Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1915-10-01
GREAT LOSS FROM
The CATTLE TICK
U. 8. Department of Agriculture Has
Warning for Cattle Growers
Of the South.

An area in the south as large as
the German Empire has already been
freed from the cattle tick, but twice
as much remains to be cleared. To
hasten the work by stimulating inter-
est in the campaign of eradication,
the department has recently issued
large illustrated circular, supplied
on request, which shows in dollars and
cents the loss the pest causes every
farmer in the infested territory.
1t costs the South, it Is estimated,
100000 year to board the tick.
The results, as set forth in the new
circular, leave no room for argu-
ment. The tick must go, and go at
once If the South is to enjoy anything
like its legitimate share of prosperity.
The Tick VS.. Pure Bred Stock.
Ticky cattle are worth anywhere
from So to $40 head less than tick
free cattle, but because it is impos-
sible to introduce pure-bred stock into
tick-infested territory for the purpose
Of grading up the herds, the differ
ence between the average value Of
cattle in the tick States and in the
free States is much greater than this.
On January /, 1916, for example, the
average price of beef cattle over
years old in 10 tick-infested states
North and South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louis
lana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tex
as-was $3.50. For the remainder of
the country It was $4S.47. In Georgia
and Florida the price was only $18, in
Alabama 500, in Mississippi $22, in
Louisiana $24. With the exception
Of Vermont and Tennessee, where the
averages were S39 and $35, respect
lively, every tick-free state had an av-
erage of $40 or more. Eighteen were
over $50 and two over $50.
Tick Quarantine VS.. Free Cattle.
Tick-infested cattle not only weigh
.ess-and therefore are worth less
than tick-free cattle, but they bring
less per pound In Alabama and Mis-
sissippi on January l the average
price was cents. In Connecticut it
was 81, and in no free state was it as
low as cents. Ticky cattle must be
handled in quarantine pens and killed
Immediately. They cannot be trans
shipped to better markets or sold for
feeders. In consequence they receive
what the local packing house cares to
offer, which in practice is anywhere
from half cent pound upward less
than the price for uninfested stock.
Another reason for the lower price
Of ticky cattle is the damage to the
hide. The tick lives by sucking the
blood from its victim. To do this it
must puncture the hide, and every
puncture sends down the market price
because such hides cannot be used for
making fine grades of leather. From
so cents to $1.25 is the average loss
in value of tick-bitten hides.
Milk Yield Reduced.
Dairy cattle suffer no less than beef
stock, for the tick gets the blood that
should go to the making of milk. Gov
eminent tests show that light in
festation of ticks reduces the milk
flow 10 per cent; heavy one as much
as AZ per cent. In the new circular
this loss is translated into dollars and
cents for a herd of twenty cows, which
under normal conditions should each
give eight quarts per day. With milk
at 5 cents per quart light infestion
costs the owner of such herd 5000
in the course of 200 days milking. A
heavy infestion costs him 1910. In
a county where systematic tick Grad
ication is under way he could dip his
herd, free them from the ticks, and
save this loss for total expenditure
that would certainly be no more than
$40.
This is not mere theory; it has been
proved in actual practice. One dairy
mans experience is typical. He owned
AZ ticky cows, gave them one dipping
and week afterwards found that he
had 1876 per cent more milk. The
daily revenue from the herd was in
creased $3.50.
Dip The Tick.
For all the evils that the tick causes
there is simple remedy--an arse
nical bath. AS has already been said,
one-third of the tick territory has been
cleaned since the work began in 1905,
and the cleaning of the rest is merely
a matter of resolution on the part Of
the persons concerned. To build a
dipping vat costs approximately from
$50 to 500. The vat lasts indefinite
ly and win dip as many cattle as need
be. A liberal estimate Of the arsenic
required would be five cents per head