240 



owner in Alabaniii would voluntarily (or by compul- 

 sion) fi^ht for the extermination of the tick it mi«;ht be 

 accomplished in two years. But extermination would 

 now be next to impossible in the free-range counties of 

 Alabama. It could be much more easily accomplished 

 in stock law counties where the cattle are not per- 

 mitted to run at large during the entire year. Every 

 cattle owner being required to keep his cattle confined 

 to his own pastures or definite limits could, by use of 

 dips or Avashes, destroy the ticks on his cattle, horses 

 and mules. He could also change his pasture from one 

 part of his farm to another, at least once a year, or as 

 often as he applies some dip or wash to the cattle to 

 kill the ticks. The best time to get rid of the ticks on 

 the cattle is in the winter when there are very few ticks. 

 Once getting the cattle entirely free of ticks, they could 

 then be put in a pasture Avhere no cattle had been for 

 one year or more. Following this the cattle must be in- 

 spected closely once every week, and if ticks should ap- 

 pear again kill them with dips and washes. Three ap- 

 plications of a tick-destroying dip or wash should be 

 made ; the second application should be given about ten 

 days after the first, and the third about ten days after 

 the second. The cattle are then ready to go into the 

 tick-free pasture. If the herd is large it would be best 

 to construct a dipping tank large enough to immerse 

 one animal at a time. The tank might be wholly or 

 partly sunk into the ground, having a pen and approach- 

 ing chute, and a draining platform near the exit chute. 

 The Bureau of Animal Industry at Washington, and 

 Dr. Francis of College Station, Texas, have used large 

 dipping tanks, and by applying to either of them by let- 

 ter, plans and methods of constructing such tanks might 

 be secured. Beaumont oil floating on warm w^ater in the 

 tank could be used to destroy ticks. It is cheap, and 



