IHE AGHIfL'LTtTKAL NK\V>.. 



What it Costs a Country 

 TO Keep Ticks 



THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES 



eATTLB TIOM 



Brtraet jrom U.S. Dcpi. of Agric-.thure, Bulltiin No. 261. " The Catite Tick 



in Us Rdiithvi I0 Southern Agriculture." by AUGUST Mayer : — 



" What it costs the Southern States to harbor the cattle tick is not 

 easily calculated, but from observation and experience we can estimate 

 this loss with some assurance of approximating the truth. 



BEEF CATTLE. " Below the quarantine line we have something 



• jver 15,000,000 cattle, the total farm value of which is given by the last 

 census as nearly $183,000,000. The cl.iiry cattle are credited with a value 



• rf about $58,650,000, and the other cattle with over $:i24,ooo,oc'0. From 

 ihservation and experience I estimate that a shrinkage in value of 202 in 

 attle, other than dairy cattle, is due to the effects of the cattle tick. In 

 'Hind numbers this would mean a loss cf $25,000,000 for beef cattle." 



DAIRY CATTLE. " In the case of dairy cattle, considerable damage 

 ^ e.xperienced because of the extra feed required, and the shrinkage in the 

 How of milk caused by tick infestation. It is believed that an estimate erf 

 55; of the total value of the dain- cattle is not overcharging the tick. This 

 means an annual loss of nearly' jt3,000,000 for dairy cattle. The total 

 depreciation then of southern cattle, on account of the tick, would be 

 $28,000,000." 



HIGHER DEATH RATE. " The average death rate among cattle in 

 the tick-infested area for the year 1904-5 was about 8.33s ; in the tick-free 

 area it was about 3.12^. The total number of cattle that died in the tick- 

 infested area during the year ended March 31st, 1905, was .about i,;!5o,ooo. 

 The average farm value of these soi:them cattle may be put at $12, 

 according to the Bureau of Statistics ; therefore the total annual loss from 

 Jeath in the tick-affected States amounted to $15,000,000. The average 



leath rate in the quarantined States being nearly three times as gre.at as 

 iiat in the tick-free States, it is not unfair to assume that two-thirds of 



lii< loss by death is directly attributable to the tick, that is $10,000,000." 



DECREASED FECDNDITY. •' There is a further loss to be recorded 

 ■igainet the tick in the reduction of the fecundity of the female cattle, and 

 \perhaps also in the greater proneness of tick-infested cattle to diseases or 

 abnormal conditions of the reproductive organs." 



EXCEPTIONAL EXPENDITtrBE. "There is also chargeable to the 

 tick the greater expense of providing pasturage or extra feed for the 

 cattle during heavy infestation, for dips and other preventive measures, 

 and for extra care and eirtra supervisioa It is deemed a conservative 

 ^imate to place the annual loss under this and the previous head at 

 SS.SOO.OOO." 



STUNTING OF QKOWTH. " There is another material charge to 

 ■e entered against the tick. With tick infestation at babyhood, there is 

 very little chance to bring cattle to early maturity. The stunting which 

 ttajr usually receive obliges us to carrj- them until they are three or more 

 y«n cM. That means two years of extra feed and care, and capital tied 

 op Muiecessarily by adverse coaditieBS. It costs easily from $5 to $10 per 

 jmt to provide and care for a cow ; and to keep our 12,000,000 beef cattle 

 a year or two longer means, accordingly, an extra outlay of at least 

 |M,000,000." 



- It is »«fy eaaly seen that the annual loss sustained by the Southern 

 fltetcs to-dliy BHt araouat yearly to an enonnous sum— $100,000,000 

 %ciDg iiaffiied in the Year Book of the Deputecnt of Agricultiu^e for 1904." 



COOPER'S CATTLE TICK DIP 



Has received the official approval of the follov»ing Countries : 



Union of South Africa, Northern Rhudesia, Brazil, Basutoland, 



Nyasaland, Swaziland, Southern Rhodesia, Madagascar, 



British Fatt Africa, Gern-rn last Africa, Portcguefe Fast Africa, 



Portuguese West Africa Egypt, Argentine Republic, Ci-'censland, 



United States of America, New South Wa!es, 



Northern Territory of Australia. 



