The Dickinson press., 1904-01-02

Possibly the Entire State, Will Be Quar-
antined, to the Greet Disadvantage Of
All CattIemen.
Bismarck Tribune:-The presence of
scab has been noted for sometime in iso-
lated cases, in cattle shipped in as stock.
ers from other states. Carelessness in
dealing with these, and allowing the
cattle to roam at large over the ranges
has resulted in the spread of the disease,
until many herds are afflicted and moth.
ing but prompt and general action to-
ward dipping will arrest the progress of
the trouble.
DR.. r. H. Treacy, state veterinarian
for this district reports many cases of
scab noted in his travels through the
district. He says the disease has caused
more deaths among cattle in the past
year or SO than blackleg, and in one in
stance he says he ran across band of
seventy or eighty head of cattle last
spring, all dead of scab. The disease is
similar to mango in dogs, the parasite in
all animals being of the same kind but
the parasite of one animal will live on
another. They are extremely tenacious
of life and local applications and what
are known as "cold dips" prove of little
avail. Infected cattle become restless,
and the itching sensation causes them to
struggle furiously in their efforts to re-
lieve themselves. As the disease pro-
crosses. the skin becomes thicker, the
animals become listless, and stupid, and
at length lie down and die. Unless
measures are taken to relieve them, DR..
Treacy predicts large cattle loss in the
western part of the state during the pres
ent winter.
ieGeneral dipping of the cattle with an
antiseptic solution, in which sulphur is
the chief component element, is the only
means of eradicating the disease Smear
ing with sulphur and parafne oil affords
temporary relief, sometimes for weeks
or months. The disadvantage of com-
batting the disease at the present time
( lies in the fact that dipping the cattle in
cold weather is likely to result in many
deaths from pneumonia. A dipping
tank that will dip three or four hundred
head Of cattle a day costs about 5000.
1t is necessary to have steam to heat the
water in the tank, as the hot dip is the
only sure method of killing the parasites.
Two clippings are necessary, the second
at the end of incubation of the parasitic
egg.
Some of the cattlemen in the western
part of the state have erected immense
dipping tanks, so constructed that the
animal is driven up chute and then
dropped through a trap into the liquid.
BY dipping their cattle and guarding the
ranges against stray cattle many of the
cattlemen hope to keep the disease out
Of their herds.
| The state will take some action toward
the enforcement of quarantine methods.
The best method of handling the matter
is now being considered by the state
authorities.
Stockmen would do we'll to write to
the Department of Agriculture at Wash
ington. for Bulletin No. 40 of the Bureau
of Animal Industry, issued in 1902, and
entitled Prescription and Treatment OF
Scabbies in Cattle" This bulletin con-
tains an extended description of the dis
ease, with the best methods of treatment
and the simplest method of constructing
dipping tanks, as set forth by DR.. Treaey
OF his district. This bulletin will. give
stockmen better idea Of the trouble
and enable them to more successfully
combat it,