The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1913-09-05
RA'''N"''cc cATTHt Il TICK.
Government Expert Tells Why II Pays
and Gives interesting Figures.

va;tor Sentinel: Will and does tick
EG,.o EsG:"at;on really pay? This is indeed
eraa'SiH ersi onestiop. for it touches every
awts. mock etbook. If it does not
ci'iIs%; chi not nav, then it is simply a
b'qon"5 ba. before we discuss it a. sheer
DUG pJ let US consider the cost and
n..e nua,D Which come alone from the pesti-
xnS wee breeding nuisance.
ienSe me-. sxnerts of the Central of Geor-
i"s ro;lroad estimate the yearly loss,
gs nd waste from the cattle ticks to
eoss uot S less than 81, ,OOO,0 900 to the two
De .."s .U' alone of Georgia and Alabama,
s'aS s.S corresponding loss for Missis-
WIZ; And the statisticians of the u.
spy. SSpRR.,artment of Agriculture place the
,. o.at wept loss for the entire Sunny
South at s75,0OO,ON from the same
fell cause. 49,.
,;hIe losses. But the incubus ie upon
- and what shall we do! Shall the
u usonle sit down in doleful dumps and
rs;t for the cattle vermin to die out!
put they won't die out. No; they have
s"me @ to stay till they are stamped out
s svd eradicated. But can this be eff
fectually done, and wnen oone. VIII II
mrely pay? Well, let hard facts de-
termine. .AL:.
hnreauundertook the work of tick erad-
;"at;on in dead earnest, in the South.
!, heoan the work in experience. 1t
hsoan il in ridicuIe and much angry op-
uosition. But it kept at work in good
pUd svil report. Meantime, it invented,
nsrfected and freely gave to the public
IA system of dipping watts and arsenical
solution. These it widely and wisely in
troduced. Now, after seven years nc
loss than 1877, 900 square miles, or over
IoO 600 600 acres of Southern soil and
tsrritory which have been entirely freed
slong with the cattle from the pesti-
isntial parasites, and taken out of the
clutch of a severe and drastic Quaran-
fine law. This area is fully as large a;
ths combined states of South Carolina
Georgia. Alabama and Mississippi. But
thsse states by sheer neglect are still
tick infected, The work has cost Uncle
Sam. by the disbursements OF this bu
reau, not less than one million dollars
besides the lesser sums contributed b,
states and counties which have beef
relieved. Well now. did it pay?
The answer is brief in that upon thi
great area there lived the owners o
not less thau 4,44O, 900 head Of horne
cattle. and these cattle being free
from the parasite ticks, began at ono
to improve in health, strength and ar
pearance. They grew in size an
weight, and in demand, sale and price
40 that these very cattle actually ros
in cash value ffrom $58, lis, 500 to full
$50. .Os5. .7s0. This from the cattle alone
or more than twenty times the entir
cost of tick eradication, of which COS
the far greater part was paid by Uncl
Sam. This was proof-a complete den
onstraton that tick eradication pay
and pays immensely.
But it must not be forgotten that tn
acres as mere land were greatly benz
fitted by the fact of utter tick cradle;
ton, as much as from three to five do
lars an acre. But q gain of th'
amount would be for 120, 900, 900 acr,
from $500, OOO, 900 to $500, 600. 900. No
does this seem incredible? Well, !,
US be most moderate. Let US agre'
for arguments sake, that the gain WI
only ore dollar per acre, still gain
one dollar per acre would be for IN
0OO,00O, which would be more than !
royal kings ransoms at one million d.
lars each. And the question, will tx
eradication really pay? becomes in t
sunshine of cold facts as silly as 1t
absurd.
There is no branch of agricultu
which promises so much and so CT
tainly as cattle raising. Why SO? E
cause there are actually less cattle
America than there were 20 years az
and yet our population has increas
fully twenty millions and immigrant