DIPPING CATTLE 243 



own experience. It is a bad policy to wait until the hair is com- 

 ing off the cattle. Taking this tableland country we find that 

 after a good burning in the spring and rain follo^dng in Novem- 

 ber and December, the ticks are not much in evidence until the 

 following April. It is not possible to dip regularly during the 

 first three months owing to wet weather, but by April the wet 

 season is usually over. This is the time, and from this on to 

 July one can get good results from dipping. This is the very 

 best time to work stock. The grass is good, everything strong, 

 and the weather cool, and the ticks if unchecked are increasing 

 at a great rate. Don 't delay until the country is infested ; catch 

 them early while the cattle are strong and healthy, and keep 

 the ticks off and the condition on, and give the breeders a chance 

 to weather a severe winter and dry spring. One dipping then is 

 worth more than four in August. 



"It is often contended that the losses from dipping weak 

 •cattle outweigh any gain. Our experience is quite the reverse. 

 "We never stopped dipping all through the 1915 drought, and not 

 ten head stopped in the dip. Each dipping gave them a new 

 lease of life, and we saved m.ost of our breeders by it. Others 

 say it is impossible to dip bullocks while fattening. This is 

 wrong. It not only quietens them, and makes them better to 

 ■drove, but improves their condition and weight. It is not advis- 

 able to put cattle on the road immediately after dipping. They 

 should have at least five days' rest in paddocks. Calves can be 

 dipped from two weeks of age upwards, but the strength of the 

 ■dip should be less than the accepted standard. Although almost 

 as much benefit can be derived from dipping on big unfenced 

 Tuns, better results can naturally be obtained where they are 

 subdivided and not more than 1,000 to 1,500 cattle carried in one 

 paddock. This allows the mustering to be done cleanly and 

 systematically. Where eight stockmen used to look after up to 

 '20,000 clean cattle formerly with fair success, it requires treble 

 the hands, at least, to work and dip effectively that number now. 

 Six men can attend to 3,000 or 4,000 head. Bullocks require 

 about one-third the attention that breeders do. Where no shoe- 

 ing of horses is done (which involves a big addition to the work 

 •on basalt country) this estimate may not apply. 



"Now to meet this big increase in working stock under these 

 ■conditions — allow we save half the cows that die on the average 

 annually from tick worry. This mortality on the tableland is 

 -about 80 per cent, of the total females branded each year. The 



