The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-17
Sumter County Stock Raiser Asks
 Legislature to Eradicate Ticks
 Thinks Alabama Wonderful 

ricultural system that Alabama may pursue, and while do not plant seed
 of cotton on my farm I would be will
 Ing to comply with any reasonable re- quirements that would mean the ex- termination of the boil weevil.
 As a cattle raiser, I ask that you in-
 vcstigate the benefits to the people of
 the state that would accrue from the
 cxtermination of the cattle ticis m it's
 boundaries If you find that this can be
 accomplished with reasonable eX-
 penditure of time and money that once
 cone there will be no further expense.
 that 1t will mean more milk and .
 greater number of pounds of beef from
 the same amountof feed, that t will
 mean a better grade and quality of
 the same amount of feed; that t will
 rlean healthier. stronger animal to
 supply the milk and beef that tie cat
 tie in the state would have more ca
 pacity to resist disease by being freed Of parasite that is constantly sap ping their vitality that we could bring | in cattle from the best breeding herds
 of any section without danger of their dying of Texas fever; that our cattle | would sell for more on the open mar ket than in the quarantine pen; that | a tick free hide is more valuable than l one from an animal that had ticks on It: that the same number of cows will l and there Is a great deal of idle land 1 In the state that can be made to pro duce cattle profitably; that the hand | ling of cattle will make our farms
 more fertile, thereby cutting the cost | of productions of other farm products: | If you find all this and more I wish to | ask your cooperation and the co-oper- l ation of the press of the state in so- | licitng our legislature to declare that | the cattle tick must be exterminated in | Alabama.
 l Twelve years ago I dreamed of the time when I could produce cattle that would compare favoraoly with the best 1 that go to St. Louis and Chicago mar l kets. I confess that ] feared that l was only dreaming and that I would 1 never see the time when ny hopes would De realized. It was a lonesome l job to stay by business that almost everyone thought would fail, it was discouraging to know that any animal | that you might bring in to improve l your cattle almost had his death war iant signed before he was loaded for shipment and it was equally discour- l aging to see him, if he lived gradually l lose his bloom and spirits and become | more emaciated as the days went by I have seen animals that were treated | with every method that I then knew of lfor exterminating ticks gradually covered until in desperation raw sur | faces were rubbed on their hides in 1 their efforts to free themselves of ] | few of the parasites. I Lave had high | ly bred cows that managed to survive 1 the tick fever, cows that in fair flesh would have gone on the scales at 1903 1 to 1400 pounds, grow gradually weak | CT, become anaemic and die after few days from the loss of strength entailed | by delivering a calf. I have seen that calf either die from a blow to save it from starvation or else entail an eX- | pense for extra care that prevented 1t | from being an economical business proposition
 l I have seen all this and worse, but 1 by holding on and hoping, | have seen 1 the time come when I had Scotchmen
 who looked after my cattle and who had been with one of the best herds in the United States tell me that my cattle were as free of disease and had as much vi- tality as any cattle he had ever handled. l I had the pleasure last fall of having prominent St Louis commission man tell
 me that I had calves that fed out would
 make as high-priced baby beef as came l to the St. Louis market. I had the pleas
 ure last spring of having a negro come | to my place and offer me $20O for a nine
 month sold bull calf that had never had
 his hoof off Alabama soil. Only last week
 8 prominent and successful stock raiser |
 and told me that he would have to con
 fess that there was no such bunch of cattle in his section of the state.
 1 Don't think that having to undergo all the hardships of growing cattle, under | tick conditions was pleasant or profit | able. Had the desire to produce good
 cattle not almost been religion with
 me I would not have stayed in the game I hav ThA frod dnr in t-
 tie may make money under tick condi- tions, the man who has large area of cheap land may show a profit if he never feeds his cattle but for the man who has limited acreage and has to feed l his cattle through the winter I can see
 no chance under tick conditions; he has
 too many handicaps to go with.
 l Just how much of Alabama will pro-
 duce cattle profitably I am not prepared
 to say but I believe the time will come
 when every small farmer will have &C., cess to 8 pure bred bull; that he will
 raise his one or more feeder calves every 1 year, either under a fense or staked out.
 And right here wish to say that hand 1 ling a few animals staked out is no big | job. Kindly handled. a COW soon leanrs | Just what is expected of her, and is very | little trouble to move to water and fresh grass. These calves will be bought by | the largest dealers and shipped, grazed or finished, as the buyer sees fit. As time | goes by I think the small farmer will | finish his calves that he may have the
 manure to build up his land, and I be- | lieve the time will come when the sandy | lands will produce hundreds of tons of silage for finishing cattle bought from
 the prairie lands of the state. The prairie
 lands will produce stronger grass but do not believe they are capable of be-
 ing made to yield. in cultivated crops,
 what the good type of sandy soil will. In | conclusion I will say that I do not be-
 lieve that tick eradication is all of the 1 cattle business. There are other details
 that will have to be learned and diff culties that will have to be overcome but l | hope the time Is at hand when we can
 enlist the efforts of our bankers business
 men and farmers in a movement to de-
 velop them to capacity and with the
 hearty cooperation of all we will reap
 a full reward.
 | There is some effort and consequent
 inconvenience connected with tick erad-
 cation and I would like for both sides
 of the question to be discussed. Under our system in Sumter county there were some features of the work that think might have been handled differently, and