THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



V;.Rious Methods 



OF 



Tick Destruction 



/n Ih* compilation of theMe noteM. reference ha» been made to many sources of information^ but particularly to an 



article uhich appeared in the "Bulletin of the Jamaica Department of Agriculture.*' Vol. 1, Number 3, from c r t'.^ 



which much of the following matter it quoted, almost textually. ~^m.,.a i 



HAND PICKING. This is a primitive melhod and absolutely ineffeclive, on a large properly, for keeping down liclcj. Only the engorged females 

 offer lliemselves as objecls for removal by ihe hand of the operator. A certain proportion of engorged females drop off in the pastures, or the road- 

 side, or in the cattle pen. A certain number fail to be destroyed by the fingers or heel of the picker, and the result is that a great many more ticks 

 M:rvivc than are picked off the bodies of the catde. This method is largely responsible for the tick pest retaining its most virulent form. 



TARRING. This was the remedy recommended by Professor Williams as a result of his mission to Jamaica in 1896. One part of Tar to thrc-e parts 

 of boiled linseed oil was recommended. In many instances the result of its too thorough application was that the animals so treated became 

 usphvxialcd through a blocking of the pores of the skin. This tar remedy, however, or variations of it containing sour orange juice, carbolic acid, 

 i-trcjene c>il and other fearsome remedies, are still widely used in Jamaica. A boy with the paint pot daubs a smear of the tick-dressing only 

 en such portions of an infected animal as appear to him to be in pressing need of treatment; but to cope properly with the tick pest, every spot 

 on the surface of every animal must be reached by the tick destroying agent. While a few score of engorged licks are hastily brushed over on a 

 cow's flank or thighs, there may be hundreds of larval ticks all along the spinal region, on the poll, and in fact on all parts of the body, undergoing 

 development. Unless all these ticks are killed, and not merely 60 or 70 per cent., the complete eradication of the ticks is out of the question. 

 So long as Cattle breeders keep to the tar brush, so long will the lick plague wax fierce and flourish. 



EKUSHING. Brushing with a tick-destroying wash represents a fairly efficient means of treating lick-infcsled cattle, but is attended with some 

 risk. The bulk of the remedies used for " brushing '* are coal-tar emulsions of the type of Jeyes' Fluid. None of these preparations will kill ticks 

 unless used at a strength that is ver)' liable to strip the skin of the cows under treatment ; in no case do they give a high efficiency of tickdestruclion. 

 It is perfectly certain that brushing is not a good melhod, and will not solve the lick problem so as completely to abolish ticks on a property, 

 because it is not capable of complete or perfect results, nor is it free from risk of injury to the animals treated. Many pen-keepers are entirely 

 satisfied wi.h their results from brushing, because they have not really made accurate observations of the tick mortality resulting from their operations. 



.*! ."ARVATION METHOD. This is a sure and inexpensive me'hod, but can only be applied by the owner ot a large herd who has a 

 permanent pasture and two or three other fenced fields which have not been pastured by cattle for a year or so. It consists in keeping ihe cattle 

 o.'; the infested pasture for a period of twelve months or more, until the young ticks are starved out. The cattle are taken from the tick-infested pasture 

 i>id placed on tick-free land ; before young ticks hatch from the eggs laid in this first tick-free field by the female ticks on the cattle «hcn mo.ed 

 !rom the tick-infested pasture, the cattle are moved a seccnd time on to another tick-free field, 



G" ASS BURNING. If burning is done at the right lime, it cannol fail to kill immense numbers of the young " seed " ticks ; but it is the c.)niin.)n 

 experience that " burnt " pastures very quickly again become heavily ilck-infesled. This is due to the fact that the tick-e;];',s on the ground are not dts- 

 iro, ed. and no doubt many female licks escape the effects ol the hre by hiding in cracks and crevices, or under stones, or logs of wood, etc. Grass- 

 burninL'. e\cn when carried out at the proper time, will rot completely eradicate ticks, it will only reduce their numbers, and that only temporarily. 



