The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-25
CARBON HILL HEARS EXPERTS ON TOUR Dr. Cooper Curtis Discusses
 Cattle lick COSTS SOUTH MILLIONS Tells How Simple Is the Process of Getting Rid of the Pest and
 Urges Farmers to Do
 Their Part.
COSTS SOUTH MILLIONS
By WALTER HARPER.


 Carbon Hill, April Especial )-Pos- sibly the largest crowd of the week at tended the farmers institute held here today by Capt R. P. Hobson and his party of farm department officials. The city hall would not accommodate the crowd and the meeting was carried to the large auditorium of the public school building. Many were turned away from here.
 A large committee of citizens, headed by Mayor Ramsay, met Captain Hobson and the party at the depot and escorted them to the place of meeting Farmers and others came from every section of this end of Walker county, and business in the town was practically suspended during the exercises. Some new men will join the party next week for a tour of Marion and Lamar counties.
 The Cattle. Tick.
 Dr. Cooper Curtis of the United States bureau of animal industry, who is with Captain Hobson, has made life study of the Texas fever or cattle tick. He is full of the subject and no one can talk WllL Ilil TUT lU lllUubeS WlInOuL T6dllZlnB the surprising importance of the subject or catching some of the infection of his enthusiasm.
 The cattle tick is an unpleasant subject and one that does not inspire interest at first thought but when 1t is shown that this pest Is responsible for millions of dol- lars loss to the farmers and cattle rais- of tha pelled to take live notice of 1t.
 The cattle tick is indigenous to the south and affects every state from Texas to Virginia. It Is not generally known, but 1t is a fact that there exists a damaging quarantine against all cattle shipped from this section. Cars containing southern cattle are so labeled by order of the agri- cultural department which puts all pros pective purchasers on notice that they may be infected.
 This depreciates the value of even clean and really f1rst-class cattle.
 Governments Work.
 The federal department has taken steps to eradicate the pest in cooperation with state governments, but the officials are powerless to stamp out the infection with out the full cooperation of the people themselves. Of course, strict quarantine can be maintained, but this does not eradicate.
 It seems strange, but it is true that the officers meet with considerable opposition in their work in many sections. These of ficers are trying to be of real service to the people, but l am told that people in some sections actually resent and fight the efforts of the department, presumably on the ground that local or county quar- antine has the effect of advertising the defects, while as a matter of fact the en- tire south Is practically under the ban already, and no more injury can be done except through the stubbornness of the people themselves in refusing to help in the work of improving the conditions.
 Dr. Curtis tells me that the great prob lem of the bureau now is to get the peo- pie to understand the importance of the matter. The work of eradication itself is simple and practically inexpensive A herd of cattle can be cleaned up in less than years time.
 The Remedy.
 It is done simply by a change of pas lures. The tick drops from the animal and lays its larvea in the ground It requires about 21 days for matching. If the cattle are moved from the pasture
 
 matching the herd Is soon clear of the pest and will remain clean unless they come in contact with infected cattle
 It takes about four weeks for the tick to mature on the animal and drop to the ground. The matching Is done after the dropping, and 1t is at this period of incu- bation that the cattle must be moved to fresh pasture.
 pr. Curtis advises the building of two naefllrae tbto oP tion Suitable partitions In one large pasture Is sufficient, and this can be man. aged by any cattle raiser
 By quarantining against all other cattle the general eradication could finally be ac- complished It goes without saying that the work of eradication Is usually extend ed to all surrounding territory when it is properly begun. The people themselves see to 1t that the quarantine is not vio- lated.
 Dr. Curtis says that the officers rarely have any trouble In the matter of viola ton. The people who are interested take care of the work.
 Since the country is looking to the south for large part of it's future meat supply 1t is very important that this sec ton rid itself of this pest, and the sooner the cattle raisers realize the im- portance of the service the government Is offering them the better it will be The difference in the price of an average beef animal from a tick-infected district and the free section is said to be from SIP to $15.
 Any mathematician can figure some thing of the vital importance of quick and thorough work.
 And when 1t Is considered that eradica- tion Is simple and practically inexpensive 1t Is strange that the people are slow in responding to the pleadings and advice of the government.
 The total annual loss to the south has been variously estimated as over s100, ,000,- 900 on the present industry