Omaha daily bee., 1892-01-10
BILLINGS ON INCUBATION.
He Criticises the Method Adopted in the
Ottawa Experiments.
HIS REMEDY WILL CURE HOG CHOLERA.
Vaccination ms a Preventative for the Dis
oase-Instructions How to Use the Virus
Ills Method Had Not Been
Given n Fair Test.

especial reference TO the nasco at OtJ ava
Ill. In your issue OF this evening (January
81 appears the following dispatch:
"CBIcAGo. ILL.,, Jan. 6.-The farmers OF La
Sale, Livingston, Bureau, Kendall and VIII
counties, it ia estimated, have lost between
200,0 900 and 300, 900 hogs by cholera and as a
result resolved to try innoculation as a pre-
ventive. Fifty-five healthy hogs were Sc
cured from localities where the disease hid
not appeared. Eighteen were then innocu-
lated with govern ment virus, and eighteen
with virus prepared by Prof. Billings OF the
Nebraska State laboratory, and nineteen
were left uninnoCulated. Ten Of Billings
hogs are dead and several of the remaining
eight are sick. Five of the government hogs
are dead and eight are sick, and three of the
uninnoculated hogs are dead and a dozen are
sick. Secretary Rusk, in a private letter re-
ceived at Ottawa, practically acknowledged
that he is powerlcss to either check the
ravages or prevent the recurrence of the
epidemic known as hog cholerah
The above Is probably correct enough in
all save one thing, which is that eighteen
hogs were inoculated with virus prepared by
Prof. Billings of the Nebraska State labora-
tory" The fact is that | did not and would
not have anything to do with that Ottawa
experiment directly. for two reasons; first,
on no account would ] be foolish enough to
put myself thus directly in the hands of
buOSO VIII lldNc ONtI demonstrated III
bitter opposition to my work; second, that
the incubation was done by a Mr.. George G.
Caldwell Of Utica, ILL.,, according to my in
structions, | admit, in a certain sense, but
in reality very far from them. How this
MI. Caldwell became connected with the af-
fair, is quite an interesting story, and one
which does not reflect any great credit upon
the Agricultural department at Washington.
AS your dis patch states, the farmers of
La Sale county, ILL.,, lost very heavily from
ctutna n1lntIn thiC fnn and tvtntnr MAJ
knowing what to do they first applied to
Hon. Jere Rusk for ASSISTANCE, from whom
they received the following very discourage
ing, and inconsistent, with eventual actions
on the part of that gentleman, reply:
'UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRIcUL-
TuRE, Oct. 3, 1s9l.-Mr. George G. Caldwell,
Utica, H.: Sirs-Your favor to the secre-
tary OF agriculture has been referred to me
for answer. l have to inform you that there
are no funds available for the purpose of
which you write. The secretary is very de-
slrous OF securing an appropriation for
further investigation of diseases among
swine in the near future. Very respect
fully, CHARLES. B. MICnENER,
Acting Chief of Bureau
This Mr.. Caldwell was the active man of a
committee of the farmers alliance of La
Sale county, appointed to see what could be
done In their extremity. He thon wrote the
Illinois Experiment station and was abruptly
told that they knew nothing about lnocu-
~lation." Lastly, he applied to this laboratory
and was told that, while w could not send
wines to Illinois, if he would come here, that
he would be fully instructed how to make
his own He came, received the instruc-
lions and was presented with all tho neces-
sary utensils. Immediately on it becoming
public that Mr.. Caldwell was coming here a
most sudden plethoric condition developed in
the treasury OF the Agricultural department
at Washington and an agent was sent out to
Ottawa, whose chief mission seems to have
been to tell the farmers that for which they
had raised money and sent Mr.. g. here to
learn was a fraud and a humbug. Their
riches augmented so rapidly that they soon
sent about the whole bureau of animal in
dustry, including its chief, on the same mis-
sion aud even went so far as to inaugurate
the socalled test" to which your dispatch
refers. Now, may be overconceited, but it
seems as il all the energy and money were
that in reality there is something in it to
fear, for IN no way did the chief of the
bureau of animal industry say that ~iuocula-
tion was impossible in his remarks at OF
tawa, as he has invariably done before. Last
September / requested Secretary Rusk, sup
ported by the authorities of the state
university, and the State Board
to Agriculture and many influential
breeders, to send his most trusted
and confidential agent, DR.. f. E.. Parsons, to
laboratory to learn our methods, and pro.
posed to Mr.. Rusk that DIR. Parsons should |
stay here SIX months and that unuer my su-
the entire business of incubation in
should be put in DIR. Parsons
hands. and that he would then have a chance
to see 1t fully tested on the ground. Person.
ally, l should have had no more to do with
II; 1t would have been a matter between Par
sons and the farmers for whom he inoculated,
as it Is now between me and them. This Mr..
Rusk refused on the plea that | would only
take q person selected by myself. l only de-
a competent observer and an honest
and disinterested person, and | know DR..
Parsons to be such. | had good reasons for
suspecting that person selected by the bu-
reau would not be that kind of a man, an
opinion which Is conceded with by every in
breeder in the state. Well, CALDWELL
went home, and the reason | would not send
virus from here was simply this, l am In
and am succeeding, and do IL safely, for If
incubation Is ever to become practical it
must be by o simple and cheap method. Our
directions are as fallows
''We will assume that Mr.. Charles Walker
who knows all about i), one of the best
known farmers in Nebraska, has the walls of
soup and the wire In a glass rou on hand
ana desires TO inoculate his own hogs. What
1oes Mr.. Walker doi
First. He looks around for outbreaks of
swine plague and selects the mildest one he
IAN find, and above all things avoids one that
IS killing u large number of hogs In the nerd
doing II anywhere from one to ten days.
The greater the number OF deaths in a herd
u II I IL lcTlOu VI Illness the more
Is an outbreak TO obtain virus for
from. Whereas, the smaller the
number OF animals i'll the slower tho course
,f the disease in such the better is such an
outbreak suited TO obtain virus from.
Second. From the last kind of an outbreak
Mr., Walker selects a pig or hog Just taken
and not one that has been sick
'ome time, and kills 1t by a rap on
he head mot by bleeding). Remember
his, the animal TO be taken must
have been sick long, for the sooner after
Z Is observed to be i'll the virus is taken the
more reliable will ii be. Chronic cases are
and no dead ones must be used.
The above quotation is sufficient. You see
Z explicitly insists on a "mild outbreak"
In all living things 'like produces like"
strong parents produce like chill
iren II the family proficiency Is strong in that
ON both sides. So II is of germs.
V%irulent germs produces u malignant type Of
disease and mild ones a mild type. MIR.
knew this, as he las not only fully
Instructed on that point, but also hau our
instructions in full, OF which the
above Is but a partial quotation. In this
'ase the man has had very little chance. He
" rites that he told tho committee
n farmers having the experiment In
hand, that he could not find
! mild enough outbreak In his locality, such as
he had been instructed TO use, but that thew
that "he should go ahead.u And
ahead" he went. The result Is stated. Now
- lA