Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1898-01-27
HELP FOR THE HOG.
secretary Wilson Believes a cho1era
Kennedy Has Been Eorna

secretary Wilson Believes choIe~.
Kennedy Has Been Found.
=, secretary Wilson is we'll pleased with
the results of the experiments that hayaas
peen going on under his direction in lowe
ana Nebraska during the last few months
~ the treatment of hog cholera by inocu-
,atlon, for he thinks the discoveries that
nave been developed are worth 500 600
uUo year to the people of the United
States. - o'eu
Inc experiments were undertaken in
age County, Iowa, last spring. whore
several hundred hogs that were afflicted
with a disease that has until now heen
considered fatal, were cured nv the nse
oI serum, and several hundred moro that
were perfectly healthy when protected by
the serum were permitted to range freely
among those that We're diseased without
SHOWING any effects from the contagion.
Highty-hve per cent of the sick were
cured and the healthy protected. Similar
experiments have been going on in Ne
Draska all summer, but the detailed re-
turns nave not been received. The serum
IS optalned III the same manner as the an
tltoxln that is used for diphtheria. A
norse or a cow is inoculated with the
germs day after day until no effect is ap-
parent. Its veins are then tapped. n
rev drops of it's blood injected under the
SKIN OF healthy hogs has the same effect
as preventive of cholera that vaccina-
tlon has in smallpox There was scarcely
failure in several hundred cases. al
tnough the animals were exposed to the
ulsease IN every possible manner The
same treatment was equally successful
III curing the disease when taken in the
early stages.
Curlously enough, the cultivation of the
serum does not injure the horse or the
COW, and the animal can be used over and
over again every year until it becomes
aged, provided it is given plenty of those
forms of fodder that supply and strength
en- the blood. A single horse or COW will
produce ,OOO doses of serum year. and
II ordinary economy is practiced, this will
reduce the cost of treatment to 10 or Is
cents per hog. Hundreds of thousands Of
horses throughout the United States that
are now killed for their hides may be
used to save the hogs, and their value
Will be increased by the demand thus
created for them. The method Of cult
waiting the serum can be taught at all the
agricultural experiment stations and on
the large stock farms, and with a little
experience farmers may be able to furnish
their own supply. The county agricul-
tural societies can take up the matter
and by cooperation their members can
reduce the cost and extend the usefulness
of the treatment.
Secretary Wilson estimates the annual
loss from hog cholera in the United States
from 500, 100000 to $1OO,OOO,OOO. In the
State Of Iowa alone, where statistics Of
the mortality of the animals afflicted with
this disease have been accurately kept,
the annual loss is 100000. He be-
lieves that nearly all this can be pre-
vented
In 1892 there were 5239S,O19 swine in
the United States, valued at 1895, 1885,
1872. That was high-water mark Since
then their number and value have been
materially decreased by the cholera, and
the figures for 1897 were 4O,6OO,27 hogs,
valued at $166,272, 10. These hogs are
worth an average of 1854 each. Iowa
is the largest hog State in the country,
the census of 1897 showing 3,737, O7O ami
mails, valued at $21, 182,33O. Missouri
comes next, then Texas, Ohio, Illinois,
Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Missis-
sippi and other of the Southern States.
There was decrease Of ST per cent in
the number and 100 in the value Of hogs
in the United States last year.