St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1915-08-07
Great Diftessnes Bstweeqg Average
Values in Tick.Infested and Tick.
Free Sections. .

Washington, D. c., Aug. 3.-After
an eight months, fight, the foot and
mouth disease has been practically
stamped out and the danger OF an
other. great destructive animal plague
averted. For this the country has
reason to be thankful, for American
live stock already suffers from dis
ease to an extent Of which few per-
SONS are fully aware: Hog cholera,
tuberculosis and the cattle tick cause
q mammal loss to the country which
reaches SO high. into the r'illions Of
dollars that it is almost impossible
even for trained statisticians to es-
innate it. The direct loss in deaths
can be computed with reasonable &C
curacy, but the indirect losses which
agriculture in all its branches SUI
fers whenever and wherever there is
a, scarcity of stock cannot be reck-
oned at all. m f,a Z
Hog cholera and tuberculosis pre-
vail throughout the country; cattle
ticks are confined to one section
the South. Hog cholera and tuber-
culosis present problems which sci
ence has not yet thoroughly solved;
cattle ticks already have been elm
mated in an area of more than $685.
2S8 square miles and can be elimin-
ated in the rest of the infested ter
ritory whenever the people really de-
termine to rid themselves Of the pest
1t is no secret that the amount of
live stock in the country by no means
has kept pace with the growth OF
population. The price of meat has
risen steadily and the future of the
.country's supply has become mat
| ter of grave concern. "
Greater production of live stock
upon the farms undoubtedly would
go far toward solving the problem
This is especially true of the South
In an estimate quoted recently by the
Secretary of Agriculture, it was stat.
ed that the average farm home in
eorgia produced less than one-twelfth
Of . beef in the course of q yeal
for each person on it. Instead tO1
producing beef to sell to the rest OF
the country, the South imports much
of what is consumed.
For this condition of affairs spe-
cialists hold two things responsible
cotton and ticks. The danger in q
one-crop system Of agriculture has
now been made apparent and there
are many farmers who would gladly
abandon It IL some substitute were
available. But in any sound sys-
tenn Of agriculture live stock is in
dispensable, and while the cattle tick
flourishes the production Of cattle IL
not an inviting prospect. The grower
in q tick-infested country labors un-
der q crushing handicap. His cattle
weigh less and bring less pc rpound
than those of his competitor in tick
free sections. 49,
In Alabama and Mississippi, for ex.
ample, the average price for beef or
the hoof was. on January 1. 1916
only 4 cents Z pound. In Connects
cut It was So and In no tick-fre<
state was It as low rs cents. The
average price of beef cattle over TIVE
years old WAS $40 In Alabama and
$22 in Mississippi. It was 1894 II
Wyoming and $50 In Montana. Yer
mont, with an average Of $50, Val
1.-THE only tick-free state in which tht
price was below $40. In North Car
olina, South Carolina, eorgia, Flor
ida. Louisiana and Arkansas, al
more Or less tick-infested, the aver.
age prce Was below $780,. =
Such differences are too striking
to be ignored. They represent ar
annual loss to the farmers Of the
South Of millions Of dollars. The
eorgia farmer may expect to receive
SIS for his beef animal, the Ohio
farmer $56, Kentucky. Kansas ani