The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-11
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Does Tick Eradication Pay?

To the Editor of The Age-Herald.
 That the tick or splenetic fever in domestic cattle is now the great pane and incubus on southern agriculture is A clear and demonstrated fact Indeed, the loss. cost and sheer waste caused alone by the cattle ticks Is estimated and set down by the United States agr1- cultural department at the enormous sum- for all the tick infected states, or s75 GOO, 900 annually! And the official sta tisticians of the Central of Georgia rah- road nut the loss from the same cause Of the two states of Georgia and Alabama at not less than $7,0O0,000 yearly!
 There are enormous losses and would he incredible If they were not so well attested. But cold facts are indeed cold! They can not be set aside by incredulity. It furnishes no care. Or will 1t cause the cattle ticks to either die, or ols- appear. What then is to be done? Shall the people sit down In disgust ana despair, or shall they rouse up and go to work?
 Well. in any great trouble or calamity the best thing to do Is to first get at the facts-and then determine what to do. Now the salient facts about the cat tle industry are these, so far as Ala bama is concerned
 Rv the census of 1910, Alabama had as2. .4es head of horned cattle, of an aver age value each of $14.44. and an az gregate value of sl3,649,62o. And by the same census Jefferson county, Alabama, had H, 40 head of horned cattle, each worth on the average $19.27 and an ag- gregate value of s423,175
 But the cattle ticks were spread and scattered all over the state of Alabama and the loss, and sheer waste, and cost of this pestilence of cattle ticks were set down at 15 per cent, which on the assumption that the curse was equally distributed all over the state would make the loss for Jefferson county to be loss of 32l6 head of cattle, and of money value of $61,972. And this would seem to be the tick tax" for Jefferson county foar single year.
 But let us suppose that this estimate is largely too high. Well, 1t may be. But the cattle ticks are in every section Of the state, and let incredulity strike off one-half, and yet over s3o,0oo is still left as a clear and absolute tick tax which does nobody any good-and tax which saps the prosperity of the cattle industry And at once the question arises. can this tax be obliterated and abolished? In word, will tick eradica- ton pay? Will it pay in Alabama, and especially will it pay in Jefferson county? This is the question on which the whole matter hinges-so far as Alabama, and Jefferson county are concerned.
 Well, I answer yes, it will pay, and pay splendidly even in Jefferson county. What has been the history of tick eradi- cation in all the sections where 1t mas been honestly and fairly tried?. Well attention now to the facts.
 About six years have passed since the bureau of animal industry began the work of tick eradication in dead earn est. And in that time with all the op- position with everything to learn, 150.< GOO square miles, or 96OO0.0o0 acres of southern soil and territory have been entirely cleared of the vermin ticks. and taken out of a rigid and necessary United States quarantine. This was done at an expense and cost to Uncle Sam of about one million round dollars and a fraction more contributed by the various counties and states. This is an area fully three times as large as the entire state of Alabama. What has been the result'.
 We'll. upon this area. so cleared of the vermin. there lived the owners of fully ! 4.44ooo0 horned cattle-and these cattle as well as the land were entirely cleared