The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1916-09-22
COUNTY ACTION
FOR TICK FIGHT
HELPS TWO COW MAN
Small LandhOlder With Few
Cattle Can Profit as Well as
Large Grower.


which the small landholder and the
man with a few COWS can obtain the
benefits Of tick eradication. In
many cases the big stock owner can
afford to build his own dipping vat
and, irrespective Of what his neigh
bors are doing, can keep, to some ex-
tent at least, his herd comparative
ly clean. For the man with a cow or
two this is out Of the question. He
must either keep on feeding the ticks
or get rid of them through systemat-
ic eradication under State and fed
eral supervision and in accordance
with prescribed regulations.
The second alternative is much the
cheaper. Dipping costs the individ-
ual, in his capacity as cattle owner,
nothing but the labor of driving his
cows to the dipping vats and home
again. AS taxpayer, he is OF course
interested in the money the State ap,
propriates for filling them with ar
senical baths, and for the other ex-
penses incidental to the work This
sum, however, is relatively very
small. Reports from four counties
recently released from quarantine in
Alabama show that in them the tick
was eradicated at total cost to the
county of from 10 to "a cents for
each head of cattle. No guarantee.
1t should be said, can be given that
the work will be done at these fig
ures, for the cost necessarily varies
with the number of cattle in each
county and with other local condi-
tions, but even under the most un-
favorable circumstances, the expense
is far less than the benefits.
In return for his share of the out
lay. the one or two COW man receives,
among other things, a new source of
Income. In certain section OF
South Carolina the elimination of the
tick was followed by the establish
ment Of a cooperative creamery in
region where until then dairying
had been unthought OF, where sur
plus milk was usually disposed of as
butter at the nearest store in return
for few groceries and where no one
ever regarded 1t as source OF cash
income. year later, 227 farmers
were sending their milk to the cream
cry. For the month OF August they
received in return $3,S51.88, or an
average Of SIT each.
The specialists who were instru-
mental in starting this creamery and
others like It elsewhere do not con-
slider that In ticky country such en-
terprises are likely to pay their pa
irons enough to make them worth
while. The reason Is simple. A
ticky cow does not produce as much
milk as a tick free one and. in con-
sequence, the farmer does not have
as much to sell. The amount OF the
reduction caused by the tick has been
ascertained in government tests to
vary from Is to ~ per cent, depend
ing upon the severity OF the infesta-
tion. Even few ticks. therefore,
may render the keeping OF cows un-
profitable. If such condition is
general throughout community. a
cooperative creamery is an impossi-
bility for an abundance OF milk is
essential to the economical and sue
cessful operation OF such an institu-
tion.
On the other hand, the man who
can make a small profit from each
OF his cows benefits in another i'm
portant respect. A very large per-
centage-in fact the bulk-of the
feed he gives his stock is returned to
the land in the form of manure. The
fertilizing value OF this Is alone
compelling reason for the keeping of
as much live stock as can possibly be
done. But with the tick the farmer
may have to pay for the privilege;
without 1t, the creamery may pay
him.