EXTERMINATING THE TEXAS-FEVER TICK. 19 
If desirable, the corn in each lot may be cut and removed before 
the cattle are placed in it. As soon as possible after the cattle are 
removed from a lot the female ticks and eggs present on the ground 
should be plowed under and the ground along the fence sprayed 
with crude petroleum or some other disinfectant to prevent any 
seed ticks which may hatch from getting beyond the area of the 
lot. Another valuable precaution will be to use for feed, as far as 
possible, the corn opposite or in advance of the lot in which the 
cattle are located, since this is less likely to harbor seed ticks. 
The pasture will be free of ticks by November 1, and the cattle may 
then be returned there if desired. The herd may, however, be con- 
tinued on field No. 3A as long after that date as the forage lasts, or, in 
case of a shortage of feed previous to November 1, it may be moved 
to either field No. 2 or 4, provided one of these is ready for pasturage. 
These fields may be used for fall and winter pasturage in any way 
that may be found desirable. 
DIPPING, SPRAYING, AND HAND DRESSING. 
Ticks upon cattle may be destroyed by using various ‘‘tickicides,” 
such as oils, arsenic, etc. These may be applied in three ways, 
namely, by hand, by the use of spray pumps, and by means of the 
dipping vat. 
Hand application is practicable only when a few animals are to be 
treated. The substances of value in this method are a mixture of 
lard and kerosene, cotton-seed oil, or a half-and-half mixture of 
cotton-seed oil and kerosene, and finally, crude petroleum, which 
in general has proved the most effective, although it has some draw- 
backs, chief of which are the difficulty of obtaining oil of the proper 
quality, its expense, its bulk, which makes its transportation costly, 
and the liability of injury to cattle when the treatment is applied in 
hot weather. Any of these may be applied with a mop or a good- 
sized paint brush, but unless great pains are taken this method of 
treatment is not thorough, and even at the best some portions of the 
body where ticks may be located will be missed. 
Spraying is adapted for small-sized herds. The arsenical mixture 
or the crude petroleum or emulsions of the same may be applied by 
means of an ordinary pail spraying pump (fig. 12). There are also 
pumps on the market designed for making a temporary mechanical 
mixture of oil and water. Cotton-seed oil, or cotton-seed oil and kero- 
sene in a half-and-half mixture, or crude petroleum, may be used in 
these pumps, and a 20 per cent mixture of any one of these will kill 
most of the ticks. 
A large spraying machine which is now on the market and which 
has met with considerable favor in the treatment of large herds of 
cattle for mange is equally adapted to the application of remedies 
378 
