288 THE CHIEF SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL CROPS 



therefore, perfectly possible to import breeding ani- 

 mals of the best strains for grading up Southern 

 herds for both beef and dairy purposes. These 

 ticks, though not able to cause disease in native or 

 immunized cattle, are often so abundant as to prove 

 a veritable scourge and to greatly retard growth. 

 The animals may be cheaply freed from these pests 

 by running them occasionally through dipping tanks 

 which contain contact insecticides. A thin skim of 

 crude petroleum floating on water is often used for 

 this purpose, but for hot weather some of the arseni- 

 cal dips are found to give less discomfort and to be 

 equally effective. Practical methods have also been 

 devised for permanently freeing pastures from ticks, 

 and they are being adopted by some of the more 

 progressive Southern cattle men. 



The opinion prevails quite widely that the South 

 is not adapted to dairying. This is a great mistake, 

 for by the use of centrifugal separators most excellent 

 butter can be made at any point in the South or the 

 tropics, where a small amount of ice can be secured 

 for cooling and ripening the cream. The fact that 

 more butter and cheese are not made in these regions 

 of cheap and perpetual pasturage only indicates a 

 lack of knowledge and enterprise on the part of the 

 stockmen and farmers. 



Hogs, too, should be much more largely raised at 

 the South. There is no excuse for the unnumbered 

 trainloads of bacon, hams, and lard that are constantly 

 pouring into a region where besides corn such useful 

 hog foods as cowpeas, peanuts, chufas, rape, and 

 sweet potatoes are so easily and cheaply grown. In 



