182 



The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 



Early Work 

 in Tick Erad- 

 ication 



Popular 



Approval 



Necessary 



Tick Eradication 



By Dr. E. I. Smith 



Inspector in Charge Bureau of Animal Industry, 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Baton Rouge, La. 



In taking up the subject of "Tick Eradication," I will briefly 

 outline the history in the State. In 1906 the State of Louisiana 

 began its first work in tick eradication. At that time there were 

 two Parishes which started work along such lines ; that is, Lincoln 

 and Claiborne, and it is believed that they commenced operations 

 largely because the State and Government urged them for the 

 purpose of seeing what could be done in Louisiana ; and if the 

 results were satisfactory it might have a tendency to encourage 

 the other Parishes to do likewise. After a few months Lincoln 

 Parish decided to withdraw her co-operation on account of so 

 much opposition developing in her borders; but Claiborne Parish 

 continued until 1912, when they were released from quarantine. 

 For some reason or other Claiborne Parish did not furnish the 

 proper co-operation, and the State and Bureau officials bore 

 most of the expenses, and, as a result, when the Parish was 

 released they failed to appreciate the advantage of taking care 

 of the local infestation left in the Parish and enforcing the law 

 when necessary. In this connection, I regret to state that they 

 were placed back in quarantine the first day of March, 1917, with 

 the same status relative to the cattle tick as any quarantined 

 Parish in the State. 



This vividly illustrates one prominent point : Notably, any 

 Parish or County in any State which starts tick eradication with- 

 out the co-operation of the people is an absolute failure. In such 

 cases more harm will result than good, because people believe 

 that the officials higher up are endeavoring to make them do 

 something which is not for their interest. 



This year we had a few Parishes that were very anxious 

 to commence systematic tick eradication, and the Police Jury 

 called us into conference, asking our advice, and at the same time 

 stating how many vats they had, and in what position they were 



