THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



The Inefficiency of 



Carbolic Fluids as 

 Tick Destroyers 



CATTLE TICK 



A* CeilKllie or CmI Tar Fluid PreparaHont are largely used in the West Indies and Central America for treating tick-infested catUe, 



It IS desirable that it should be known that such preparations possess only a very low degree of tick-killing power. 

 When Professor Newstead paid a special visit to Jamaica to investigate the Tick Problem, the efficiency of a number of the more 



popular of these Carbolic Fluids was carefully tested, with the result that 



the number of ticks killed was never more than 65 and in some cases as low as S% 



The foOowiag reference to the Jamaica tests referred to above is taken 

 from a Paper by the Hon. H. H. Cousins, M.A., F.C.S., Director of 

 Agricnltitre in Jamaica, entitled " Practical Measures for ttie Prevention 

 of Tidis in Jamaica ": — 



" Professor Newstead, and the Jamaica DeparlmenI of Agri- 

 " culture, carefully tested the efficacy of all the dip washes offered 

 " for sale in Jamaica, and it was found that the bulk of these 

 "remedies were Carbolic or Coal-Tar Emulsions. 



" We found, however, that these preparations had not a high 

 " standard of ' Wetting Power," and tended to ' bead off ' the 

 " ticks on the skin of the animal, much as plain water beads off 

 " a duck's back. 



" Again, we found that none of these preparations would 

 "kill ticks unless used at a strength that was very liable 

 "to strip the skin of the cows under treatment, and in 

 " no case diJ we obtain a high efficiency of tick 

 "destruction." 



These statements have been confirmed by many investigators in 

 d.fferent Countries, as will be seen, for example, from the following 

 extract from United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 144, in 

 "hich are given full particulars of a large number of tests, the result of 

 ^^hich was to show that arsenical preparations alone are really 

 efficient and satisfactory tick-destroyers :^ 



" Ever since the fact that the lick is the agent of transmission 

 " of Texas Fever was established, investigalions have been carried 

 " on for the purpose of discovermg some substance which, when 

 "applied externtl'v lo ihe bodies of tick-infested cattle, would free 

 " them from licks without injury to the animals themselves. Several 

 "remedies which give good results in ihe case of such external 

 ■' parasites as mange mites and lice are of little or no use in the case 

 "of ticks. For example. Lime & Sulphur, tobacco, and carbolic 

 "or coal tar dips have been found to have no practical 

 "value in (he destruction of ticks." 



The same conclusion was arriied at as the result of similar tests 

 carried out at the Central Agricultural Station in Cuba. The following 

 is a quotation from Uulleiin 8, entitled " Texas Fever and The Cattle 

 Tick : •— 



" Cattle Ticks upon animals are very difficult to destroy, but 

 "we have been making a careful search for some cheap and 

 "efficient remedy for them. 



" Creoline "and other carbolic and coal-tar products 

 " were tried, mixed with water, and also with alcohol, in 2, 3, 4, 

 '* and 5 per cent, solutions. 



"The stronger applications will kill some ticks, but 

 "not enough to warrant their use, as the skin of the 

 ** animals is irritated by them." 



The continued use in the West Indies of ineffective Carbolic Prepar- 

 ations for the deslrucllon of ticks is no doubt due to the fact that most 

 Owners of Cattle look upon ticks as a pest that will always exist whatever 

 is done, and regard the struggle against them as a hopeless, never-ending 

 one. They are consequently more or less satisfied so long as the number 

 of ticks on their cattle is kept within reasonable bounds, and are reconciled 

 to the belief that, so long as they have cattle, so long will they have to 

 keep on treating them at intervals for ticks. They do not realize that it is 

 perfectly possible to eradicate ticks completely from a property 

 within a period of two or three years. 



To get rid of ticks completely, once for all, it is only necessary to 

 treat the cattle regularly with some properly prepared arsenical prepar- 

 ation, for it is now generally recognised that arsenical fluids alone can 

 be relied on to kill every tick with which they come into contact. 



To employ a Carbolic preparation which will not kill more than 

 60% of the Ticks is merely trifling with the Tick Problem, for the 

 multiplication of ticks takes place with amazing rapidity. One single 

 adult female tick has been known to lay 5,CK30 eggs. But if we tdce 

 2,500 as the average number, and assuming that all these 2,500 eggs 

 matured, and that one half were females, the following figures show ihie 

 number of ticks that might be produced in one year by a single tick: — 



1st Generation ... 2,500 



2nd Generation 3,125,000 



3rd Generation 3,906,250,000 



4th Generation 4,882,812,500,000 



5th Generation ... 6,103,515,625,000,000 



Total progeny from 1 tick in 1 year ... 6,108,402,346,877300 



Tbetc ficare* shew the importance of osiog Prepu-atioDs wkidi will kill vrtrj tioslc tick. 



Even the most effective Carbolic Preparations never kill more than 

 65 /o of the ticks, and the use of suth incflicicnl fluids can only result, at 

 the most, in keeping the ticks in check ; whereas if an arsenical prepar- 

 ation, such as Cooper's Cattle Tick Dip, be regularly and carefully med, 

 complete eradication is possible within a few years. 



COOPER S CATTLE TICK DIP 

 Hai received the official approval of the following Countries: 

 Union of South Africa. Northern kbodesia, Brazil. Oa.sutoland, 



Nyasaland, Swaziland, Southern Rhodesia, Aladai;a$car, 



British East Africa, German Eat^t Africa, Portuguese East Africa, 



Portuguese West Africa, Egypt, Arccnline Republic, Queensland, 



United States of America, New South Wales, 



Northern Territory of Australia. 



WEST INDIAN AGENTS 



ST. KITT5 : 5. L. Hor.<iford & Co. ANTIQUA : Bennett, Brysoo & Co. 



JAMAICA: D. Hender.ton & Co., Klne.iton. 



(iRf^NADA: Thomson. Hankev & Co. 



BARBAno5: Barbados Co-operative Cotton Co., Ltd. 



BAH A.MAS: \V. N. Twynam, Na.s.'uiu. 



TRINIDAD: T. Geddes Qrant. Port of Spain. 



BRITISH aUIANA: Sandbach, Parker & Co. 



ST. VINCRNT: Cores & Co., Kingstown. NKViS: S. D. Alalone. 



DANISH WEST INDIES: A. .•^chmlecelow, St. Croljt. 



MONTSERRAT: W. Llewetlyn Wall. DU.MINICA: Hon. H. A.Framntoo. 



ST. LtCIA: Barnard Sons & Co., Castries. 



Manufacturers : WILLIAM COOPER & NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



BRANCHES : ToroDto,' CLiccgo, Syitty, Mclbourac, Aucklaad, Cgcaoi Aim, Moott Video, Punts Areou, East Loodon, Odessa. 



