THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Various Methods 



Tick Destruction 



t .^ 



In the compilation of thete notes, reference has been made to many aourcet of information, but particularly la oa 

 article wliich appeared in the " Bulletin of the Jamaica Department of Agriculture,^^ Vol, I , Number 3, from cattce ti'.. 



which much of the following matter is quoted, almost textually. .-tm^,,t , 



HAND PICKING. This is a primitive meitiod and absolutely ineffective, on a large properly, for keeping down ticks. Only the engorged (emilrs 

 < ffer themselves as objects for removal by the 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 tail to be destroyed by the fingers or heel of the picker, and the result is that a great many more tick* , 

 survive than are picked off the bodies of the cattle. 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 three pan* ; 

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

 asphyxiated tjirough a blockii^ of the pores of the skin. This tar remedy, however, or variations of it containing sour orange juice, carbolic acid, 

 kerosene oil and other fearsome relnedies, are still widely used in Jamaica. A boy with the paint pot daubs a smear of the tick-dressing only 

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

 on the surface of every anjmal must be reached by the tick destroying agent. While a few score of engorged ticks 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 kiHed, and not merely 60 or 70 per cent., tbe complete eradication of the licks is out of the question. 

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



BRUSHING. Brushing with a tick-destroying wash represents a fairly efficient means of treating tick-infested cattle, but is attended wi'h 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 licks 

 unless used at a strength that is very liable to strip the skin of the cows under treatment ; in no case do they give a high efficiency of tick-destruciion. 

 It IS perfectly certain that brushing is not a good method, and will not solve the tick problem so as completely to abolish ticks on a properly, 

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



STARVATION METHOD- This is a sure and inexpensive method, but can only be applied by the owner of a large herd who has a 

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

 oil 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 

 and placed on tick-free land ; before young licks hatch from the eggs laid in this first lick-free field by the female ticks on lb« cill'e when moved 

 Irom the lick-infested pasture, the cattle are moved a second time on to another tick-free field, 



^GR ASS BURNING. If burning is done at ihe right lime, it cannot fail to kill immense numbers of the young " seed " licks ; but it is the common 



experience that " burnt " pastures very quickly again become heavily tick-infested. This is due to the fact thai the lick-eggs on the giuund are not de»- 



i troyed, and no doubt many female ticks escape the effects of the fire by hiding in cracks and crevices, or under stones, or logs of wood, etc. Grass- 



J burning, even when carried out at the proper time, will not completely eradicate licks, it will only reduce their numbers, and that only temporarily. 



iHAND SPRAYING. Spraying by means of one or other of the many types of hand-pumps or syringes is, if very carefully and ihoroMhly done, 

 a very effective method of treating tick-infested catlle : but it is slow, unpleasant work, and, moreo\er, very wasteful of the >\asli. T!;e cTficiencv of ■ 

 hand spraying may be said to be in direct proportion to the care and thoroughness with which the operation is conducted ; for this reason, it should 

 never be entrusted to natives or negroes without effective supervision. < 



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

 or jets in which, a tick-destroying fluid is sprayed at them from the floor and Irom all possible angle* by means of a pump. There cin be no dou iX 

 that, next to dipping, machine spraying is by far the best method of treating tick-infested stock ; but it is not by this means absolulcl^' cc.iain thai nil 

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

 the ears, or under the tail, or in the " brush " of the tail mr.y not be reached. But where expense, or some other obstacle, precludes the employ- 

 ment of. a dipping bath, a spraying machine is by a long way ihe most efficient substitute. The machine manufaclured by William Cooper 8e iNephew* 

 is the latest and cheapest form of Spraying Machine. < 



DIPPING. The only really completely effective method of treating ticky catlle, horses, Sec, is to pass them through aswim dipping bath ; the process is 

 ! absolutely 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 tank, every single tick is brought into contact with the tick-destroying fluirf, even if deep down in the ears, or under the eyes, or beneath 

 ihe root of the tail. Dipping is very economical of wash, as. with a proper draining floor or pen, every drop of surplus wash flows back into the tank 

 and is used again. The first-cost of a tank is comparatively high, but its low cost of operation, its simplicity, its efficiency, and its permanency, more than 

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

 ihe treatment under all conditions is practically assured, as it is not dependent, to any degree, on the care exercised by those in ch.irgeof the «ork ; 

 the cattle dip themselves. No other method can approach dipping in efficiency, and in this connection it should be remembcreLl that, even if, by 

 some other method, you kill 75°'o of the licks, great and small, on your animals, you are only " suppressing " the ticks, and arc still far Irom solving 

 the problem of complete eradication. A method thai will kill 100% of the licks is worth to ,i Cattle owner ten limes as much as a me'hod thai 

 will kill only 9(y/o. The truth of this will be apparent after two years of faithful and systematic operations. With dipping, the cAicienl Ireatmenl 

 of lick-infested Cattle becomes a verv simnlc fnati,»r' and cmarA^*^ tirlr *raj;/-af.'.«, Ka/'^,^^* ■, ,— — :l;l,« 



COOPER'S CATTLE TICK DIP WEST INDIAN AGENTS ; 



Ha, received the official approval of the following Countries: ST. KITT5 : ^^l^^;!-^^,^,^^^^: ^-'.Ttoa.''" '"" * *'" 



Union Of South Africa, Northern Rbedesla, Brazil, Basutolaad, ukhnada: Thom.wn, Hanke> & Co. 



Nyasaland. Swaziland. Sonth.rn Rhode.la. Madagascar. ^^'^''^IJ^f.^^^xI'^^t NrT^rnl':^ Nra"u.'"- '■*'• 



f rltish East Africa. German East Africa, Portuguese East Africa. l^^il'^l^^'liJikSX^V^IS^^u:'^::.^:^. 



Portuguese West Africa, Egypt, Argentine Repablic, Queensland, sT. VINCliNT: Corci & Co., Kinitsfown. ni:\ is: 5, d. Milone, 



, . M c «k w I OANI*iH W'l-sr INDIB5: A. .•^chmleKcIow. St. Croix. 



United States of America, New ^oulll waies. montserraT: w.iltcwciiynWuii. dominica; Hon.H. A.irampton. 



Northern Territory of Anstralla. *T. llcia: BarnarJ Suns & Co., Cusirk-.. 



Manufacturers : WILLIAM COOPER & NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



BRANCHES : Toreito. Ckicago, S}i-j, Melkwrat, Aocklaad, Butaoi Aire.. Moote Video, PunU AreM., Ea.t London, Odesu. 



