Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-04-17

49, h
through the bite Of the cattle tick. il fol
ows that by discriminating the ticks the
disease can be- cradicated. knowledge OF
he habits and life history of the ticks
: therefore essential To the control Of
he disease. When the mature female
lex, attached To an animal and cngorg-
II with blood. is ready 10 lay eggs, she
ioosens her hold and drops Ia the ground.
She may lie quietly for several days be
fore d,positing her eggs. which may con
.ume from four To eight days in summer
md two weeks on even longer IN the fall.
rhe number Of eggs laid 10y u fully devcl-
ped female varies from ! 100 To 3.Ouo.
After LAYING u finished the female j.
small and shriyclcd up. and. having ful-
Tiled her mission. soon dies. From the
eggs the larvae or seed ticks are hatchcd
after n period which varies from Is days
D q weeks. depending on conditions OF
temperature. moisture soil. etc. The young
ticks crawl about on the ground and
,mong the leaves. punching in large num-
lcrs ON grass blades. shrubs. weeds. and
cnce posts. Ia await IN opportunity IN
et upon passing cattle. or. in some cases.
,orsrs. If they do not succeed in attach
NJ themselves Ia such an animal they
'cyclop no further and die. While the
icks are attached Ia the host they mott
r she'd their skins twice.
The disease il not conveyed nv the same
ick biting an infected animal and then
'itinc another animal. for this does not
ccnr. The mother tick draws the blood
( an infected animal. and the blood par
sites are transmitted through the egg
. her offspring. and they latter convey
hem to the blood Of the animals which
hey bite The infection is thus carried
rom one animal to another through two
eneraiions of ticks.
While the power of transmitting Texas
ever is ~undoubtcllv the most dangerous
nroprrty of the cattle tick these ticks are
$50 very harmful in other WAYS. The
continuous sucking of blood by the enor-
nous number OF ticks found on some
attic H. the heavy drain upon the cir
niation and brings about an impovcr-
shed condition. Infected cattle require
NOR
lorc feed. a. they must supply nourish-
mCnt Ia the ticks aS well as To themselves.
The ticks rciard growth and prevent de-
vclopmcnt of youlg animals. They also
,rcatly reduce the milk production Of
COWS. The hides from ticky cattle are i'm
paired in value and bring n lower price
N the market. The losses chargcable to
he cattle ticks for these various items
ire estimated az more than SIO.0O0.OO " a
year. and il il also estimated that the
presence Of ticks lower the assets Of the
South by an additional S2,.22J0 600.
The region infected with Texas fever
was located in 1855. and in 1901 n quar-
line was established. Since the
year the federal government has
maintained u quarantine against cattle
from the tick infested region and has al
lowed them 10 b. shipped 10 northern
markets only hy rail ( for immediate
slaughter under certain restrictions
lower their selling price. While
quarantine has served To protect
the cattle in other parts of the country
against tho diS.aS nothing effective
was done towards discriminating the ticks
and eliminating the disease in the infect
al region until 1905. when under an ap
preparation nv Congress. the work If OK.
"a rminating the ticks was taken up by
the federal government in cooperation
with the States. The ticks may be DESTROY
"a by various methods. such as dipping
spraying the cattle with certain pre-
naraIions. or transferring the cattle per
odically from one inclosure Ia another
. ~ gradually 10 Get rid Of the ticks
hat are on them and prevent the develop
icni of new generations The most effect
W. method. however. and the one most
widely used. j. io dip the cattle in a sol
liion ~ arsenic.
Sn>c ptible. cattle may ie artificially
protected against fever nv innoculation.
INT this method j. troublesome AMI g
p%cnSivc and y practicable only in the
rasc of valuable animals which are Ia
be- shipped from the free territory into
Infected district.
The new publication Of the department
" Agriculture describing this disease
nd giving full information regarding il.
j. known a. Farmers Bulletin 5ia and
nay he obtained on application 10 the
Department M Washington. Ii contains
illustrations If ticks and 4 map showing
h. infected region and the progress that
h,s been made in discriminating the ticks