Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-01-29

sucks blood. containing the micro
parasite which causes this disease,
from an animal that has the same
In itsSsystem ard then. after matur-
Ing on Its host, drops to the ground
and deposits eggs. Into each egg
the adult tick infuses the infectious
material of tick fever, and the seed
ticks which hatch from these eggs
contain the same within their bodies
and are capable of causing Texas or
tick fever by injecting this infectious
material into the blood of cattle that
have never been exposed to ticks Y,
Most OF the people in this State
who do not believe this fact, will tell
you that before Sthe stock law went
into effect all cattle had ticks, and
did rot show any symptoms OF dis
ease. This at first seems strange,
but Is very easily explained when one
understands that all cattle were then
immune tosti1ts disease because the
ticks reached the bodies OF all calves
and injected the H.cro-parasfte into
their blood at an age when they
were little affected ~ ~ tho e. same, and
as a result these calves we're pro-
tected throughout their lives from
this disease. Since the stock law
went into effect most promises have
become free from ticks, and the cat
tie now raised on these & premises
have no protection aga,rsc tick fever,
because the micro-paraslte is not in,
their blood, and when ticks reach
these animals ard inject this infec-
tious material, death from tick fever
usually, results. Il
This annual loss of cattle from
tick fever equals the combined loss
from all the other diseases among
cattle In this State. The ticks also
cause additional loss by making the
improvement of our native stock al
most impossible, oSri lg to the great
danger Of bringing cattle into this
State from tick free localities. Nor
this disease, because they are raised
in portion OF the country where
ticks cannot exist, owing to the Sc
verify Of the winters, and to protect
these cettle 1t became necessary for
the Department. of Agriculture to .es-
tablish and maintain quarantine
line between the free and tick-infest-
ed portions of the United States.
This quarantine line reaches across
the continent, and extends along the
northern boundary of this State, thus
preventing the shipment of our cat
tie to points above this line, for pur-
poses OCAeT Cnau lmmSQ.aC6 SlauSn-
ter, during nine months of each year.
Cattle shipped for this purpose must
be loaded in quarantined and disin-
fected cars, and unloaded in quar-
antined pens, and after complying
with all these requirements, the ship
pers are compelled to accept one
fourth to three-fourths of cent less
per pound than is offered for cattle
raised north Of the quarantine line
This quarantine also prevents our
stockmen from exhibiting at Ma
tional and state fairs, and, as there
are several herds of registered cat
tie in this State, this means a severe
loss to the owners.
The eradication OF the cattle tick
Is the only solution of this problem,
as 1t will not only prevent this heavy
annual loss from disease and death
of our cattle, but will also make It
possible to lower the Federal quar-
antine line, and allow free move
ment Of our cattle at, all times Of
the year. During the past year
rapid progress has been made by
State and Federal authorities In tick
work in Oconee, Pickens, Greenville,
Anderson and the northern portion
OF Spartanburg counties, and II the
people of these counties continue