The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-08-06
Uncle Sam VS. The Tick.
For The Brandon News:


20 know the real and exact truth, whether
rhey relish it or not, and because the II.
5 government is now taking an earnest
hand in the eradication of the fever ticks,
[ am led to write this open letter for the
readers of the News in order to inform
them as to what Uncle Sam Is now doing,
and proposing to do. 1t Is no wonder
that the government is greatly stirred up
on the subject since 1t has been fully ess
tabiished by rigid examination that the
rayages of the fever ticks among domes-
tic cattle has become national calamity,
which Is of immense extent since the loss
and worse than useless waste in the entire
southern states caused alone by the fever
ticks is yearly the enormous sum of one
Mississippi alone now every year mounts
into the millions.
Now, when any great evil or pestience
has become intolerable, and must be aba
ted at whatever cost, two things must be
done at the outset. First the real and
true cause must be clearly seen and under
stood, and next sure, safe and certain
remedy must be found, and then fully APP
piled. Well, the Bureau of Animal In
dustry has exercised this wisdom. To it
has been assigned the task Of taking the
lead in the warfare on the contagion. And
it has found after most searching and
painstaking investigation that the follow
ing conclusions are absolutely true, viz:
First, the one and only true cause of
the Splenetic or Texas fever among do
nestle cattle is microscopic germ which
is alone carried and transmitted by that
peculiar cattle tick known to science as
margoropus annulatus, or the Texas fever
tick. And, second, that sure and cer-
tain remedy has been found, proved by
thousands of trials and experiments, and
which can be stated in three simple
words-grease and quarantine! Yes,
grease, just any oily grease, whether
bacon grease, rancid butter, cotton seed
oil, or crude petroleum, will surely kill
any and all ticks on the body of every
live cow or steer to which it Is applied,
and is made to reach and cover. But it
must be made to reach and cover them,
or it will do no good to the coW-brute, and
no harm to the ticks. The vermin can
not be argued or talked to death, they
must be creased to death
And, when all the ticks on live cattle
have all been creased to death, the battle
will be well nigh wont
But now the quarantine and why? well,
the ticks have been scattered and the
contagion spread from the Rio Grande to
the Potomac by the careless shipment of
ticky cattle, and by permitting such cat
tie to run abroad and at large. Now,
quarantine is the exact opposite of all
this. And by rgidly keeping all such
cattle under strict limits the further spread
of the pestilence can be surely prevented.
But even more, by rigid quarantine. by
strictly keeping all cattle off infected fields
and pastures for few months all such
grounds can be utterly dsinfected. Be-
cause, and close attention Is asked right
here, no female tick, swollen with her
myriad eggs, some 1900 to 5000, ever
lays them in the hair or on the BODY of
COW or steer. No, never. But when
such female tick Is ready to lay her eggs
she always, by instinct, crawls out in the
long hair, and falls off on the ground. and
there, on grass or heritage she lays those
eggs-and then, her life function ended,
she dies! But these eggs in usually from
fifteen to thirty days will all hatch out
into very small but very active and hun
cry seed tcks-all hungryfor cattle blood.
And, as very many such female ticks will
so fall off, soon that field or pasture will
be filled with sWarms and colonies of these
young and hungry seed ticks. And
when fresh cow or steer comes brow
sing along, or perchanoe lies down, then
these active young ticks will crawl by
scores upon the victim, and get down to
the skin, and there bite and bore, and
suck blood, and grow, and breed-and
meantime will bite into their host the
germs and virus of the deadly splenetic
fever. And here, Mr.. Editor, is set down
in feWeSt and clearest words, the very
genesis, the whole plan and philosophy
OF tick propagation and breedidg 1t is
the whole matter in nut shell.
And now just rigidly and completely
keep all cattle off such pastures for time
long enough for all those eggs to hatch
out and a few weeks, thereafter and all
those hungry young seed ticks must and
viii! starve to death! And all such grounds
will be absolutely freed from ticks.
Grease and quarantine will do the work
effectually, if only honestly applied. And
now congress, impelled to such action by
the united southern delegation, and nota-
bly, by such men as John Sharp Williams,
has unanimously passed an appropriation
of $3.50, ooo-$ioo, 900 more than last year
to aid the people of the tick infected states
TO utterly get rid of the contagion. But
while this money is to be spent by the
Bureau of Animal Industry yet Uncle
Sam does not propose to do the work all
alone, and let the chief benefciares, the
cattle owners, look on in cool indifference.
Too many are acting just that way, No.
II. the people of any section remain utterly
Indifferent, and prefer to be let alone with
the ticks, they can be accommodated.
But, while they are SO left alone, their
section or country will be hampered and
bound by strict quarantine laws, which
will soon become intolerable. Because
congress and the states have passed sharp
stringent and drastic laws, liable to be
made more so, to aid the great work of
tick eradication. But all these laws are
grounded on sound reason, and upon the
idea of an active and jealous cooperation
of all the United States and the several
state authorities, and of all good citizens
in the most benifcent work Of tick eradi-
cation. And if these laws shall be truly
enforced they must result in utterly
stamping out the evil! But will they be
so inforced, or can thay be disregarded
with impunity1 One AsbelI of Kansas
did think SO. He does not now.