The Coconino sun., 1914-07-10
Progress and Results of Cattle
 Tick Eradication

regard to the results of the work of tick eradication which has been in progress in the South and South west since Ioo6, the work being conducted jointly by the United States Department of Agriculture and the state and county authori- ties within the area quarantined tor Texas fever, circular letter was recently widely distributed among the stockmen and farmers in II States in the territory bor- dering on the quarantine line. The replies were for the most highly appreciative of the work accomplished and of the benefits derived therefrom in those sec tions which had been cleared of ticks.
 Over 1000 replies were received in all, the number from each state being: Alabama, 25; Arkansas, I24; California, So; Georgie, I7; Mississippi, 356; North Carolina, g; Oklahoma, I45; South Caro- ina, 27; Tennessee, I71; Texas, 50: Virginia, 24. The following IS a brief summary of the intor- nation elicited:
 Some replies expressed the in crease in percentage, but the bulk of them gave the increase in monetary value per head. Upon averaging these for each State, the sums varied from S7.7o per head for Alabama to SIS per head for California, and the weighted av- craze for the II states IS So.76 per head.
 The great majority of the re- plies stated there was a substan- tial increase in the weight of cattle subsequent to the clearing ot the ticks. The averages for the states ranged from II per cent in Texas to 2S per cent in Mississippi, and the average per cent of gain tor the entire tick-tree territory was 1914. In other words, the cattle as a whole are considered to be about one-flfth.
 The replies concerning the in crease in the grade or quality of the cattle since tick eradication were considerably more flattering than those pertaining to the ln- crease in weight. The lowest state average was I6 per cent for Georgia, and the highest 3I per cent for Mississippi. The aver age for the II states was 26.oI per cent, which means that the cattle in the tick-free sections at present are rather over one-fourth better in grade or quality than they were under quarantine con- ditions. This proof, if proof were needed, that the unprotltable scrub" and the tick go together, and that when the latter is ban ished, and not until then, is the influx of purebred animals on a large and profitable scale possible.
 There is practical unamity in stating that considerable losses were caused by Texas fever before the inauguration of the tick work. The figures range from 9 per cent in Georgia to B per cent in Mis- sissippi and North Carolina, and the average for the II states is B per cent. This is a tiihe over one eighth of the total cattle.
 It requires but little imagina- ton to see what serious handi- cap to the cattle industry of the South an annual loss of this mag nitude must be. Some idea of it's extent may be had by taking the census figures for cattle in 1910. According to these there were in round numbers I5,ooo, ,ooo cattle below the Texas fever quarantine line, with a valuation of slightly over S27o, 900, 900. One-eighth of this sum is S34, 1000, 900, which represents roughly the annual loss from death alone, not counting the