Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-11-29
CATTLE COMMISSIONERS.

The report for the State cattle COM
missioners for the year ending July J.,
1897, submitted to the State Board of
Agriculture, is summarized by the
st. Albans Messenger as follows:
From July 1. 1896, to December of
that year, the work of testing cattle
was conducted by G. M. Winslow of
Brandon in the first congressional
district, and by Victor I. Spear of
Braintree in the second district. On
the appointment and organization of
the present board on the latter date
this work was placed under the su-
pervision of Mr.. Spear and has SO
continued.
Local veterinarians have been en-
ployed to apprise the value of ami
mails condemned, where only a small
number were killed, and saving of
several hundred dollars was thus ac-
complished. When consider
able number of animals were found
diseased some member of the
board was present to assume the re-
sponsibility for the appraisal.
Tt is well settled today that there is
no i'll effect following the use of tu-
berculin in healthy animals. The ex-
perience of the Vermont board COW
ers nearly 1000 herds and $4,000 ami
mails and in no case has even a rea-
sonable suspicion of injury come to
notice.
A total of 1O5 animals have been
killed the past year in herds where
re-tests have been made, and these
in the same herds where 432 animals
were killed at the first test, giving
practically one fourth as many on re-
test as in the first test. These figures,
it is believed, emphasize the necessity
for re- testing herds in which disease
is found.
The contagious nature of bovine
tuberculosis is we'll established by
continuous observations.
The lmain work of the board has
been confined to few localities land
these have been the places in which
tuberculosis has been quite general
in the herd. The towns of Randolph,
Braintree and Brookfeld are practi-
cally tested towns; there are a few
herds in each town not yet tested but
these are generally free from sus-
picion. A large amount of work has
been done in Stowe and Morristown.
Testing done in these towns for the
past eight months Indicate that there
is very little disease there at present.
A very large proportion of all the
animals in these two towns have been
examined. In January of this year
work was commenced in Orleans
county. Several badly diseased herds
were found and there have been
many applications for tests in Crafts
bury, Albany, Irasburgh, Coventry
and Newport. Nearly all the work
done by the commission at this time
is in this locality and it is expected
to continue work there until the
necessity for it seems to have been
passed. Tests have also been made
in many sections of the State but not
in a general way as in the localities
mentioned. The demands upon the
herds of the State for cattle to ship
into other States has been very
great. The fact that Vermont farm
ers were making an honest effort to
get disease out of their herds coupled
with the other fact that only small
per cent of the cattle in the State are
diseased has given a great deal of
confidence to buyers and the records
of the commission show nearly. 5000
herds tested and sold out of the
State.
This testing has been done under
the direction of the board. Tuber
culin has been supplied for doing the
work and a record of each test made
returned to the commission. All
animals reacting in these tests are
condemned and killed the same as in
tests made by the State. The COM
mission has endeavored to prevent
diseased animals getting out of Yer
mont. They have felt that the
reputation of Vermont stock was at
stake, and have preferred to pay for
any diseased animals rather than al
low them to damage herds inside or
out of the State. Vermont, they
claim, is better able to pay indemnity
on the diseased stock it now has, than
it is to let it be taken outside the
State to injure the reputation Of it's
livestock interests.