The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-01-25

inns Is true IL SHOWN by TIE relatively
rare reaction in calves and the increased
cases with the age. As 40 per cent Of
the COWS react. 10 per cent of the
calves are born hy tulerculouS moth
ers. 1t y thus Il proved fact that tuber-
culoSiS i chiefly an acquired. not an in
herited disease. Yet it Is not 50 very
unusual to find n calf born with tuber-
cniGSiS when It's mother has II IN an adj
yanced stage: but ii ir. as Il rule. latent
and may take years To develop. NIllc
statistics from the large Strengthening
houses show only few tnberculouS young
calves. the smaller houses show Il larger
number. as in kiel and III Aarhuus
where about 0.3 t. Oh PER cent Of the
yoanr calves had tuberculosis.
while thus inherited tuberculosis
must not he overlooked. and there IS
something i'm the. old fixed rulc-'not to
raiS, the calves from tuberculgus cows
Il mus he remembered that at time i
.tuberculous cow meant n in Il far
advanced stage of the disease. AZ we
were not then able To discover il III an
early stage. 1t is overlooked that the
tnicrculin test will show the disease in
animals which the butcher would declare
perfectly heartily. Before the use Of tn"
tuberculin test, if the question was
asked. now many tuberculous cows There
! III " l' - N"N ~
wonld te about > per cent. ana yet the
test Will Indicate about 80 per cent. This
high percenta 90 caused az Tcat scare
and made the owners despair. But there,
is no cause for it at all. Many-ay.
most Of the apparently healthy cows on
whom the test atone indicates the disease
may live for years and give healthy milk
and prodacp htalrhy calves. In many of
| them the diSeaS" may not develop further
At all. and III some cases may even be
reducca so that we may speak about
cure. In some it vii develop and in a
few. perhaps ; per cent. do so very fast.
These facts must be remembered; we
must neither OveresTimatc nor under
estimate our enemy | estimate That %
GER cent-at mGSt-are infected before
birth. about II Per cent through milk
and % by contagion in stables
TREATMENT ADVISED.
The professor next discusses the ques-
tlon Of the greater receptiyenaSS which
is said to he inherited and which is viz
tually as dangerous rs if the disease
were inherited. While he acknowledges
he possibility of this he claims far more
Inference in the receptiyeneSS from time
nolmry causes lcolds. debility. etc.) and
from Individual indi>posit;on. He as
SertS it to lie Il great mistake to believe
n this inherited receptiveneSS because
| the mother reacts to the test. As before
| shown. most OF them have the disease
only in a slight degree, and may have
got it by Il bad exposure to infection
| While in reality they have Il great power
# resistance. The fact of 4 COW not
reaacting IS not proof OF this power Of
resistance any more than the fact of II
field. net sow with wheat. not pro-
ducing any, is proof that the field is IN
apable of producing wheat. As long as
We do not raise the calves from pro-
nouncod tuherculoGS COWS the professors
seems to think the chances about even.
whether We raise them from those that
react slightly or those chat do not react
1t all.
He chooses with the following common
sense rules for a farmer who desires to
get l:l Of tuberculosis:
Il. Ascertain the exact condition of
our herd ttuberculin teSt.)
-. Isolate those reacting from the
| heartily mes as well as possible. ami
| thoroughly diSinfect the stable of the
| after.
3. See to it that the healthy calves
are not infected by the milk.
II. Kill immediately all the evidently
| .ufercuioT> animals (noticeable without
me tpSt.)
-. If the animals r~eacting to the test
are few it may be more advisable to get
rid of them also. 1t not. keep them iso-
lated, and as long rs they do not show
any clinical signs of the disease. use the
milk as usual. Care must only be taken
in watching for tuberculosis in the I'D
| der or advanced tuberculosis.
"6. Raise the calves also from the re-
acting sows as long as they do not show
advanced tuberculosis. but the calves
must be rcmoypd at once from thei nfec:-
ed stable, and be given rhe mothers
milk only the first, and after that milk
from healthy cows. or milk that has
been heated to 1So degrees +.
The professor acknowledges that the
| tuberculin test, fails. or is not perfectly
| correct. i'll about ten cases out of one
| hundred The mistakes are chiefly tina
animals not reacting are tuberculouS
| after all. but in most of these cases the
| disease is 50 light and old. with evidence
Of a perfect rtand~till in its development.
hat the danger of contagion from them
is. If not nil. very slight indeed. c"'y
in very few cases will the test fail on ali
mails with thc disease far advanced. but
IS it does happen. We must also resort to
4 clinical examination. and, if 1T all
suspicious. rule them out.
Another dangerous defect in the test is
the fact that repeated injections some
times produce Il lack of responsiveness to
the test-they fail to react. While this
may assist fraud. it is not constant. and
the fraud will not always succeed: yet
the man who labors to free his herd
must only buy cows from reliable. honest
men. never at fairs or from unknown
people. Since 1893 there have been test
"a in Denmark 3.733 herds. a~ggregating
13S,o91 animals. or about 10 per cent.
of all animals. 100000. OF all the tst-
I'd animals. 90 per cent, were healthy
and 81 per cent. reacted. OF animals
under SIX months 40 per cent, reacted.
under one year 22.S per cent. under two
years SO per cent. and of full grown
10 per cent.
The success in diminishing the disease
depends on the thorOughness of the isOla-
ion. which is best done by having two
farms. next best by having two separate
buildings. and next division by stable
~ ~~@no r Ill