276 



Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



Fowl Tick. 



Fowl tick is still a source of great trouble to our Northern and 

 Mallee farmers, but tlie efforts of Inspector Smitli and the police 

 officers, who are dealing with this pest, have served to keep it in 

 check. It is still confined to the districts in which I first found it, 

 and every effort should be put forth to prevent its getting l)eyond 

 control. By the judicious exercise of quarantine regulations, the tick 

 can be restricted to certain districts. When the railway to Mildura 

 is opened it will be necessary- to place that district under quarantine. 



Its appearance early in 1903 was reported at Lubeck and Murtoa, 

 but prompt measures led to its eradication from those ])laces. It is 

 at Hopetonn, but it is hoped that it will soon be exterminated there. 

 The outbreaks at Lubeck and Murtoa were traced to birds coming 

 from Adelaide, and it behoves the Department to be extremely 

 careful in preventing it from gaining a footing in Melbourne. The 

 restrictions placed on birds coming from New South Wales and 

 South Australia, aud from our own quarantined districts have 

 certainly saved Melbourne from invasion. During the year experi- 

 ments were conducted with cultures of moulds fPomclJlum glaucum 

 and Mvc&r ramosus) to see if a disease could be spread through the 

 ticks. I sent up pure cultures to Mr. Smith with directions how to 

 use them, and he reported that the Mucor ramosus did kill the ticks 

 but in consequence of the dryness of the season the disease did not 

 spread. Moulds flourish in damp cool districts, and if seasons to 

 come are favourable, our efforts may be crowned with success. I in- 

 tend prosecuting experiments in this direction with cultures of other 

 moulds as well as those already mentioned. To my mind, this is the 

 direction in which success is to be expected in exterminating the tick. 



The following table furnishes particulars of the poultry inspected 

 since the beginning of January this year in connection with the fowl 

 tick outbreak, and indicates the extent of the supervision exercised in 

 Melbourne over birds arriving from all parts of the State. Nearly all 

 the birds examined passed through the auction rooms of the city, and 

 a fair idea of the poultry trade of Melbourne can be obtained from the 

 figures. 



Poultry Examined in the Metkopolitan Area hv Inspector Lowe, from 

 January 1st to June 30th, 1903. 



