The Mena weekly star., 1919-04-17
A TICK FREE SOUTH. 1 IS NEAR AT HAND.
head of Bureau of Animal lndustr, Tells of Struggle to Eradicate the
 Pest and Wonderful Gains of Past Two Years.

A Polk county friend of The Star, ,ud. it may be added, friend of good and better livestock for Polk county, sends in an abstract of recent ad- sress of Dr. John R. Mohler, chief of ahe Bureau of Animal Industry, U. s. Dept. of Agriculture. The informa- tion contained therein will be sur brising to many people hereabouts, End may open the eyes of some who Are Tn sympathy with the outlaws Y sho are going about in the night and destroying dipping vats;
 To Make the South Tick-Free.
 'Few, if any of us, have had the trivilege of wearing the Khaki in the korld struggle that has just ended in complete victory for the allies and the Knitted States. It would be pre- aumptuous to think that any American Hho did not risk his life for his coun- hy could have given service compar- able to that of the boys who bled and 2ed. But at the same time, we were &lI working for Uncle Sam, and we *ere all doing work that was essential 5o victory. 1t is not too much to be- 1ieve that had the war stretched sev- <ral years more, it would have been Hecided by the reserves of beef that Be South possesses as the direct re- Halt of tick eradication. Even with sur comparatively short participation. kbe meat that the South was able to 7roduee because of the absence of the Eek weighed powerfully in the food hlance So. while you wore no uni brm, dipped cattle without the in- Duration of brass bands or bugle calls, xnd performed tasks that might have &emed humdrum when your hearts Mere lover there" you have done as Bur country instructed, and no man en do more than that.
 But your work was not for the war Hone, and the benefits of it will re- Nain long after the gory horror of tbtocracys downfall will be remem- Akred only for the heroes it produced. pu are making the South tick-free, *nd when you have done that, the na- Bon will be your debtor.
 Records Made During War.
 Trick eradication in the past two Ears has made a notable record. In 1el7 the 70,754 square miles released {fpm federal quarantine far surpassed #e record of any previous year. Again, in 1918, the release of 79,217 &uare miles eclipsed all previous Accomplishments. These figures xpuld command attention at any time. VI they become truly remarkable Den We remember that in 1917 and 8lS the United States was at war, <nd every energy of the American fsople was being bent toward the one eHn of whipping the Hun. Many of sHr bureau men joined the colors, Ws of thousands of men left the zNms of the South for the army, it Ws difficult to ship supplies to this Htion because of the demands of the
 tonments, everything was sub Mrged beneath the one dominating rpose. But despite all that, tick Wdlcation in 1917 broke all records, snd in 1918 we found that t917 was @rly 5000 square miles too slow.
 R hat Southern People Have Done.
 We must, everyone, take off our ts to the farmers, livestock raisers,
 the other people, in general, of M South. We must remember that eAle these people were helping tick Rdlcetion, they were not only buy
 Liberty bonds, subscribing to the Cross and other organizations, z# sending their sons to war, but #e accomplishing notable things in |sklng the food crops that were re- sfued as essential to a strong Amer
 When the slogan, "The South ast Feed Itself" was sounded, the zEners of the South answered. Be-
 the war the South imported an- szs ny about GOO million dollars worth
 corn, hay, grains, mixed feeds,
 meat and meat products, dairy z.3oucts, poultry and poultry prod
 and canned goods. There has
 great change. In 1918 the 15 thern states, including all the tick Ested states, produced Al ,787 ,000 nels more corn than they harvest
 m 19O9 The II states compris- B the cotton belt produced 135 per E more wheat in 1918 ti an in 1909. se same states during the same Rod Increased their oat Grop 133
 cent; their hay yield, '128 per
 Irish potatoes, IF per cent; and
 " potatoes, 67 per cent. The
 e tendency is shown in livestock puction. As an instance, in 1914
 slssippi marketed only 82,229 fat +le' while in 1916 it shipped 156,-
 animals to the St. Louis market,
 ,ncrease of 181 per cent.
 "nen we look back over what has
 oone, and consider that we are
 or increasingly strong support VT Southern people who have done
 great things, there is no reason
 'eVer to fear that tick eradication
 not win the most complete sue
 and that thru tick eradication
 south will become the livestock
 ,n 'hat it sh .u't be by reason If
 snmate and other natural advan-