The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-07-10
Texas Children Tell
How To Danish Cat
tie Fever Tick
Contest In Texas Schools In
terests Young People In
Eradication Work

How children are interested in the
campaign to Danish the cattle fever
tick from the United States wa:
shown in a recent prize essay contest
among the school children in Bowie
county, Texas. Interest was stimu
lated by prizes offered by the Tex
arkana Chamber Of Commerce, mem
bers of which are strong advocates
Of tick eradication and appreciate
the need of lining up all ages in sup
port of the campaign. Similar essay
contests are being planned in mum
Der of other communities where tick
eradication is in progress.
Of the large number of essays sub
mitted in the Bowie county contest
that written by Miss Mabel Hatcher
was adjudged to be the best and the
writer received the first prize. Her
essay follows:
Tick Eradication.
We have a pest called the cattle
fever tick. The exact origin of this
pest is mot known. It is, however,
quite probable that they were intro
duced into our country with the i'm
portations of cattle by the Spaniards,
during the early colonization of Mex
leo and the Southern States. Since
then they have spread rapidly. At
first the fully developed female lays
from one thousand five hundred to
three thousand eggs. These eggs are
of waxy brown in appearance. The
time required for the development
of these seed ticks varies from thir-
teen days to six weeks. Much de-
ponds on the moisture, temperature
and soil.
The seed ticks are very small and
parasites and resemble the
egg in color. They are about three
of an inch in size. These
crawl about in large numbers, form
ing an ambush on grass blades,
shrubs and other convenient plants
and here await the approach of a
horse or cow. After fastening them
selves to the COW they draw the blood
from her. After living thus for one
week they shed their covering. Then
we have an eight-legged tick. The
female tick is much larger than the
male. The male after satisfying his
greedy appetite falls off. The egg
laying tick, who had by this time
turned an olive green, drops off also
to lay her eggs in the grass, and thus
start a new tick family. These ticks
having completed their short but
harmful lives soon die.
Perhaps we have never thought Of
the harm and continual loss they
cause our country year after year.
Yes, they are very harmful indeed,
but only to cattle. They, the cattle,
are hlfected with the terrible tick
fever by being bitten by the fever
tick, and death is certain to follow.
Therefore you lose fine cow when
you could have prevented it. You
wish to sell the hide after you lose
the COW, but find that it too has been
damaged, therefore, because Of the
roughness Of the hide, you do not get
as high a price as you otherwise
would have gotten.
This loss is preventable. Why not
prevent It? The cost is not great
either. Thanks to the Department
of Agriculture we now have a medi-
cine which will kill all ticks which
are wet with it. The best and easiest
way to dip the tick is to dig a long,
deep trdnch-line this with concrete
and cement 50 as to hold water. This
il q dipping vat Fill this with water
and put in the arsenic and other
necessary medicine. The cattle are
then made to swim through this arse
nical dipping solution. This kills the
tick without injury to the cattle.
The cattle are driven back to the
pasture and there become traps for
other ticks. In two weeks longer they
are again dipped. This dipping is
kept up all spring and summer. The
ticks are then destroyed. When your
country is tick free do not allow any
ticky cattle to be shipped into you,
fick.fraa conn&ru Tick orod sca&;nn