HAND SPRAYING. Spra' ing by means of one or other of the many types of hand-pumps or syringes is, if very carefully and ihorojghly dime, 

 i very cfftctivc melhod of treating tick-infested cattle : but it is slow, unpleasant work, and, moreover, very wasteful of the wash. 1 he cllic:e.n.y ol 

 hand spraying mav be said to be in direct proportion to the care and thoroughness with which the operation is conduclcJ ; for this reason, i< shuuld 

 r.ever be entrusted to natives or negroes without effective supervision. ( 



MACHINE SPRAYING. The principle of machine spraying is the passing of the animals through a short tunnel, lined with piping, through holes 

 c^r jcis in which, a lick-destroying fluid is sprayed at them from ihe floor and from all possible angles by means of a pump. There can be no 'it u 't 

 that, next to dipping, machine spraying is by far the best method of treating tick-infested stock ; but it is not by this means absolutely certain 'ii it .-.M 

 ticks will be destroyed, as, however ingenious the arrangement by which the wash is sprayed from "all points of the compass," licks deep dovn Tn 

 'he ears, or under the tail, or in the " brush " ol the tail may not be reached. But where expense, or some other obst.irle. precludes the emiljy- 

 nienl of a dipping bath, a spraying machine is by a long way the most efficient substitule. The machine raanufacturcd by V.^illiam Cooper Ck Ncplicws 

 is the latest and cheapest form of Spraying Machine. * / 



DIPPING. The only really completely effective method of treating licky cattle, horses, &c., is to pass thera through a swim clipping bath ; the procis- is 

 .'ibsolulely automatic ; it is Quick ; it is economical ; it is absolutely efficient, as, at the first plunge at the entrance, or during the process of swimming 

 through the lank, every single tick is I roughl into contact with the tick-destroying fluid, even il deep down in the cars, or under the eyes, or l.ir(..-.ith 

 the root of the tail. Dipping is very economical ol wash, as. with a proper draining floor or pen, every drop of surplus wash flows back into ilic i».nk 

 and if used again. The first-cost of a lank is comparatively high, but its low cost of operation, its simplicity, its efficiency, and its perm.incncy, mere han 

 compeniate for the extra initial expenditure. The great advantage of dipping over spraying or hand-dressing lies in the fact that the ihroroughni-s of 

 the treatment under all conditions is practically assured, as il is not dependent, to any degree, on the care exercised by those in chargeol the wink ; 

 the cattle dip themselve!. No other method can approach dipping in efficiency, and in this connection it should be remembered that, even il. by 

 some other method, you kill 75% of the licks, great and small, on your animaU, you are only " suppressing " the ticks, and are still lar Irom solving 

 the problem of complete eradication. A method iliac will 1 i'l IOn"o of the licks is worth to a Cattle owner ten limes i>s much as a method Uit 

 will kill only 90%. The truth ol this will be apparent after two ye.irs ol laiUiiul and systematic opcralions. With dipping, the cflicieni treatment 

 of iick-inlesicd Cattle becomes a verv l imob- nmiiAr u nA rf^mrj^t* i.^^raft.£^i^«»%__U* *.^».*- . ■ 'i 1 «■• 



COOPERS CATTLE TICK DIP WE ST INDIAN AGENTS. 



« ■ j.i */- • I ; . .J— /-».-•■- C l-luj #t. KITT» : *. L. Hor»«ord a Co. ANTIQUA : Bennett, Br. »~ • **• 



mm ne^vJ th, ofriaal approval ot th, foUounnt C I.JJJ» "• ■■»»^> j^^^^.^ . „ Henderson &. Co., Klnf.Mon. 



IWoD of South Africa Northern Kbodesia, Braill, BaiutoUU. n KliN ADA: Thomson, tlonkey & Co. 



■JkRBAIXt.^t linrhadOS Co-operative Cotton Co.. Ltd. 



N»««»Iiid. Swailliid. Soulhern Kbo<eilt, MtdiiitMr, Bahamas: W. N. Twynam, N«.i»«u. 



.ritUh E»M A.,U., Oerntao E.M Africa. Por.ugoe« E«. A.rt«. S^It^Th^'^^.^n";^ !s'.";b"V'p«ke'r*r^o-. 



^■rtytttesc We»l Africa, Ervpt. Arjenllne Republic, Qaccniaai, rt. VINCENT: Corea & Co., Klngstowa. nbvis: *. O. Maloa* 



* , ,^ . .t u/-l~ DANISM WI:ST IISDIES: A. -SchmleceUw. St. Croix. 



Uollcd Stales of America. >ew SOylB waiea, UONT5EKRAT: W. I.lewellyo Wall. UOMINICA: Hon. H. A. Pra»l)««fc 



Vorthtrn Territory ol A.MralU. -ST. LUCIA: Barnard 5on. A C.., Castrlea. 



Mwufaclurers : WILLIAM COOPER & NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



l^■A^J;ti T.,..tc, CL-hco- Syd*ty, Bettoan.. kadiiui. Bi«a.. Air». Moat. Video, hBil.Ar.aa., Easl Loa4«. Qimm. 



