THK ACKKTLTURAL NEWS. 



How Ticks 

 jce the Milk Yield 



An Important Matter for Owners of Dairy Herds 



CATTLE TICK 



TT/ic following information is taken from Farmers {Bulletin, No. 639, issued officially by the 'Department of Agriculture of the I. 



tual amount of harm which ticks do to cattle is no longer a matter of mere conjecture. But the need of definite knowledge on this subject 

 i ' ■■• Dc| ailment to conduct some experiments on the effect of the tick on milk production and on the body weights of dairy cattle. 



RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS 



Forty cows were divided into 2 lots of 20, each of which was producing practically the same amount of milk, and was given the s:'.mc feed and 

 c: re for J ol 152 days, during the season most favourable to the development of ticks. 



ie of the lots in each experiment was allowed to become infested with ticks, while another was kept free from ihem m by spraying 



I in ci her by dipping. 



The main results of the experiment were as follows : 



1. Cows carrying ticks did not hold up so well i» milk flow as cows kept free from ticks, and did ncjt increase their flow of milk wljen the 

 feed was increased, as did the tick-free cows. 



2 At the close of the experiment the cows lightly infested with ticks were producing 18' r .-r less milk than the cows kept free from ticks, 

 practically 1' pints less per cow per day. 



3. \t the end of the experiments the cows heavily infested with ticks were producing 42.4' % less milk than the lick free cows, or nearly 



one-hiif gallon less per head per day. 



4. During the experiment period of one of the tests, which included 20 cows, the heavily infested cows lost an average of 9.3 pounds in 



weight, while the tick free cows gained an average of 44.2 pounds, although both were fed alike. 



THE COST OF FEEDING TICKS 



If a pen keeper or dairyman with 20 cows, each producing 8 quarts of milk a day, should let them become lightly infested with ticks, the milk 

 production would be decreased to the extent of If quarts a day for each cow. 



At as low an estimate of 20 cents, a gallon or 5 cents, a quart, this would amount to 7\ cents, or $ 1.50 for the entire herd of 20 cows each day. 



If the tick infestation were heavy the reduction in the milk yield would be 3.5 quarts a day for each cow, equal to 17 cents, in milk values. 



This would amount to * 3.40 a day for the herd of 20 cows. 



The following is an actual experience of a dairyman in a very heavily tick infested territory, which strikingly illustrates how heavy is the 

 cost of feeding ticks. 



Late in the season when his cows were covered with ticks, the cattle were dipped and the ticks killed. One week after dipping the 42 cows 

 in his herd gave 10 gallons of milk more than before dipping. This was an increase of 16.6 and as the milk was bringing 35 cents, a 

 gallon the extra 10 gallons were worth $ 3.50. Hence, as a result of being freed from ticks by dipping, the same 42 cows, on the same feed, 

 produced extra milk sufficient to increase the dairyman's profits by ■f3.50 per day, or $1277.50 per annum. 



IT COSTS MORE TO FEED TICKS THAN TO KILL THEM 



If pen keepers and estate owners will work together the ticks can be eradicated. Complete eradication, and not merely suppresiion, should be 

 the aim of every Owner of Cattle. The dipping tank, or spraying machine, makes the work easy, effective and practical. 



COOPERS CATTLE TICK DIP WEST INDIAN AGENTS : 



u ■ j .l rt- ■ i . i c ,L t~H ,:_„ r »_•— . ST. KITTS : S. L. Horsford & Co. ANTIOl A : Dennett. Rryson & Co. 



Hat receded the official approval of the following Countnet: JAMAICA: D. Henuer-on o* Co., Kingston. 



Union of South Africa. Northern Rhodesia, Brazil. Basutolnnd, urknada: Thomson. Hankc, ,* Co 



BARBADOS: Barbados Co-operuti» e totton \.o., Ltd. 

 Nyasaland. Swaziland, Southern Rhodesia. Madagascar, TRINIDAD : T. derides Qrant. Port ol Spain. 



British East Africa, German East Africa, Portuguese East Africa, British ouiana: sandbach. Parker d Co. 



... ' r ., „ .... n . i a ST. VINCENT: Corea & Co., Kingstown. Ml\ IS : 3. t). Malone. 



Portuguese West Africa, Egypt, Argentine Republic, Queensland, DANISH WEST indikS: Carl v. i.a Beet. St. Thomas. 



United States of America, Northern Territory of Australia. MONTSERRAT: w. Llewellyn Wall. DOMINICA: Hon. H. A. Framrton 



Manufacturers : WILLIAM COOPER & NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



BRANCHES : I orooto, Chicago, Sydney, Melbourne, Aucklud, Buenos Airet, Monte Video, Punta Arenas, East London, Odessa. 



