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Letter concerning a position in veterinary science at Utah Agricultural College.

Contagious abortion is a cause of great loss to the stock growers of Utah. There is an urgent demand from nearly all parts of this State for information relative to this disease. In an effort to satisfy this demand a few facts regarding the disease as they are now known are here presented. It is not the purpose of this circular to report original research, but merely to describe the disease as it exists among animals in this State. The causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and methods of combating and controlling this great menace to the livestock industry are all considered.

Horse breeding in Utah, with some exceptions, has been carried on in a hap-hazard manner, and unsound horses of doubtful breeding have been purchased at high prices and have proven of little value. Where good blood has been introduced the temporary improvement has been marked, but as this work has not been followed up with care, results have not been lasting. In spite of bad breeding, however, the standard of Utah horses has been advancing so that in western markets they command high pries. The climate, soil, feed and general conditions throughout the state make it an ideal place for the production of horses with excellent feet and legs, great lung capacity and unusual endurance.

For a number of years many tons of sprayed or dusted hay have been fed successfully to livestock by stockmen interested in controlling the alfalfa weevil; nevertheless. the supposed cases of poisoning that have been reported naturally have caused concern among feeders. Further confusion on this question has resulted from reports on studies designed to determine the effect of lead arsenate instead of calcium arsenate. Whether the lead in lead arsenate has been a more injurious agent than the arsenic, of course, is difficult to state. Most of the experiments performed in the feeding of sprayed or dusted hay have been conducted with small experiment animals, as guinea pigs, rats, and rabbits. Despite the proven effectiveness of calcium arsenate in alfalfa weevil control, a number of stockmen are still doubtful as to the feeding value of hay from alfalfa thus treated, fearing it might be poisonous to livestock. As a rule, their fears in this respect are traceable to reports of poisoning based upon fallacious reports from different sources. Direct information on this subject is limited and difficult to obtain; especially is this true with calcium arsenate. In order to get direct information on the feeding value of alfalfa hay treated with calcium arsenate the study constituting the basis of this bulletin was undertaken.

The following is printed that the seriousness of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak might be apparent to the farmers and ranchmen of Utah, that the importance of the quarantine regulations might be emphasized, that precautionary methods might be adopted by each individual concerned, that the disease might be recognized should it occur, and that each stock man of the state might see the importance of immediately reporting to the State Veterinarian or to a veterinarian in his locality or to the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.