Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-02-03

is especially important upon the dairy
J farms where the farm plan calls for
. a herd to consume the forage Where
the cattle are destroyed they cannot
d be replaced under present conditions
both because the traffic in cattle is
I stopped and because IL would be IN
, wise to at once restock the injected
: farms. Accordingly the crops cannot
be consumed upon these farms as
usual Moreover. there is no market
for these forage crops because OF the
danger that they may transmit the dis
ease As a result of the loss OF their
cattle and a market for their crops,
the affected dairy farmers are losing
heavily. IL not facing actual financial
ruin.
Neither does this valuation cover the
accessory expense and Inconvenience
Incident 10 the destruction OF the
herds In some instances weeks have
elapsed between the date of diagnosis
and slaughter and another long period
before the final distinction OF the
premises. During this time strict
quarantine has been maintained, which
has hampered the. people upon the
! farm and prevented them from obtain
ing assistance for the necessary farm
operations This quarantine has been
continued in a modified form long ait
/ er the final disinfection. Finally the
money promised by the government
/ has not yet been paid, and the state |
has as yet had no opportunity to pro-
vide for payment of the other half
However. the foot and mouth dis |
ease must be recognized as one of the /
most costly animal scourges. In many
herds in this state the disease has !
appeared in a mild form and conse-
quently many stockmen have not real
lied the seriousness of the outbreak
The fact is that when stripped OF all
exaggeration it far exceeds either tu-
beroulosis or contagious abortion IN
the havoc which it works and the ease
with which 1t is spread. II produces
little or no immunity, so that ravages
Of the disease rscur at short intervals
With the present narrow margin OF
profit in the meat and milk business,
the carrying OF the additional burden
OF foot and mouth disease would be
impossible without a rise in the price
Of both milk and meat. Accordingly,
If the disease became general. the bur
den OF this new state OF affairs would
fall not only upon the farmers but up ]
on the consumers as well. Since the
various elements OF cost have now
forced meat to an almost prohibitive |
price. there is reason to expect that
this added cost would seriously Grip {
pie. if not practically destroy, the fat {
stock industry OF this country. There '
is no question, therefore. but that it I
would be good business policy TO spend
vastly more than the present struggle
has cost rather than settle down TO
foot and mouth disease as an added c
burden TO the animal industry of the e
United States. t
The objection TO quarantine as a s
method OF combating the disease is n
that IL is both difficult and expensive C
to maintain. especially since the dis
ease is so extremely contagious. Such
a quarantine is now being maintained
in connection with the dairy show cat +
tie at Chicago. and Notwithstanding v
The unusual value of the animals the I
expense has been so great that it is a n
question whether the owners would 2
not have been better of had they ac-
,epted the appraised value of the cat
lie in the regular way and submitted
10 slaughter at the beginning OF the =
outbreak. On an ordinary dairy farm !,
he expense of maintaining an efficient ii
quarantine, coupled with the difficulty @
II marketing the product. would make p
he quarantine method of handling this 9,
disease more expensive than the pres
mt slaughter method. The apparent
'ecovery OF the dairy show herd has u
,een so frequently referred to as
'uccessful result of the quarantine
method of handling the disease that
{ seems desirable to point out that 7,
he careful and rigid quarantine main
aimed and the sanitary and profes-
ional care with which the cattle have
'een surrounded would be absolutely
on the average farm. 1t
Even where guarantees are care
ully conducted they become menace W
o the surrounding farms, because the
Infection can be carried in mechani- b
al way by birds and by hunters, as
-ell as by cats, dogs. rats. mice and 3,
abbits. The difficulty of maintaining
II effective quarantine is such that
ny attempt to do so on a large num- Al
er OF farms would be practically
quivalent 10 abandoning the effort to IL
radicate the disease.
The present outbreak of the foot tt
nd mouth disease does not differ from
hose which have preceded it in any
-ay except in being originally more tt
idespread and consequently more
ificult TO suppress. The method of
rocedure which is now being employ
! is precisely that which has been Al
in suppressing previous
and the results thus far at MI
lined indicate that the present out
-eak can be controlled by this means. IL
Under such circumstances it seems
lie plain duty of all who have the
elfare OF the live stock interests at
cart TO unite in supporting the eff
rts of the federal and state authori-
rs to eradicate the foot and mouth
sease from this country be-