Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-12-05
PORC|NE TUBERCULOSIS
Need of Immediate Inquiry Into
Increase of Disease in the
American Hog.
ROOT, HOG, OR DIE" TRUE
The Fear cresps In Upon Western
Breeders That the Great American
Hog Has Been So DeIicateIy Bred,
So Refined, That He Is Deseneratins
In Physical Stamina.

Sioux City, Dec. 5. Has the great
American hog been SO delicately bred,
so excessively refined, that he Is de-
generating in physical stamina and
vance of tuberculosis? This is a ques-
ton which good many western breed
ers have been asking lately, and it has
suddenly been forced into prominence
by the investigation of porcine tuber-
culosis made by John ]. Murphy of
this city, hog buyer for the Cudahy
Packing Company, and one of the hog
experts of the country.
Mr. Murphy warns farmers Of the
danger of tuberculosis in their hogs
and declares there is need Of an inn
mediate inquiry into the increase Of
this disease. He has his own ideas
of the cause, and thinks it can be elm
mated by proper preventive measures.
The serious need is to make raisers
realize the situation.
For the great American porker to
lose his appetite and pine away would
be blow whose seriousness can hard
ly be realized. Pennsylvania with no
iron and no coal would be rolling in
wealth compared to Iowa without her
hogs Minnesota without her pine and
her wheat would still be the home of
affluence compared to Nebraska with
out her hogs. Every gold and silver
mine in Colorado could be shut down
forever and not injure business as
compared to the effects that would be
felt in Kansas or Missouri If the hog
was demonetized.
The trouble about the hog, If Mr..
Murphy is correct, is that he has grown
effete He hasn't the govt, as yet, but
he needs course in light gymnastics
to keep his blood circulating. He needs
to be made to realize the meaning OF
the ancient admonition to root, hog,
or die" now too far forgotten by both
the hog and his owner. His menu is
too carefully predigested for him. The
result is that he tends to tuberculosis,
and the government inspectors of meat
at the great meat-killing marts finds
an increasing proportion OF carcasses
| that must be rejected on this account.
There is no way Of knowing whether
a hog has tuberculosis except to Kill
him, SO far as Mr.. Murphy knows. The
handsomest and healthiest Berkshire
or Poland China may prove to have the
disease generalized in his system; but
the buyer can't know it in advance.
GAS it is impossible to know in adj
vance Of killing him whether hog has
| tuberculosis" Mr.. Murphy explains,
there is only one thing the buyers can
do. They can't pay bacon prices for
carcasses to be condemned by the in
spector to the grease vat. They must
simply pare off enough from the aver
age price paid to make up for the av-
eraRe loss sustained. This percentage
will grow larger If the disease
spreads.
my own belief is that the tubercular
tendency results from hogs being fed
| the offal Of diaries In which are tu-
bercular cows. / believe that dairy Of
fal-skimmed milk. soured milk, etc.
fed to hogs has caused this tubercular
development. have watched it care
fully, and have always observed that IN
the months when there is most OF the
dairy food for hogs, there is most de-
Iyelopment Of the tubercular tendency
think the matter ought to be taken
up scientifically and systematically ana
| investigated. 1t is a danger whose serl-
BUSINESS need not be emphasized. Ev-
erybody knows how serious Is anything
that threatens the hog industry.