the original University herd, which has been kept sound for twentysix years, has contracted the disease from these importations. That the University herd has remained sound shows clearly that these newly arrived animals could not have contracted the infection in our stables but must have brought it in with them. These recent conditions detract nothing from the value of tuberculin, when employed as it could have been ten or fifteen years ago. Then it could have been used successfully to secure a basis for a comparatively easy suppression and extinction of tuberculosis. Under the misuse of it and of "bovovaccine," the tuberculin is no longer of itself sufficient to show tuberculosis in an animal that has been tampered with, or that may have been. The new conditions demand new and more searching measures. These must be based on the attested soundness of the herd from which the animal is to be taken. Imported cows must be either excluded or admitted only on certificate of the former owner that they have been for years in his herd and that no tuberculosis has existed in that herd for three years antecedent; further, they must be tested with tuberculin, their destination recorded, and they must be retained at such first destination for six months and then retested. It will be alleged that dealing in cows from outside the State will thus be made impracticable, but dealers must remember that it is largely due to their obstinate persistence in our vicious system of the past, and their steady and unfortunately successful opposition to any legislative improvement, that we have been reduced to our present deplorable condition, which necessitates the measures proposed. Fifteen or even ten years ago the elimination of tuberculosis from our herds would have been easy and relatively inexpensive; today, thanks to the reckless movement of cattle, sound and unsound, it will be difficult and much more costly. A sanitary control, which will make importations safe in the future, is of incomparably more importance to our live stock interests than the profits of a reckless trade, ruinous to our 1,800,000 milch cows, can possibly be to the dealers who are engaged in such trade, or than the trade can be to the commonwealth. The same measure, meted out to the dealers in cattle from outside the State, should be dealt out to the owners of cows sold or transferred inside the State. No cow or store cattle should be transferred from one place or herd to another within the State, unless the seller or transferrer can give a guarantee and bond that there has been no tuberculosis in the herd for at least three years prior to the transfer and that no additions have been made to the herd in that time, save from herds guaranteed in a similar manner. The animals transferred and the herd from which they were taken should further be tested with tuberculin, and any reaction under the test should bar any transfer from that herd. This will entail a large outlay for marking, registration and supervision, post-mortems, etc., but it will at once place sales and transfers on a sound and safe basis, will stop at once the extension of infection, and will lead every herd owner to set about purifying his own herd that he may secure an open and profitable market at the earliest possible moment. This the owner may secure by State aid, or more slowly by the Bang method, but in either case the final result will be certain and of immensely greater consequence to the commonwealth than the whole outlay made for extinction of the disease. The stockowner to whose herd a shadow of suspicion attaches has no moral right to transfer an animal from that herd to another, while the dairyman or breeder, who has by his judgment, care and good fortune preserved his herd free from infection, is entitled to every advantage which a full guarantee of soundness can bring him. The most dangerous element in the trade is the middleman who buys from all sources, mingles his purchases in his own stables and yards, and distributes them far and wide among his customers. In his hands certificates, markings and guarantees are liable to become complicated and uncertain, and if his trade is not absolutely put a stop to during the emergency period it should be allowed to continue only under the most stringent supervision. The details of the system would be out of place here, the leading principle alone can be referred to. The other plagues of animals are quite as much in need of intelligent supervision as is tuberculosis. Contagious abortion is almost as widely extended as the dairy industry, and is even more occult and elusive than tuberculosis. It is even worse in this, that long after individual immunity has been established the infecting germ is still carried by the animal. A control of transfers should be at least as exacting and as far-reaching as for tuberculosis. Canine madness is not suppressed or extinguished, as it might easily be, but is constantly increasing. Glanders prevails in the large cities through ineffective legislation and administration. Many of the other animal plagues, like strangles, equine influenza and contagious pneumonia it is not even attempted to control. NEEDS OF THE NEW YORK STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE Anatomy: To secure sufficient laboratory space another A dark closet for photographic work Physiology and pharmacology requires instruments and ap- Pathology and bacteriology. Extra laboratory material Additional laboratory assistant Experimental farm Surgery and obstetrics: New operating room and fittings (voted by council). Share