THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



The Inefficiency of 

 Carbolic Fluids 



as 



Tick Destroyers 



CATTLC TICK 



Am GaiIioBc or Goal Tar FInid Preparations are largely used in the West Indies and Central America for treating tick-infested cattle, 

 it is doaii^ble that it should be known that such preparations possess only a very low degree of tick-killing power. 



Wb«i Profeaaor Newstead paid a special visit to Jamaica to investigate the Tick Problem, the efficiency of a number of the mora 



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 foDowing reference to the lamaica tests referred to above is taken 

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

 Agricuknre in jamairn. entitled '* Practical Measures for the Prevention 

 of Ticks in Jamaica "; — 



" Professor Newstead, and the Jamaica Department of Agrl- 

 " culture, carefully tested the efficacy of all (he 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 

 " licks 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 treitment, and in 

 "no case di J we obtain a High efliciency of tick 

 "destruction." 



These statements have been confirmed by many investigators in 

 different Countries, as will be seen, for example, from the followmg 

 extract from United State'> Department of Agricuhure Bulletin 144, in 

 which <ire given full particulars of a large number of tests, the result of 

 which was to sho.v that arsenical preparations alone are really 

 efficient and salisfactor> tick-destroyers: — 



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

 " of Texas Fever was established, tnvcsiigaiions have been carried 

 " on for the parpciae of discovering some substance which, when 

 "applied externti'y to the bodies of tick-infested cattle, would free 

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

 " remedies uh ch give good results in the case of such external 

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

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

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

 " value in the destruction of ticks.'* 



The same conclusion was arrived at as the result of similar lestt 

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

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

 Tick:"— 



" Catlle Ticks upon animals are very difficult lo destroy, but 

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

 "efficient remedy for them. 



*' Creoline and other carbolic and coat-tar products 

 ** were tried, mixed with vvaler, 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 des'.ruclion of ticks is no doubt due to the fact that mosl; 

 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 

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

 keep on treating them at intervals for licks. They do not realuc lii.., 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 (o 

 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 licks lakes place with amazing rapidity. One single 

 adult female tick has been known lo lay 5,000 eggs. But if we take 

 2,500 as the average number, and assuming that all these 2.500 eggs 

 matured, and that one halt were females, the following figures show tbe 

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



Isl 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 lick in 1 year ... 6,108,402,346,877,500 



These figure* shew the importaDcc of uiing Prepwations which will kill every single tick. 



Even the most effective Carbolic Preparations never kill more than 

 65/p of ihe licks, and the use of such inefficient fluids can only result, at 

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

 ation, such as Cooper's Callle Tick Dip, be regularly and carefully used, 

 complete eradication is possible within a few years. '~ 



CO >PER'S CATTLE TICK DIP 

 Hat received tbe official approval of the following Cout\triet: 



Union ol b-oulh Africa, Northern Rhodesia, Brazil, Basutolaad, 



Nya^aland. Swaziland, Soulhern Rhodesia. Madagascar, 



Brltisb East Africa, German East Africa, ' Portuguese East Africa, 



Portuguese West Africa, Egypt, Argentine Republic, Queensland, 



United Stales ol America, New South Wales, 



Northern Territory of Australia. 



WEST INDIAN AGENTS : 



5T, KITTS : 5. L. Horstord & Co. ANTtOlJA : Bennett. Br ."on * Co. 



JAMAICA: D. Henderson & Co., Kintr.ston. 



OKKNADA: Thomson, Hankev & Co. 



BARBAIKKS: Barbados Co-orei ative Cotton Co.. Ltd. 



BAHA.VIAS: W. N. Twynam, Nas.iau. 



TRINID.^D: T. Geddes Oront. Port of Spain. 



BRITISH OUIANA: Sandbach, Parker & Co. 



ST. VINCENT: Corea & Co., Kingstown. NEVIS: S. D. Malone. 



DANISH WEST INDIES: A. Schmlegelow, St. Croix. 



MONTSERRAT: \V. Llewellyn Wall. DOMINICA: Hon. H. A. r-ramrton. 



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



Manufacturers : WILLIAM COOPER & NEPHEWS, Berkhamsted, England. 



BRANCHES : Toreito, Chicajo. Sydaey, Melk»iniB, AncUud, Bueaos Aiiei, Monte Video, Ponta Arenas, Eatt London, Odesu^ 



