BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



101 



INSPECTIONS OF ANIMALS FOR INDIAN AGENCIES. 



In cooperation Avith the Office of Indian Affairs of the Department 

 of the Interior, 257 horses and mules were inspected, of which 219 

 were passed for allotment to the several Indian agencies; likewise 

 30 cattle were inspected and passed. 



TICK ERADICATION DIVISION. 



R. A. Ramsay, Chief. 



ERADICATION OF SOUTHERN CATTLE TICKS. 



As the result of the work done in cooperation with the authorities 

 of the various Southern States for the extermination of the cattle 

 tick, areas aggregating 40,111 square miles were released from quar- 

 antine during the fiscal year. The work is also far advanced in a 

 large additional territory. The total area released since the begin- 

 ning of this work in 1906 amounts to 312,012 square miles, which 

 is 43 per cent of the originally infected area. This amounts to a 

 territory greater than the combined areas of Florida, Georgia, Ala- 

 bama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Xorth Carolina. The areas re- 

 leased during the year and the total to date are shown in the follow- 

 ing table: 



Areas released from quarantine as a result of erndicating enttle ticks. 



State. 



Alabama . . . 

 Arkansas... 

 California . . 



Florida 



Georgia 



Kentucky.. 

 Louisiana.. 

 Mississippi . 

 Missouri.... 



Square 

 miles re- 

 leased dur- 

 ing fiscal 

 year 1917. 



12, 195 



3,364 



720 



4,815 

 '5,'879 



Total 



square 

 miles re- 

 leased from 

 beginning 

 of work to 

 June 30, 

 1917. 



21,502 

 18, 208 

 79,924 



3,800 



16, 563 



841 



1,702 

 31,004 



1,386 



State. 



North Carolina. 



Oklahoma 



South Carolina . 



Tennessee 



Texas 



Virginia 



Total. 



Square 

 miles re- 

 leased dur- 

 ing fiscal 

 year 1917. 



1,598 

 2,307 

 3,809 



5,424 



Total 



square 

 miles re- 

 leased from 

 beginning 

 of work to 

 June 30, 

 1917. 



40, 111 



26,612 

 22, 273 

 21,876- 

 16,987 

 37, 132 

 12, 142 



312,012 



During the year 24,390,721 inspections or dippings were made of 

 cattle for the eradication of ticks, as against 16,281,185 in the preced- 

 ing year. There were in operation 23,491 cattle-dipping vats, where 

 cattle were dipped under Federal or State supervision to rid them of 

 ticks. 



In addition to a large number of inspections made and dippings 

 supervised, a great deal of advance work pertaining to the construc- 

 tion of dipping vats and preparing counties and localities for taking 

 up tick eradication in the near future was conducted by bureau em- 

 ployees in an effort to get proper organization in such localities. 

 Cattle owners in the tick-infested region as a result of this prelimi- 

 nary work are realizing more and more the importance of tick eradi- 

 cation and the benefits to be derived from it both locally and 



