LOSSES OCCASIONED BY CATTLE TICK. 11 
careful study of the tick. Some of the results of practical bearing 
are given in the following pages and others will be published from 
time to time. 
The writers desire to express their thanks to Prof. H. A. Morgan, 
director of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, for many 
most valuable and courteous suggestions in the course of this work. 
He has turned over to the writers many of his original notes and has 
generously assisted in numerous other ways. 
LOSSES OCCASIONED BY THE CATTLE TICK. 
Undoubtedly the popular idea of the damage caused by the cattle 
tick concerns itself with the actual death of cattle from the disease 
transmitted by the tick. Although this is a very important matter 
and would. fully justify the most energetic attémpts toward the 
eradication of the tick, it is really unimportant in comparison with 
the other losses. Mr. August Mayer, a practical cattle breeder of 
Shreveport, La., and Dr. J. R. Mohler, of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry of this Department, have made most careful, comprehensive 
estimates of the losses caused by ticks. The following summary is 
taken largely from their writings: ; 
1. Loss by death from disease in young animals and those removed 
from temporarily tick-free localities (as, for instance, in cities) to 
places where they become infested. The enormous loss under this 
heading will be understood when it is recalled that every bovine 
animal in the tick area must suffer an attack of fever if it becomes 
infested with ticks. In an instance that came to the attention of the 
writers, 39 out of 40 calves dropped in a city died of tick fever when 
removed to an infested pasture. 
2. Loss in weakened condition and stunted growth caused by the 
fever. 
3. Loss by gross tick infestation. At the present time (March, 
1907) hundreds of cattle in south Texas are dying from gross infesta- 
tion resulting from a mild winter. In extreme cases, Mr. Mayer 
estimates that as many as 200 pounds of blood may be withdrawn 
from the host during a singie season. This makes a gain in weight 
impossible even in the best of pastures. Moreover, Prof. H. A. 
Morgan and other observers believe that gross infestation and the 
consequent general debility induce acute attack of fever even in 
animals ordinarily immune. 
4. The tick makes hazardous the importation of pure-bred cattle. 
This prevents the upbuilding of southern cattle and at the same time 
largely deprives the northern breeder of a market that he should have. 
Moreover, the inability of the southern breeder to exhibit his stock in 
