64 



FOR BETTER CROPS IN THE SOUTH 



food. It is remarkable, however, that they may live four to six 



months without apparent source of food. 



If they find an opportunity to attach themselves to -cattle, 



they do so, moult several times, 

 copulate, and when mature, the 

 adult female drops to the 

 ground, lays her eggs, and dies. 

 All this is familiar enough to 

 every one who has lived in the 

 South, but the astonishing thing 

 about it is that the parasites of 

 the blood should be transferred 

 from one cow to another in this 

 way and give rise to a very seri- 

 ous trouble that is costing the 

 country millions of dollars in 

 losses every year. 



The Seed Tick 



After hatching it swings from 

 spears of grass, and attaches 

 itself upon passing cattle. If 

 no cattle give it succor it •will 

 die of starvation in about four 

 months in summer, but in winter 

 it remains dormant. By taking 

 advantage of this fact, it is pos- 

 sible to free a herd of the tick 

 in a comparatively short time. 



When cattle are taken South, 



these young infected ticks soon 

 find them and attach themselves 

 to get blood. In some way that 



is not well understood yet, they infect the cow's blood with the 



germs of Texas fever. 



In about ten days the cow becomes sick, has high fever, 



say 105° to 107°, refuses to eat, and the 



milk stops suddenly. This continues 



several days with constipation, great weak- 

 ness, and often bloody urine and death. 



Among mature cattle the death rate may 



be 90 per cent or more. Among calves we 



find they survive as a rule. Yearlings 



become very sick, but 60 per cent or more 



survive. These often become thin, weak 



and stunted, but are immune for life. 



There is no Medicine that will Cure 

 this Disease — If we examine a dead ani- 

 mal we find ticks on the body; the fat is 

 yellow; the blood, very thin and watery 

 from extensive destruction of the corpus- 

 cles; the spleen enormously enlarged; and 

 usually the bladder contains bloody colored 

 urine. We have no medicines that cure 

 this disease. If we give a large dose of 

 Epsom salts, say two to three pounds, to a 

 1,000-pound cow early in the attack, it 



often cleans out the bowels and enables the cow to throw off 

 her waste products and thus saves her life. Medicines to 



The Female Tick and 

 Its Eggs 



One tick is capable 

 of laving 4,000 eggs 

 within a week's time. 

 In summer the eggs 

 hatch in about three 

 -weeks, while in fall 

 and ■winter they will 

 lie dormant. 



