The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-03-30
RELEASED FROM
TICK QUARANTINE
Nearly Ten Thousand Square
Miles Free Territory
LATE GOVERNMENT REPORT
Results of Eradication Work
in Florida, Texas, Mississippi,
Georgia and South Carolina,
Since Beginning Systematic
Fight.

Fight.
Washington, d. CA govern
ment report states that a total
area of 9,739 square miles was re-
leased from quarantine on ac-
count of the cattle tick on March
10. The free territory is situated
in the States of Florida, Texas,
Mississippi, Georgia and South
Carolina, and includes the whole
or parts of 16 counties. There
have now been released from Fed
eral quarantine 284,521 square
miles of the original 728,543
which were put under quarantine
in 1906, when the work of syste-
matte tick eradication was begun.
Florida Begins Fight
A significant feature of the
new order is that with the release
of territory III Florida there is
no tick-infeSted State in which
some counties have not been
made free of the pest. In Flori-
da the whole of Dade and Brow
ard counties and part of Palm
Beach county are now tick free.
The Florida work began in 1914,
when a number of prominent
farmers, cattle owners, and busi-
ness men held a meeting in the
courthouse in Miami on Novem-
ber Is and formed an organiza-
ton for the determination of the
cattle tick enrolled in the new or
ganization, which later became
known as the Stock Growers AS
sociation of Southeast Florida.
The membership fee was fixed at
81, but voluntary contributions
aggregating $271 were obtained
in a short time. This was sup
plemented by a county appropri-
alton of $500 and a campaign a.
gainst the tick was begun. A
survey of the territory showed
that there were about $50 cattle,
principally dairy cows, in the
county. The State livestock
sanitary officials and the depart
ment were called upon for assist
ance, five dipping vats were built,
and on May 8, 1915, regular dip
ping began. By December l,
1915, the membership in the
association had in
creased to 155, the members of
the association owning between
them nearly three-fourths of the
cattle i'll the county.
From May, 1915, when, as has
been said, regular dipping began
in Dadc county, until the present
time not a single COW has been
lost from tick fever and over 200
head of pure-bred dairy cattle
have been imported. Previous
attempts to import dairy stock
had invariably resulted in failure,
for the cattle succumbed to fever.
This represented a serious loss to
the community, for the large win
ter resorts along the eastern
coast of Florida offered an excel
lent market for milk, cream, and
butter, and to obtain the maxi
mum returns from this market it
was most desirable to grade up
the native herds by the importa-
tion of pure-bred stock.
Now that the tick has been
driven out from Dade and Brow
ard counties there is no reason
why this grading-up process
should not go on rapidly. The
work OF freeing these counties
from the tick has cost citizens,
county, and State about $1,000. !
This sum is regarded as insignifi- |
cant in comparison with the in
creased revenue which better
dairy herds will bring the COM
Interest in Texas
The release of Schleicher coun-
-y, in the western part of Texas,
is also regarded as an encourag-
ng forerunner of successful work
N that State this year. A num-
Der of counties are showing their
interest in tick eradication by
appropriations of from
5000 to $4,000 for the vigorous
of the work this sea-
son. 1t seems to be very gener-
ally recognized that the most sue
,essful and most economical way