Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1908-03-19
THE ENORMOUS COST
OF THE CATTLE TICKS
To the Valley News:

To the Valley News:
Public opinion is the only king in
free country, but it is vitality import
ant that public opinion should be
grounded on facts and truth. A great
effort is to be put forth with earnest
ness and vim to clear Tennessee this
season of the Texas fever ticks, and
rid it entirely of the contaglon, and
place the state permanently above the
national quarantine line. But this can
only be done with the cordial coopera-
ton of the farmers and cattle owners.
Will not the Valley News give me a
little space in which | may demon
strate the enormous loss and cost and
waste which the fever ticks, because
they alone convey the contagion, have
saddled on the entire South, and Ten
nessee especially?
Well, it is fact that the Bureau of
Animal Industry has caused a most
careful inquiry to be made by two of
the best equipped and candid experts in
America, and the result of their inves-
tigation is simply astounding They
report, each Independent of the other,
that the yearly loss, cost, and useless
waste caused by the fever ticks which
a few years ago was mere bagatelle,
has risen to the enormous sum of from
seventy five to one hundred millions
of dollars This is a tremendous year
" drain which would soon swamp a
small kingdom like Spain or Italy. But
how do they make it evident? Well,
there are in the tick infected states of
the South fully IL, 600, 600 head OF
horned cattle, and of these 9, 600, DOC
are owned in the state of Tennessee,
and the yearly injury to all these cattle
| by the loss of flesh, to say nothing of
quality, because all tick infected cat
| tie are stunted and will not fatten, il
so great that it will average at, the
least, ST. so on each animal, and this
on is, 600, 600 head is the enormous
sum Of 1914, 900, 600 Besides, the pre-
valence of the contagion is slowly but
surely changing the whole body O
Southern cattle into race Of scrubs
runts and stunts.
Again, because all Southern CATTLE
from below the quarantine can only b.
sold for immediate slaughter, and thi
fixes the price of all such cattle in al
the great markets, there is yer,
great shrinkage in the sale price 0
these cattle, so great as to approx
innate so per cent.
Here is another loss which average
not less than 81. 80 more on all the Is,
900, 600 Southern cattle and this mean
1874, 900, 900 more. Further, the loss o
milk and butter in tickey COWS is no
less than &c. 600, 600, yearly. Again
they estimate the yearly loss from cat
tie which lie down and die of the dis
ease, or are rendered utterly of no val
ne, at not less than $40, 900, 900!
Once more, the South is now sellin
3 to Germany and other European coun
tries, not less than $40, 900, 900 wort
/ every year of cotton seed meal. Thi
is there fed to cattle to fatten them t
take the place Of American cattle an
beef Now, if the meal was fed, as
r could and should be, to tick free South
g ern cattle, it would make twice $40,
= 000 600 worth of Southern beef cattle
t And the vast amount of most valuabl
fertilizer material, now worse tina
s wasted, would be left on Souther
farms, now fast being made sterile an
g worthless, and this sheer waste equa
more than $40, 600, 600 yearly. And
n then, add all the other losses, the cos
and expense Of keeping up the quaraT
tine in all the states, the salaries of a
inspectors, the costly and vexation
a delays, the cost of cattle pens and fC
e disinfecting all boats and thousands c
f cattle cars and all the other odds an
9 ends of expense and the sum total {
Y 800, 900, 600 yearly is seen to be har
and stern fat
g Now this is growing evil. Lt
alone and disregarded and it must an
assuredly will utterly destroy tn
whole cattle industry of the South.
Oh, Valley News, the good county
Marion is most vitality interested i
tick eradication. They must be Grad
- Gated or the county, and any sue
: county, will be permanently quara1
% tined, for the quarantine laws hav
come to stay. What is wanted is tn
, prompt and active cooperation of a
. good citizens and county officials
!, the work which will be prosecuted tn
II season. The laws are drastic and moi
severe, but we want the good will {
Q the people. He is not good citize
who interposes his ignorance. TIL
g ticks can't he talked to death 1t take
" intelligent work. During last year j
all the South, some 40, 900 squal
. miles were cleared of the ticks, a
area as large as Tennessee, and it
g the stern purpose to clear the who
state Of Tennessee this year, but til
y can only be done by the aid of all GOO
= citizens | have written this letter fl
u the information of your readers, an
Il doing so have simply been "ringi1
fire bell in the night.
| am yours sincerely.
A. H. PETTIBONE,
4 Agent IT. s Dent of Oricult11r