The Cattle Tick and How to Destroy It* 



There are various kinds of species of ticks to be found on cattle in 

 the Southern States, but tlie one that cliiefly concerns us liere is that 

 commonly called the "cattle" or "Texas-fever" tick. It is the one 

 most frequently found on cattle and is much more abundant than the 

 other species. When the losses occasioned by this parasite are once 

 thoroughly understood by farmers and stockmen there will be little 

 need for arguments in favor of tick eradication. Some of the losses 

 are not directly noticeable and consequently make little impres- 

 sion, while other losses properly chargeable to the tick are frequently 

 attributed to other causes. 



It is hardly necessary to emphasize the important fact that the 

 tick is something more than a simple parasite drawing blood from his 

 host, it being the carrier of a dangerous micro-organism or germ, 

 which it transmits to the blood of cattle, thus causing a disease known 

 by many names, among which are Texas fever, tick fever, splenetic 

 fever, and murrian. Without the tick there can be no Texas fever, 

 and it is by preventing the spread of the tick b?yond its natural bounds 

 that the fever has been prevented from waging destruction among 

 Northern cattle, which are especially susceptible to the disease. In 

 order to restrict the distribution of the tick the national and state 

 government maintain a quarantine line extending from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific coast, marking the boundary between the states or portions 

 of states harboring this pest and those that do not. Cattle of the 

 quarantined area can not be driven across this line, and may be shipped 

 only in accordance with the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture 

 to prevent the spread of splenetic fever of cattle. 



The more important losses for which the tick is responsible are as 

 follows: 



1. Deaths from tick fever among native cattle and pure-bred cattle 

 imported from the Xorth for breeding purposes. 



2. Deaths of cattle north of the quarantine line from fever follow- 

 ing the occasional accidental introduction of the tick. 



3. The temporary and permanent arrest of growth and develop- 

 ment resulting from attacks of the fever. 



4. The decrease in weight and the lessened rate in putting on flesii 

 in the case of beef cattle, and the decrease in the amount of milk pro- 

 duced by dairy cattle, as the result of the irritation and loss of blood 

 occasioned by great numbers of ticks. 



*Note — Excerpt from Farmers' Bulletin 3T8 by H. W. Graybill, published by United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



