328 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



and will not mature except upon cattle or equines, that its extermi- 

 nation is possible, and that the disease it causes may be prevented. 

 The various methods with these results in view should be directed 

 toward the destruction of ticks on cattle as well as their eradication 

 from the pastures. 



How to Free Cattle of Ticks. Among the most important 

 measures to be adopted in eradicating these parasites from cattle in 

 the infested districts may be mentioned: (1) Picking or brushing 

 them off; (2) smearing or spraying the animals with a disinfecting 

 solution, and (3) dipping the "ticky" animals in a vat containing a 

 solution capable of killing the ticks without injury to the cattle. 



The systematic application of one or more of these methods, to- 

 gether with appropriate measures for eradicating or destroying the 

 cattle ticks upon pastures, has been successfully adopted in certain 

 sections, and has thus diminished the area of the infested district. 



Picking or Brushing Ticks Off Cattle. Where the herd is small 

 a very effective but laborious method is to pick off these parasites 

 by hand or to scrape them off with a dull knife or a currycomb. This 

 should be done at least three times a week in order to find all the 

 adults before they mature and fall off, as by this system the smaller 

 ticks which at first escaped detection will be found before they are 

 fully developed. After removing the ticks they should be destroyed, 

 preferably by burning. Care should be taken to go over all parts 

 of the animal frequented by the ticks, especially under the belly, 

 around the tail and udder, and inside the legs. After the ticks are 

 picked or brushed off, the cattle should not be neglected, but should 

 be carefully examined later for the presence of ticks which have been 

 picked up in the meantime. If this work is thoroughly performed 

 and no ticks are allowed to fall off and lay eggs from June 1 to the 

 end of November, the cattle will be free of ticks, and the pastures 

 will have had an opportunity of becoming cleaned. 



Smearing or Spraying Cattle with a Disinfecting Solution. 

 Greasing the legs and sides of cattle with cotton-seed oil, fish oil, or 

 Beaumont crude petroleum will assist in preventing the ticks from 

 crawling up on the body. In small herds, smearing the cattle with 

 a mixture of 1 gallon of kerosene, 1 gallon of cotton-seed oil, and 1 

 pound of sulphur, or with a mixture composed of equal parts of cot- 

 ton-seed oil and crude petroleum, or with Beaumont crude oil alone, 

 has proved efficacious when applied to the skin two or three times 

 weekly during the tick season. For this purpose sponges, syringes, 

 brushes, mops, or brooms may be used. This method not only kills 

 the older ticks on the cattle by mechanically plugging up their 

 breathing pores, but also makes the legs so slippery that the seed 

 ticks are unable to get a foothold in order to crawl up on the cattle. 

 Where a large number of animals are to be treated, but not sufficient 

 to make it advisable to construct a dipping vat, spraying the infested 

 animals has given very favorable results. The animals should be 

 placed in a chute or stall, or tied to a tree, and then sprayed with 

 Beaumont oil or a 5 per cent solution of any of the standard coal-tar 

 dips. The solution may be applied by means of a force pump, such 



