BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. SIXTH AND SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY FOR THE YEARS 1889 AND 1890. WASHINGTON: 1891. [PUBLIC RESOLUTION-NO. 43.] Joint resolution to print the Annual Reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry for the years eighteen hundred and eighty-nine and eighteen hundred and ninety. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there be printed fifty thousand copies of the Sixth and Seventh Annual Reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry for the years eighteen hundred and eighty-nine and eighteen hundred and ninety, of which thirteen thousand copies of each shall be for the use of the members of the Senate, twenty-seven thousand copies of each for the use of members of the House of Representatives, and ten thousand copies of each for the use of the Secretary of Agriculture. SEC. 2. That the sum of fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to defray the cost of printing and binding said reports, the two reports to be bound in one volume. Approved, September 25, 1890, 2 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the Sixth and Seventh Annual Reports of the Bureau of Animal Industry, covering the work of the years 1889 and 1890, which, as in the case of the last preceding Reports, have been combined in one volume. A feature of great interest in this volume will be found in the brief history of the active measures undertaken for the suppression of contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle and the marked success which has resulted from their enforcement. Indeed, at the time of this writing, pleuro-pneumonia as a prevailing disease has practically disappeared from the United States. For many months past but few cases have been discovered, notwithstanding the constant vigilance of a large force of veterinary inspectors. These cases were confined to isolated localities in the immediate vicinity of New York, where the sanitary conditions were bad, and where it had been found impossible to thoroughly disinfect the contaminated premises. A destruction of such premises having since been accomplished, it is now believed that all sources of infection have been removed. These reports also show the inauguration of a system of regulations for the prevention of Southern or Texas fever of cattle, which, in the results obtained, have been of scarcely less value to the country than the work for the eradication of pleuro-pneumonia. In both cases a double benefit has followed; our farmers have been saved from the losses which they had previously suffered from these diseases, and the confidence abroad in our export cattle has been increased. The scientific investigations reported are of unusual interest and importance. The disease of hogs known as swine plague has been carefully investigated, and detailed accounts are given of the experiments which were made to determine its nature, cause, and the characteristics of the germ which produces it. The experiments with Texas fever have been successful in revealing the cause of this malady, which has so long been misunderstood by scientists and stockmen. The chemical studies made in regard to the chemical substances produced by the microbes of hog cholera and swine plague are also of much interest, and it is hoped that they will lead to the introduction of another means of combating this class of diseases. The articles on "The Sheep of Great Britain," "The Condition of the Sheep Industry west of the Mississippi River," and "The Chicago Horse Show of 1890," will also be found of much value to those engaged in these industries. Many other articles of general interest, the result of careful investigations by the agents and employés of the Bureau, are included, but which do not call for special mention. D. E. SALMON, Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry. Hon. J. M. RUSK, 5 |
