INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTKE. 491 



computed, as the death rate depends so much on the season of the 

 year when exposure occurs and on the age of the animal affected. 

 However, the deaths among such cattle are considerable, although 

 this fact is little appreciated or understood by many outside of the 

 infected area. Thus, if we consider one-tenth of the cattle below 

 the line as noninmiunes which contract the disease on exposure to 

 ticks, and if we figure on the death rate of 25 per cent of these 

 anunals — a conservative estimate — the loss would amount to 387,500 

 animals, which, at an estimated value of $15 per head, would amount 

 to a loss of $5,812,500 per annum. And this sum, excessive as it 

 may seem, represents a smaller percentage of loss on the total valu- 

 ation of neat cattle than has been determined by several of the 

 infected States. 



On rare occasions a small outbreak of Texas fever occurs north 

 of the quarantine line as a result of improperly disinfected cars, of 

 unscrupulous dealers breaking the quarantine regulations, or of 

 some acq^dental condition. Such damage, however, is slight, but 

 should be given consideration in summing up the loss occasioned by 

 the fever tick. 



The advertisement which a breeder obtains and the sales which are 

 made by having his stock in the show ring are usually lost to the 

 southern cattle raiser who aspires to display his animals in the 

 North, as they are barred from most of these exhibitions. On the 

 other hand, the southern farmer is not given an opportunity to see 

 and be stimulated by the fine specimens of northern cattle wliich 

 might be shown at southern stock exliibits, for the reason that the 

 danger of contracting Texas fever is too patent to wan-ant such 

 exposure. The expense incurred by the Government in enforcing 

 the regidations that apply to the quarantine line reaches about $42,000 

 per annmn, while the cost to the various States for similar work 

 along their individual quarantine lines amounts to a very modest 

 sum in some States, but to large figures in others, aggregating about 

 $23,000 yearly. 



Another loss which is indirectly sustained by the southern cattle 

 industry through increased freight rates is the cost to the railroad 

 companies of cleaning and disinfecting the cars that carry southern 

 cattle and in providing separate pens for these animals at various 

 locations. This sum may be calculated at not less than $29,000 per 

 annimi. 



If all the above-mentioned losses are added it will be found that 

 the Texas-fever tick is responsible for about $40,000,000 of loss 

 annually to the people of the infected country, and that it also lowers 

 the assets of the South by an additional $23,250,000. These figures 

 are not given as accurate in any particular, but they are sufficiently 

 close to indicate that the loss to the quarantined section from the 



