296 DR. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 



pasture frequented by cattle. When the larval tick gets upon 

 an animal, it at once begins to grow, and in about one week it 

 has its first moulting (shedding its skin). At the end of the 

 second week it moults again and becomes sexually mature, when 

 fertilization is liable to take place, as a male and a female tick 

 are generally found together. After fertilization, the female 

 tick enlarges very slowly until from the nineteenth to the twen- 

 ty-second day, when she swells up very rapidly, and in a day or 

 two loosens her hold and falls to the ground, where the laying 

 of eggs begins in a few days. It will be seen by the above that 

 the length of time a tick remains on an animal is about three 

 weeks. Ticks are more numerous on uncultivated land, prairies 

 and woodland. They bore into the skin, and when in large num- 

 bers cause considerable irritation and annoyance to the animal. 



Treatment. The subject of a cheap, reliable and convenient 

 remedy that will eradicate ticks from cattle has received a great 

 deal of thought and investigation during the past few years. If 

 such a remedy could be worked out it would be of great benefit 

 to the cattle and farming industry of the whole country. The 

 danger of infecting northern territory in the transfer of southern 

 cattle would be overcome; a market previously closed would be 

 opened to summer feeders in the north, in seasons when there 

 occurs an abundance of corn and grass and a scarcity of native 

 cattle. This surplus food stuff could be turned to the profit of 

 the farmer. The present necessary though burdensome quaran- 

 tine regulations would be greatly eased; foreign countries could 

 no longer exclude these animals on the grounds that they are 

 liable to introduce a dangerous disease. In some parts of the 

 country ticks are so bad that stock owners have to resort to 

 some means by which they can rid their cattle of the tick, for 

 they are a great curse to the comfort, welfare, and growth of the 

 animal. There have been various remedies and modes of appli- 

 cation advocated, but none seems to be so effectual or easily 



