Evening star., 1914-11-18
FOOTAND MOUTH DISEASE,
1.-Spread and Effect Of the
Epidemic.
By Frederic J. Haskin.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

While the present epidemic of foot
and mouth disease is potentially an in
dustrial disaster, the actual damage
done SO far is relatively small. and
there Is every indication that the
prompt action Of the federal and state
authorities will check it before it has
spread much further.
The news that a number of states
have been quarantined. that the ship
ment of cattle into Canada has been
prohibited, that beef animals are being
shot down and their carcasses buried
at farms and stockyards all over the
country, irresistibly conveys the inn
preston that tremendous waste and
| loss are going forward, and that a
scarcity of meat must result But while
the loss, both to individuals and to the
country at large, is not to be over
| looked. the situation really threatens
no meat shortage so far. and the num-
Der Of cattle that have been killed, or
marked for killing, is a very small
fraction of our annual production of
live stock.
The only places where the cattle are
really being killed in large numbers
York and Buffalo. Thousands have
been killed for sanitary reasons at
Chicago alone, while $500 were con-
demned to die at the first inspection
at the New York yards. Many of these.
however, though exposed to the disease,
had not yet developed symptoms, and
they will be used for food.
AS for the quarantined areas in vari-
Gus states, many of them are very
small, In in
Quarantlned Areas some cases only
in Various States. are ism afrsc.aa a'%a,s mas
discovery of even a single animal that
, Enthusiastically has the disease is con-
sidered sufficient cause to stop all
shipments Of cattle from that state.
Thus, In Kentucky three cows and q
herd Of pigs were found to be affected;
in Massachusetts the disease was found
in three limited areas: IN Rhode Is
land four or Eve cases were found in
two localities, and Ing Delaware ono
case was discovered.
So, in most Of the states. except those
where the injection has reached the
great stockyards, the actual number of
cattle involved Is small, and there Is
every prospect of promptly checking
the epidemic. When 1t is reflected that
the last census Of farm animals taken
by the Department OF Agriculture in
1913, showed that there were 5S,737.000
cattle, 60,35S,000 swine and 50,193,000
sheep on American farms it Is readily
realized that the live stock SO far In
volyed in the present epidemic Is
very small part of the number In the
country.
be considered in the live stock IN
dustry in this country..namely, tne
upon the ranges. the middle-western
farmers who take them as "stockers"
and Feeders" and fatten them for the
market upon grain. the great packing
concerns which prepare and distrib-
nta the greater part of the meat, and
last but most important, the public
which consumes H.
So far, the public has not suffered ma
+ar;al,v az the result Of this epidemic,
and both fed
Public Has Not eral and state
Suffered Materially. confident,y
that no further rise in the already ex-
orbitant price Of meat should be caused
nv il. In making this statement they
are. OF course, counting upon checking
the spread Of the disease promptly and
completely. If this is done. the actual
loss of cattle and the temporary de-
ranxement Of shipping conditions will
not be enough to justify an increase in
price. although some dealers will
doubtless raise prices in anticipation OF
a scarcity.
Of the situation is that the infection
in