of team, wagons, groom and buildings for same Medicine: One extra professor to conduct outside clinic and Teams and wagons to use in outside clinic and necessary Ambulance $1,500 200 500 100 250 100 3,000 500 Extra groom 480 Buildings for shelter of team, wagons, etc.. 1,000 Buildings for medical and sanitary clinics, instruments and apparatus 30,000 Experimental farm in connection with sanitary work and for breeding of animals. Unless other provision can be made for the equipment of the department of medicine and sanitary science every dollar, in addition to past maintenance appropriations for the other departments, would be fairly and justly devoted to the department in which the new instructors are appointed. In securing men to begin work in a field which is comparatively new to them, they should be furnished with the means of doing full justice to the students, to the College and to the State. Any additional expense incurred in making such a movement is no longer to be looked on as simply taking an advanced position to which other veterinary colleges may aspire, but rather as a means of preventing other such institutions from distancing us in the race, and displacing our College from the leading place which it has long so proudly and advantageously maintained. Illinois is now engaged on a state veterinary college for which $250,000 has been provided for buildings and equipment' and $30,000 for yearly support. Pennsylvania has secured from state and private gifts for its veterinary college a sum estimated at $500,000; other states are steadily advancing in the same direction. If New York should add to her long established record of the neglect of practical veterinary sanitary work, the further discredit of having to assume a second or third place in veterinary education, it must tell disastrously in depreciating the reputation and value of our live stock. Respectfully submitted, JAMES LAW, Director of the New York State Veterinary College. APPENDIX VIII REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. To the President of the University: Sir: The present year has been signalized by the College becoming thoroughly establishedin its new buildings. This is no small event either to the College or to the people of the State. It is the epoch to which friends of agricultural education have looked forward since the founding of the University. Whatever the College has been able to accomplish in the past for the rural interests of the State, it ought now to be able greatly to extend its usefulness and influence; and the many enterprises for which it stands now have a tangible abiding place, to which accretions will necessarily be made from year to year in fulfillment of a definite plan. This plan is, to have every rural interest of the State adequately represented in higher education. The year has seen only one marked change in the personnel of the College. This change is the departure of Professor Pearson, on April 19, to become Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of New York. Professor Pearson's connection with the College, as one of its staff, began with the reorganization of the College five years ago. He has been instrumental in building up a dairy department that is characterized by new methods, a fairly perfect organization, and great teaching effectiveness; and he has made a reputation with the farmers and others of the State for integrity, ability and helpfulness. While it is a distinct loss to the College to have him sever his connection, we nevertheless feel that he is called to a larger service, and we are confident that the educational and investigational efforts that are now expending themselves in the interest of a better agriculture will find marked expression in the administrative programs of the State. A marked departure in agricultural college work, or in any college work, for that matter,-is the establishing of the sub-department of limnology. This work is in charge of Dr. J. G. Needham, well-known as a painstaking and inspiring teacher and investigator. This department investigates swamp and aquatic life, particularly with reference to the study of the forage food of fishes. This subject is of great importance to New York, since the State contains so many lakes and streams that should be a source of food supply. While we are stocking some of our lakes with game fish, the agricultural utilization of our waters is yet scarcely begun. The number of students continues to increase. In fact, the number is now so large that we are facing a serious question as to how we can accommodate more persons with justice to the students and satisfaction to ourselves. The great new buildings, which seemed so ample when they were planned, are now filled to every corner in basement and attic, and some of the departments are not yet housed. There is no auditorium large enough to hold all the students, let alone holding the staff also. The Agricultural College community now comprises about 500 persons, and during the winter course period about 750. The main auditorium seats 610. Nearly all the laboratories and class rooms are already crowded. It is even now a question for the State to take cognizance of, that the College is taxed to its full capacity in respect to both teachers and quarters. This really should be a matter of congratulation, and the State should willingly provide additional quarters, facilities and staff. The College is full to overflowing of farm youth. This is what the College is for. Following is the registration in the College of Agriculture for 1907-1908: |