Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-14
U. 5. PROTECTING
HUGE INDUSTRY
1t Has a Tremendous Task in
Taking Care of the Live
stock Business.

| oppopopVup slletpi OJ,uNVtoOu cattiS aii'
26.0OO.0OO horses and mules, bu
most extensive up-to-date farmer in thu
world, owns that much live stock, ant
for good measure there is n large flock o
poultry scratching round the place
Every man who is n stakeholder IN TIM
concern may do well to try TO put himself
in fancy in the place of this wealthiest oi
stockmcn who in this particular business
alone is ten times billionairc.
Well, what would YOU dop Count emf
| No, that doesn't look quite like the first
!, Job. The. chances are that YOU would first
make sure that the herds and fiocks were
reasonably safe from contagious diseases.
In other words you would want some in
surancc-not insurance III the ordinary
sense, but real protection that would
actually prevent loss The greater the
livestock population, the more necessary
! Is 4 permanent plan Of defense and capable
men to carry II out It is one of the first es-
| scntials Of good business.
| " hen the livestock industry of Ameri-
| ca developed TO such an extent that out
| breaks OF disease became a serious menace
| to the welfare Of the country, steps were
taken TO reduce the danger. 1t was IN out
| break of plcuro-pncumonia IN cattle that
was the direct cause nf tho establishment
Of the Bureau Of Animal Industry. That
bureau now has many more duties, but
preventing diseases frop entering the
country, checking the spread of those nj
ready here and protecting the public
against products of diseased animals Is a
large part Of tho work and requires the
services Of | 600 trained veterinarians
The class Of work that these men perform
may be Judged By the requirements thew
veterinary college must have had AZ least
two years of high school training Those
entering next wear must have three wears
and thereafter no man may enter one Of
these schools If nc has not had full high
school course Of fom years. The course at
veterinary college. AS recognized by the
American Veterinary Medical tSSoCla-
ton. the War Department, the l. :
Civil Service and the L. = Bureau Of
Animal Industry. must extend through
four years, nlne months 10 the year,
which puts graduates on par with
grad ties o. universities NlanN of the
mon who occupy the more responsible
positions were graduates ot colleges and
universities before taking up their special
lInc Of work
Since 1891, when act oi Congress
established the Bureau of Animal Indus
try aud Dr II l. Salmon was appointed
chef, the American live stock industry
has been protected from plaques Of all
sorts from without the borders Of the
country. and those already here arc gradu-
ally beng conquered The most destruct-
we diseases. such as foot and mouth and
rindcrpcSt. which exact an enormous toll
every year in some foreign countries have
been prevented hy tins countrvs system
of pohclng from ever gaining more than
i temporary hold on our farms. Kinder
pest has never gained entrance No |
thoughtful man can doubt that the estab-
hshmtnt oi thus bureau in the nick OF
time has prevented the cost of food pro-
duction from being much higher than at
present
II hog cholera could be eliminated
and there Is every reason 10 believe that |
it can be done how much more efficient |
would ! e the farms ot the great corn belt |
and those Of other sections that arc now |
lardIng the incomes Of their owners.
\ report Of the United States Live |
Stock SANITARY Association estimates /.
the average losses from cholera at $50 |
600 Coo a year for the last 40 years, which !!
means that losses have been much greater /
III later wears on account Of the large IN /
crease IN the number Of swine. That an
AAAetA If7o AN AOAA HtA 'Nht AIilS4tot
on an investment OF 81 80. 100000 In |
40 years the loss has amounted to s. ,OOO,- |
300, GOO, nearly twice as much as the |
theoretical Investment.
TREMENDOUS TOLL on SWINE.
In 1914 the swine industry paid toll
II SO .O00, 900 to tins deyastator Of herds
But there is encouragement The use of
lnti-hog-cholera serum preventive
developed BY the Bureau Of Animal In
1ustry, IS increasing rapidly. The loss
during the year ending March 81, 1918, IS
to be So 900 900, reduction Of
~ per cent In less than five years. In
iowa, the hog hub of the world nearly
!, 900 600 hogs died Of cholera IN 1913 In
9I7 the loss was a little less than IS9 600.
N that State alone 70 Federal veterinan-
ms are at work continually investigating
outbreaks Of cholera, establishing quaran-
inc and applying sanitary measures for
he control of the disease, encouraging
he use Of serum, and assisting in the re-
luction of cholera losses
Some spigot economists look upon the
expenditure of $500 900 annually to fight
log cholera as an extravaganza, but when
,e consider that the smallest annual losses
ecorded was 81 times this amount it be-
ans to look as If state and Federal author
ties should not hesitate to ask for more
unds and to pay large enough salaries TO 5
old the experienced men. +
The spectacular defeat of the cattle !
lex in the Southern States is wonderful
hapter in the history OF the fight against
ye stock pests and plaques The first
for this work came IN 1906
nd now, - years later, nearly 40 per
mt of the wide territory originally IN
.ctcd is free and ready for the develop
tent OF q great live stock industry. !
A Bureau Of Animal Industry official !
lade the all-lmportant discovery that !
exas fever is caused by an organism
-ansmitted by the cattle tick. Another |
ureau officer worked out the life history
this insect, enabling others Of his pro- |
'sslon 10 develop practical methods OF I
-adication With very few exceptions ]
eterinarians have directed the work of $
-adlcation right down to the individual
rn But they have not dared TO estim-
Le what the results mean in real money
the South and in food for the whole
1untry They are too conservative for
Iat. But even a real estate promoter /
ould hardly be apt to put the figure too S
Ugh G
TUBERCULOSIS MOST COSTLY
One % the most widespread and costly I
seases Of domestic animals Is tuberculo- {
$ The cattle and swine industries suffer f
lormously year after year The presl- /
ant Of the Chicago Live Stock tx +
lange recently estimated that the loss ;,
1ery IL months is equal TO 20 trainloads Of
vestock of 40 cars each, mostly hogs. $
lon IN he Bl5raaI, of Animal Industry