Extract from U.S. Deft, q/ .Agriculture, Bulletin jS, on "Texas Ferver," by 



Dr John R. Mohler, \'..\I.U., Clmfof the PalhologUal Division, Bureau 0/ 



Auiuial Industry: — 



DECREASED MARKET VALUE. "Animals coming from tick- 

 mfected districts bpiii.:; .111 average of one-fourth to one-half a cent less 

 per pound than the qnoled market |irice. The handicap that is placed on 

 the -outlicrn cattle miser .as a lesult ol this decrease in value of his stock 

 will average at the former ligiire at least $1.50 per head, allowing an 

 individual weight of 600 pounds for all classes of animals ; so that the' loss 

 on the estimated 705.000 southern cattle marketed yearly under these con- 

 ditions will sum up at a loss of Jl, 057. 500 per annum^ It will be found 

 that this decreased value reacts and lixes the valuation of all cattle which 

 remain in the infected territorj', thereby reducing the assets of the cattle 

 industry of that section by tfiis ratio per he.ad for the four and a half 

 millions of cattle east of the Mississippi River, and the eleven millions of 

 cattle west of the Mississippi River; or, altogether, the enormous 

 shrinkage in value of $23,250,000 directly chargeable to the cattle tick." 



LOWER MILK YIELD. "The shrinkage of the milk production of _ 

 cattle harboring many ticks will average i quart per day, and the loss ' 

 occasioned thereby at 3 cents per quart for the 875,000 tickv dairy cattle 

 out of more than 4,000,000 dairy cattle below the quarantine line, would 

 amount to $26,250 per day, or counting three hundred milking days for 

 each cow to the year. $7,875,000 per annum." 



LOSS OF IMPORTED STOCK. "The damage resulting to the 

 southern purchaser of northern pure bred or high-grade cattle is another 

 item of no small moment. About 10% of all such cattle taken South die 

 of Texas Fever, even after they are immunized by blood inoculations, and 

 about 60s of these cattle succumb to Texas Fever when not so treated. 

 Of the approximate 4,600 of such cattle brought South each year, at least 

 460 die of Texas Fever. The loss entailed would naturally depend on the 

 value of each animal, and since the prices paid for such well-bred cattle 

 range from $100 to $1,000 or even more, it can readily be conceived th.it 

 the yearly loss from this item alone varies from $46,000 upward " 



Extract from a Paper read by DR. F. Bahnsen. Chief Veterinarian of lit 



State of Georgia, at the J0T5 .\iimial Mectivg of the United States Live Stock 



SaKttary Association ;— 



LOSS OF MILK. 



and every year not less tli: 

 ticks will give anywhere t 

 one that is not infectcrd 

 will not recover their n 

 lactation. That item ilse 

 exceediag $15 a head on 

 excess af $75,000,000.' 



■ Tick infestation costs the Southern States each 

 n $150,000,000. Every milk cow infested with 

 roni a quart to as much as a gallon less milk than 

 with ticks. If they are infested with ticks they 

 ormal milk flow again until the next period of 

 If (and let us place it conservatively at a loss not 

 each and every milk cow) will make an item in 



LOSS OF CONDITION. "When your cattle get infested with ticks 

 they get poor. They gt t thin in flesh and you have to sell them for less 

 money. It is a certainty that the difference' in value between a poor com, 

 infested with the tick ,ind the value of the cow if she were not tkk- 

 iafested is conservatively, even with our scrub cows, $5 a head, and on 

 that basis we lose not less than $45,000,000 or $50,000,000 on that 

 one item." 



Ltil. 



WEST INDIAN AGENTS ; 



ST. KirrS; S. L. Horsford & C. 



.\NTIGI'A : Bennett. Brvson it Co 



JAMAICA : 1>. Hender.son .t Co.. KinL'ston 



UREX ADA : Thomson, Hankey & Co 



BARBADr)S : BailiiMlos Co-oi)erative Cotton Co 



BAHAMA.-^ : W. N. T«Tnam, Niissau. " 



TRINIDAD ; r. Gedde.s (iraiit. Port-of-Spain 



BRITISH (illANA : Sandhacli, Parker* Co 



ST. VINCKNT : Corea A C..., Kingstown 



NKVIS : S. D. MaL.ne. 



I MTED.ST.Vl'KS \\K.ST INDIES: A..^chmie2elow.St,.Cr..k. 



MONT.SKHKAT: W. Llewollyn Wall. 



•n T*?^^'^'^*^-^ ■ H"ii- H. A. Fiampton. 

 ><l. H CFA : Barnard Snns A Co.. Ca.strieK. 



Manufacturers: WILLIAM COOPER& NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



BRANCHES : TcrontD, Chicago, Sydney, Melbonrne, Auckland. Bienos Aires, Monie Video, Punta Arenas, East London, Odessa. 



