South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-09-29
BORDNER POINTS
OUT VALUE Of HOG
CHOLERA SERUM
BY JOHN s. BORDNER,
County Agriculture Agent.

On Jan. 1. 1913. there were 1+O1S
hogs on the farms of ST. Joseph
county. During 1912. 1895 hogs died
on these same farms. 1t is safe in
assuming, that practically all of these
died of cholera, since the loss oc-
CURED almost entirely in localities
where cholera had been an epidemic
during 1912.
During 1912 1912 hogs were
marketed by our farmers at an av-
erage price Of SIS. At SIS per head
1895 hogs would have added $29, S25
to the baak deposits of our farmers.
l mention this statistical evidence
and the fact that this $29,925 of ad-
ditional wealth which might have
been created and disseminated
through the various channels of trade
and industry of our county, was lost
simply because an ultra-visible or
ganism commonly known as hog
cholera bacterium, did not have its
rights TO multiply and replenish it's
kind in out hog lots challenged, by
the owners of the hogs it killed.
The the owners could have chal-
lenged this disease is very simple and
the primary reason why 1t is not
more generally used l attribute TO
the fact that there is that slOthful-
ness in all humankind, which makes
everybody perfectly willing to let the
other fellow try anything new and
untried, nrst.
Well enough farmers have now
had anti-hog cholero serum admin
istered by a competent veterinarian
in St. Joseph county to tell the rest
of us that it is the only sure way
TO conquer hog cholera.
The serum has been used by many
farmers whose herds were in danger
of becoming infected from diseased
herds and where carefully admins
tered absolutely no i'll effects re-
suited and these hogs are now i'm
mune.
A few herds were vaccinated after
infection and even in these herds
some with high fever were saved
while those, which showed no fever
were all saved. L might say here.
that / am speaking only OF those
herds whose owners asked co-opera-
ton in getting the serum properly
administered. Therefore, if there are
any nOn-infected herds IN the county
which were treated with good serum
and results were only partial success
the cause must certainly be attrib-
uted to poor methods such as i'm
properly disinfecting the skin, using
dirty needles, carlessness in expelling
air from the hypOdermic and negli-
gence in taking the body temperature
OF hogs in exposed herds and as a
sequence occasionally giving vitrulent
blood where cholera fever was pres
ent.
J. D. Collins, who has one OF the
largest herds Of pure bred big boned
Poland China hogs in the state, and
who, unfortunately was recently re-
ported as having cholera in his herd.
which was a gross injustice. since the
temperature of every one Of his hogs
when vaccinated was normal, tele-
phOned from his farm northwest Of
South Bend saying:
Tell the farmers Of St. Joseph
county the double treatment admin
istered to my herd last week was an
absolute success and I attribute this
10 the splendid methods Of admins
tering the serum and virulent blood,
which the veterinarians practiced."
Ii may be OF interest TO mention
here that bogs weighing 500 pounds
and over were treated in this herd.
Mr.. Collins says further. that no
hog will every pass the 10 pound
mark on his farm without being rem
dered permanently immune, since at
that size the dose Of serum is com
YartiVely small, as is also the expense.
81. Joseph county should have at
least $4,000 good healthy hogs grow
ng into IS per hundred weight hogs
now. as IL is, there are approximately
one-third that many and a very large
percentage OF these still unprotected
asainst hog cholera.
BY vaccination we can eliminate
lie hog cholera loss. which last year