The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1915-10-01
ARE YOU FEEDING
CATTLE ON TICKS?
Ticks Suck $50, 900, 900 Year
ly From the South.
The Ticks Toll and The Simple
Remedy.

The eradication of the tick is essen
tial to the development of a sound
agricultural system in the South.
Live stock is essential to such sys-
tenn. With the tick out of the way,
the South can produce cattle free
from many of he handicaps of other
sections. Land is still cheap and
much of it is making no money for
anyone. The pasture season is long,
feed can be produced at minimum
cost, and only inexpensive shelter is
required.
The tick, however, sucks from sv-
cry animal on which it lives blood
that could be sold for meat or which
would go to make milk.
The tick irritates cattle, gives them
Texas fever, and keeps them from
turning grass and feed into flesh and
milk.
The tick, therefore, is getting a
large proportion of every pound OF
cattle feed used in the tick region.
The tick, by compelling the enforce
ment of costly and annoying quaran-
tines, adds to the cost of getting cat
tie to outside markets. Ticky cat
tie are worth less at home and bring
less in the quarantine pens at the
packing houses than free cattle. Tlcky
cattle can not be transipped and
must go for immediate slaughter.
Free cattle can be transshipped to
markets where prices are higher or
can be sold as feeders. Tlcky cat
tie bring only what the local packing
house cares TO offer The difference
in price between ticky and free cattle
runs from IL to l cent pound or
S. to $40 a head.
The tick kills imported pure-bred
stock and thus makes it hard for the
South to raise any but scrub cattle.
The banks will not lend money on
cattle in the ticky country, although
they are glad to help farmers in tick
free counties to buy pure-bred am
mails and develop the dairylng and
cattle-raising industries. The tick,
by making it Improbable to raise
cattle on cropped farms, cuts down
the manure supply and reduces the
fertility of land and production per
acre.
The tick, by keeping down farm
Profits, keeps down the value Of farm
land. The tick is an enemy Of the
farmer, the merchant, the banker, and
the people of the South.
There is no need to support the
costly tick. One-third of the tick
infested districts Of the South have
proved that it is easy to get rid Of
the nick forever and to build up a
great and profitable cattle industry.
An that is needed is for the people,
the county, the State, and the United
States Department of Agriculture to
get together and dip cattle.
Dipping cattle in an arsenical bath
will kill the ticks and enable the ami
NAL to give more milk or to put on
flesh and bring a better price in the
meat markets.
Less than so cents head covers
the entire cost of erecting dipping
watts in the counties, supplying arse
rical baths for all cattle and paying
the dipping inspectors. The indivld-
ual owners share Of this 30 cents
will be very small. The immediate
profit to owners. it is conservatively
estimated, will be from $3.50 to $3.50
head.
When the tick has been dipped out,
the farmers can combine TO import
pure-bred bulls, which. with native
cows. will produce better stock and
increase the yield of beef or milk and
butter fat.
With the tick out, sound farm man
agement, that uses idle pastsure lands
and waste products, keeps up fertiIi-
ty, and permits all-year profitable
use of labor, becomes possible. For
ty acres with cattle free from ticks
will produce as much as go acres
where cattle are kept out by the tick
The arsenicaI bath puts into the
pockets of the farmers the heavy cost