St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1915-11-06

had access should be disinfscted; the,
collection Of excremsnt; the dlling
in and distinction OF wallows, the
entire destruction Of manure piles
and food which may have been in
contact; the disinfection Of the lower
parts of trees, stumps, posts, fences.
wagons, and everything else with
which hogs might commonly come In
contact, treating each and all of
these as If they were as infective 10
the diseased hog itself. Such disin-
lection might be classed as thorough,
and should leave the place, after
sufficient time has elapsed, % secure
as before infection. But It 10 dim
cult to get stockowners, generally. to
realize the necessity for carrying out
such a system, which, although sim
pie in itself. depends for its euective-
ness on attention to detail.
It is very hard, for example. for
the layman to grasp the fact that
hundreds. or perhaps thousands. Of
disease germs might very comfort
ably occupy the eye Of . needle:
while, according to his views, Z
splash here and there, with q white
wash brush is sufficient to meet the
situation. It is here that disinfec-
ton usually fails: it Is seldom thor
ough.
Again, in order to be able to dis
infect thoroughly, 1t Is not only nee
essary that the nature and character
of the disease should be known, but
it is essential also, that the resisting
power of the germ be destroyed,
and its environment should DO
known.
For instance, tuberculosis AMI
NAL is not likely to infect the ground
over which it walks; whereas. ono
with foot and mouth disease will
most likely do SO. It may not be
necessary to destroy food that has
been in contact with an animal sur
fering from anthrax, or Charlton, but
II not done in the case Of foot and
mouth disease it will most probably
cause the disease to spread, because
the discharges from the mouth are
infective in the case OF the latter
disease, but are not, az rule. In
the case of Charlton.
Again, while the blood Of An ami.
NAL destroyed for tuberculosis might
cleft on the ground with little risk
Of harm following, yet, II the blood
Is SO left in case Of charbon It Will
surely spread the infection, because
the germs are found In immense
numbers in the blood Of an anthrax
victim, while not SO in the case Of
the tuberculosis one.
fhoro oNn anHaA AaaaAaAn
OF live stock caused by germs that
require two individuals, or hosts, in
order to perpetuate themselves. !
refer here to tick fever a. . good
example, or to malaria and yellow
fever, in the case Of human beings.
From careful observation and inves-
tigation, it has been found much
more effective, in the end, to destroy
one of the hosts, which the germ re-
Quires for its existence, than to con-
tinue treating cases Of the disease,
and allowing this obligatory host to
remain. Reference here 10 made to
the cattle tick, in the case of tick
fever, and to the special mosquitoes,
in the case Of malaria and yellow
fever; for by destroying these small
er creatures, which are secondary
hosts, the life-cycle Of the. germ 10
terfered win. and 1t perishes. Dis
infection in this case il not applied
directly to the germ itself. but to
the larger parasite which harbors 1t.
There are many ways in which
disinfectants may be used; some In
the form OF gas, such as sulphurous
acid gas made by burning sulphuE.
chlorin gas, etc. Experience teaches
that 1t is difficult to destroy
disease-producing germs In buildings
by aerial disinfection only, because
it is almost an impossibility to her
metcally seal the building, and with.
out this, fumigation is Of little use.
Still, there IAN be no objection to
fumigating, a. q part OF the pro-
gramme Of disinfection: but by itself
1t Is not to be relied upon.
Other methods are by the use Of
chemical agents, Of which there are
quite q number. Of these I may
bichlorid Of mercury (cor-
rosive sublimate), carbolic acid, or
some OF the other coal-tar deriva-
lives that are on the market, caustic
lime. chloride OF lime, etc. And
WAA0 aAy, VI o1As VI tu0D0 MSy 10
elective, the main point Is that they
be used In sufficient strength to de-
stroy the disease organisms, some Of
which are much more resistant than
others, particularly in the spore
stage.
One Of the most resistant Of these
Is the spore of anthrax or Charlton.
equal to that of boiling water for
l period Of ten minutes, or 20; and
when carbolic acid Is used, 1t will
require S per cent strength to be
II any service In the destruction Of
his same spore. It is doubtless this
Continued on page g.
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