticate or digest. The corn is soffened
by maceration and absorption of the diff
ferent gastric juices in the intestinal tract
and passes from their bodies in good con-
dition for easy digestion by the pig-fat-
tening pigs at the expense of the calf
So the corn instead of nourishing the calf,
actually robs the already impoverished
creature, which has to consume great guam
titles of coarse fodder to get n small
amount of nutrition.
Is it any wonder hat such a creature
should be unable to withstand the hardr
ships of a severe winter without shelter
except on some favored ~ farms which
possess a timber lot; and old residents say
that the past winter was the most severe
during the last ten years. Where a great
number of animals are fed in the same
manner, and exposed to the same hard
ships, they are of necessity liable to the
same diseases, and when any extraordinary
hardship is imposed on them, the weakest
succumb. Again in some cases we find
that some animals have a predisposition
to disease from their birth, a weak consti-
tuition, that if nursed and pampered in
youth, might reach adult age with medium
strength.
You can now appreciate why so many
OF the young stock on the Kansas farms
developed disease due to mnutritious food
and exposure to an exceedingly hard win
ter. The disease in Kansas is foul in the
foot, commonly called foot rot. and it is
a Common disease in all countries where
ike conditions exist.
A number of scientific gentlemen iu-
vestigating the cause of this disease, dis
covered in the hay some wild spurred rye,
and concluded that the malady was due to
ergOt poison.
SERIOUS SUGGESTIONS.
If this disease is due to ergot poison,
why then is this the first outbreak since
the Kansas farmers has. fed this same
kind of hay to their cattle from the first
settlement of the state2 Again, on Mr..
Goodrich's farm where the disease pre-
walls, the lands are improved by cult
walton and there is no ergot'zed rye in this
hay. Yet, out of ninety7six cattle, forty
head of young stock are reported affected
with the disease. Then, stranger to say,
Mr.. Beard has fed seyenty-five head of
cattle all winter on hay that is full Of err
got, of which | present you n sample
taken from his feed-rack, and only three
heifers and one old COW is affected.
Stranger still for the ergot theory, Mr..
Pribbenow fed one hundred and ninety
five cattle on nlillet hay and corn fodder
and he has fourteen of his young stock at
fected.
Another puzzle is presented by Mr..
Keith buying sixty-three head of young
stock from Mr.. Davis, on the 18th Of
December and on the Odd nearly all were
down with disease. Keith's hay contains
erg0tized rye. Davis has had no sickness
in his herd. | took the opportunit e. to visit
nearly all the farms adjoining those hav.
ing sick cottla and fnnnd tbot moro ar