New Ulm review., 1913-11-12
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
WARRINGTON, o. G.
otice OF Assistant Secretary.
---.- noAaA-. 90 an1

! Dear Mr.. HammOn0:
! Your request of recent date that
the Department supply you with speci-
fic advice as to the best ways of cop
ing with hog cholera, which you state
! is now serious menace to swine in
your district, / regard as very i'm
portant one. According to the last
census, hogs were an important fea-
! ture of the agricultural production of
your section. In 1910 i'm your district
there were 377,286 swine, valued at
$3,641,32 It is apparent, therefore,
that unless hog cholera can be con-
trolled serious loss must be endured
by your agricultural population.
The proverb that "An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure"
is especially applicable to hog chol-
era, and cooperation among farmers
in combating the disease is very i'm
portant. When hog cholera breaks
out on farm the farmers in the
neighborhood should join in q strong
effort to confine the disease to the
one farm where it already exists, by
instituting q strict quarantine, and
also, when possible, by the admins
tration of the protective serum to
the droves on adjoining farms. It is
q mistake to neglect timely sanitary
precautions and to rely wholly on the
use Of serum. The serum is useful
not SO much for curing hogs sick.
with the disease as for preventing
other hogs from taking it.
Every farmer should make abso-
lutely certain that no dirt or imple-.
ment is brought from an infected hog
lot into another hog lot. Hog chol-
era can be carried in dirt on shoes,
on wagon wheels, or on the feet, of
dogs. 1t has been proved that pen
of hogs infected with hog cholera can
be kept within ten feet of a we'll
herd without communicating the di-
sease, provided no dirt or implement
or other object is moved from the
former to the latter pen. If, how
ever, the pen with the uninfected
hogs should be cleaned with a hoe or
shovel that has been used in the in
fected pen, the we'll herd would be
almost, certain to get the disease.
Dogs, crows, and buzzards can trans
port particles of flesh from dead hogs
and thus carry the disease.
The following precautions are rec
commended for keeping the contagion
from an uninfected drove:
a.. Do not locate hog lots near
a public highway, railroad, or
stream. The germ of hog cholera :
may be carried along any one Of |
Ehese, avenues. -,- y
(2). Do not allow strangers or
neighbors to enter your hog lots, and
10 not 60 into your neighbors' lots. !
IF it is absolutely necessary to pass ;
rom one hog lot into another, first
lean your shoes carefully and then
wash them with per cent solution
# the compound solution of cresol
u. S. P.)
(3). Do not put new stock, either
logs or cattle, in lots with herd
llready on the farm. Newly pur-
hased hogs should be put in separate
enclosures we'll separated from the
lerd on the farm and kept under OBJ
ervation for three weeks, because
all stock carY, unloading
hutes, and pens are infected with
og cholera and hogs shipped by rail
re therefore apt to contract hog
holera.
(4). Hogs sent to fairs should be
for at least three weeks
fter they return to the farm
(5). If hog cholera breaks. out on
farm, separate the sick from the
healthy animals, and burn
II carcasses Of dead animals on the
ay of death. Do not leave them ur-
urned, for this will endanger all
ther farmers in the neighborhood.
I (6). If after the observance Of all
ossible precautions hog cholera ap-
ears OH your farm, notify the State
or State Agricultural
ollege, and secure serum for the
reatment of those not affected The
arly application Of this seram is
ssential. @
Some of these precautions may
eem unnecessary and troublesome,
ut they do not cost much, and they
re very valuable preventive meas
res.
It would be physically and finan-
tally impossible to treat every hcg
n the United States with the anti
log-cholera serum. In many States
he authorities can not supply enough
erum to treat the infected and ex-
'osed herds, to say nothing of max
ng immune all herds that are not
.ffected. When an outbreak is To- {
ated the most effective plan is to
.dminister serum to the droves on all