The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-03-21
BURN PASTURES NOW
Great Numbers of Cattle Ticks Feared
as Result of the Mild Winter.

conditions have been such as to favor
the sug,ival unframed of large per cent
Of the tick eggs i'll pastures and fields
where tick -infested cattle roamed or
were pasturcd last summer and autumn.
1t is we'll known that the adult female
ticks. when they have completed their
growth and have become fully engorged
with blood, drop from the cattle to the
ground and there lay many hundreds of
eggs which eventually hatch into seed
ticks or baby ticks. These latter get
onto the cattle and grow rapidly.
During winter Of normal severity
without Matching, and seed ticks which
have Matched before cold weather comes
on also remain i'll Il dormant condition
during the winter months.
During the winter Just closed, owing
| to the warm weather, cattle in central
| and southern Louisiana (and perhaps III
northern Louisiana also) have been con
| Stanly infested with ticks, the seed ticks
being active on warm days and getting
onto the cattle Ordinarily the cattle i'll
the vicinity Of Baton Rouge do not have
ticks on them during February, but this
year they were quite heavily infested all
winter The progeny of these "Fcbruary
ticks" will therefore augment the usual
number surviving the winter, and we en-
| tertain the gravcst fears for a summer
and autumn in Louisiana which will
witness the death of hundreds Of cattle
from excessive tick infestation. and in
cidentally the death of hundreds of
calves from Texas fever or murrain.
the disease which is transmitted by the
cattle ticks.
In the pasture lands where there were
ticky cattle last fall and during the early
winter, there are now thousands upon
thousands Of tick eggs on the ground,
snugly hid away in the grass and rub
| Dish. waiting to hatch out and infcSt the
| cattle within the next month or so.
| There are also thousands more or min
ute seed ticks, lying semi-dormant, ready
| to get upon the cattle at the first oppor-
tunity.
If the pastures and uncultivated fields
! be burned of now. before the new grass
becomes too green to prevent the burn
ing. a very large percentage of these
eggs and seed ticks will be destroyed by
-,
| from the tick will be materially lower
| than if these eggs and ticks are allowed
to remain i'll the pastures unharmed.
We do not hesitate to say that we
view the situation with no little alarm
and we therefore urge every farmer to
at once burn over every pasture and
every field that is not going to be in cuI-
tiation this year This burning should
| be given as soon as possible, and by all
means by April l.
In the boil weevil infested section this
| burning of the pastures and grassy lands
will catch goodly number of hbernat-
| ing boil weevils not yet out of their win
| ter quarters. The number of boil wee
wills killed in this manner may not great
| " reduce the prospective damage by tins
pest but it will help.
In this connection it should be said
| that the experiment stations and the
State Crop Pest Commission are active
| " advocating the complete determination
of the cattle tick on every farm IN this
State The methods by which the ticks
can be exterminated will be gladly ex-
planned BY either of the undersigned, on
| request from any cattleman or farmer.
In cooperation with the United States
Department of Agriculture, the complete
eradication of the cattle tick in portion
of Louisiana will be shortly undertaken,
and will be extended into new territory
as rapidly as State and government ap-
preparations are provided for the work.
J While it will doubtless require many
| from the entire State, the farmer should
not now neglect the simple measures
which will help keep down the number
of ticks this season. Let us do all we
can to reduce the hordes of ticks pre-
paratory to the grand final campaign
| that will be made to Gust the tick from
Louisiana territory.
By all means burn over the pastures
and uncultivated fields and do 1t with
out delay. 1t means much to every
owner of cattle.
w. R. DODSON,
Director Louisiana Experiment Stations.
WILMON NEWELL,
Entomologist State Crop Pest Commits
| sion.
Baton Rouge, La, March 10, 1907.