Times-promoter. (Hernando, DeSoto County, Miss.) 1898-1970, 1908-07-24
UNCLE SAM TO THE RESCUE
Government Agents Will Aid In Fight on
Destructive Cattle Tick.
For The Tlmes-Promoter.l

er they relish it or not, and because
the United States government is about
to take a strong hand in tick eradica,
tion in Mississippi, am led to write
this open letter to The Times-Promo.
ter for the information of its readers
as to what Uncle Sam is doing and
proposing to do.
That Uncle Sam is greatly stirred
up on the subject is no wonder when
we consider that very painstaking
and careful investigation has demon
strated that the yearly loss, and worse
than useless waste, caused alone by
the cattle or Texas fever tick, is to
the entire south not less than the
enormous sum of one hundred million
dollars, and that the share of this
great loss which falls ON Mississippi
alone mounts every year away into
the millions.
Now, when any pest or evil becomes
really intolerable, and must be stamp
ed out and utterly abated two things
must be done at the outset, namely:
First, the real and certain cause must
be ascertained, and next, safe, sure
cure must be found and applied. The
Bureau of Animal Industry, to which
the work of tick eradication has been
assigned, has exercised their wisdom,
and after strict and patient exami-
nation of all the facts the following
conclusions have been reached and
set down as demonstrated: First, that
the one, true and only cause of the
Texas or splinic fever in domestic cat
tie is microscopic germ, which is
alone transmitted by that peculiar
cattle tick known to science as Mar
goropus Annulatus; and, second, that
an absolute remedy has been found
for stamping out of evil, which may
be stated in three words, grease and
quarantine. Just .Gny oily grease,
such as bacon grease and cotton seed
oil, raucid butter will kill in few
minutes every tick on COW. 1t has
been proven by thousands Of trials.
but the grease must be made to cover
the ticks, or it will do no good. For
the ticks cannot be talked to death;
they must be creased death. But
=" no ticks, no fever'' is true maxim.
And to kill all the ticks is to stump
out the pestilent nuisance.
But the contagion has in recent years
quietly spread from the Rio Grande to
the Patomac by the ceasless shipping
and migration of ticky cattle, and by
permitting such cattle to run at large,
but by keeping such cattle under strict
quarantine further spread can be pre-
veted. By putting infected fields
under rigid quarantine, that is, by
keping all cattle off such grounds for
a few months, all snch pastures can
be completely rid of ticks. Because,
and strict attention is asked to this,
no female ticks lay eggs in the hair
or on the body of cattle. When the
female is ready to lay her myriads of
eggs-1 800 to 3,000-she always falls
off on the ground and, on grass or
herbage lays her eggs, which in from
fifteen to thirty days, hatch out young
very small but very active and very
hungry seed ticks. And, as these fe-
male ticks drop off infected cows by
jhe score, soon an infected pasture
will have swarms of the young ticks.
They never travel far, in fact only a
few yards, but lie in wait for cattle,
whose blood is their only food, and
when cattle come around the hungry
pests get on them by the score, and
bite, bore, and suck blood and mean
line inoculate the cattle with the
leadly Texas fever.
Here Mr.. Editor, have set out in
,learest words the whole plan and
of tick propagation. And
low the purpose of quarantine is clear.
lust keek all cattle off infected pas
ures long enough for all the eggs, to
latch and a fsw weeks thereafter, and
he young ticks will starve. The tick
vii can be utterly stamped ont by
neans of grease and quarantine. Con-
,ress, urged thereto by the southern
and notably such men as
ohm Sharp Williams, has recently i
ppropriated $25O,Oo0- 100000 more
han last year-to aid the people to
id their cattle Of the curse Of ticks.
Jncle Sam does not propose to do all
|, n ,r,orly o,,d loax,o +ba no ttla own, nyc