The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-06-03
THE CATTLE TICK
SMALL INSECT CARRYS TEXAS
FEVER GERMS.


--i,,.,
Territory East of Mississippi Now In
fected.-stringent Measures Must
be Pursued. s
MIR. w. W. Finley, president OF
the Southern Railway, has recently
written the following letter and ad-
dressed it to the Farmers of the
South:
The development of profitable cat
tie and dairy industries in r. some
localities in the Southeastern States
is being hampered by the presence
of the cattle tick. small insect
which carries the germ Of thu Texas
Fever, and is otherwise injurious to
cattle. The United States Agricul-
tural Department, in cooperation
with the agricultural authorities of
the States, Is carrying on syste-
matte campaign fer the eradication
Of the tick. The territory East of
the Mississippi River in which the
insect is now present, and from
which cattle can be shipped only un-
der stringent quarantine regulations,
embraces the entire States of Ala
bama and Florida; most Of the
States of South Carolina, Georgia
and Mississippi; the Eastern counties
of North Carolina; a few of the
Southeastern counties Of Virginia,
and g. few of the Southern counties
of Tennessee. This area is being re-
duoad from time to time as counties
or parts of counties are freed from
the tick.
The injury done by this insect IS
not limited to deaths among cattle
caused by the Texas Fever. Animals
which are infected with ticks as we'll
as those which contract the fever
and survive it are often stunted in
growth and do not reach the size
and weight they would otherwise at
tain. AS "a result of the irritation
and loss Of blood occasioned by
great number of the tick, their pres
ence on beef-cattle lessons the rate
in putting on flesh, and on dairy
cattle decreases the amount of milk
produced. AS cattle shipped from
the ouarantined area must be handl-
ed under restrictive regulations, and
can be sold only for immediate
slaughter, they command lower
prices in competitive mrakets than
cattle of the same grades shipped
from localities north Of the quaran-
tined line. The cattle within the
uuarantined area also suffers for the
reason that it is hazardous to under
take to improve the quality of cattle
by introducing fine breeding animals
from other sections because such an
imals are liable to contract Texas
Fever and die unless protected by
incubation. The annual loss occa-
stoned by this insect is very large,
having been estimated in various
amounts, ranging from 40,000,O0O
to 800, 100000 year for the en-
tire qrarantined area East and West
of the Mississippi.
AS a result of prolonged investi-
cation and careful study by the ex-
perts of the United States Algricul-
tural Department and Of the States,
methods have been devised by which
the quarantined area can be entirely
freed from this injurious insect.
These methods include washing the
cattle or spraying them with solu-
tions which kill the tick, or dipping
them in vats filed with the solution.
1t Is also possible to free a herd of
cattle from the insect by removing
them from one lot or field to another,
from time to time, in accordance
with plan which has been mapped
out by the Agricultural Department.
For the reason that the insect may
be carried from a tick infested farm
that is free from them by single
stray animal, or In some other &C
cidental way, it is of relatively little
advantage to any farmer to eXtermi-
nate the ticks from his herd and his
fields unless all of his n'eighbors do
likewise, and unless rules regulat-
ing cattle running at large are strict
ly enforced. The work Of success
full tick eradication, therefore, calls
for the harmonious cooperation of
the State, Federal, and local author
tiles, and all individual farmers,
wherever it is being carried on. This
necessarily causes some temporary
inconvenience in localities where it
has been the practice to permit cat
tie to run at large, but there would
seem to be no question that the ul-
innate results will more than COM
pensate cattle owners for this incon-
venience. DR.. A. D. Melvin, Chief
of the United States Bursau of An
inlal Industry, in his annual report
to the Secretary of Agriculture in
1910, in referring to the benefits OBJ
tained in those localities where the
tick had been eXterminated, said:
"More cattle are being raised, and
a better grade of breeding stock Is
bo;,o Sotroduood. ao1ves prow ia Stpr