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is no doubt in my mind that the Barber pasture was infected, and that 

 the loss of seventeen cows of the dairy herd was caused by the introduc- 

 tion of ticks by the herd brought from near Cholame. 



" It is a conceded fact in that section that the Salinas Valley has 

 been infested with cattle-ticks for many years. I learned, while at 

 Hanford and other towns near by, that at different times and places, in 

 1893 and previously, there were quite a number of similar attacks of 

 sickness among the cattle of the valley. Bakersfield is the headquarters 

 for the Kern Cattle Company, and the Miller & Lux Cattle Company, 

 both firms having large interests in the San Joaquin Valley. The Kern 

 Cattle Company claims to have about seventy-five thousand acres of 

 alfalfa pastures and grain fields, all, or nearly all, under irrigation. 

 Owing to the rain and impassable roads, I was unable to visit the several 

 cattle pastures. I was informed that there had been no unusual losses 

 among cattle in that section for about two years, but that for several 

 years previous to that time a disease unknown to the people, which had 

 baffled the skill of all, had appeared among cattle in different localities 

 at various times during warm weather, and that hundreds had died, 

 while cattle in other pastures near by would seem perfectly healthy. I 

 exhibited some ticks I had in a box, and asked persons if the cattle in 

 their pastures were infested with ticks like those. The reply was that 

 ticks were on the cattle in some of the pastures, and in others, not. Mr. 

 C. L. Conner, Superintendent of the Greenfield cattle ranch, said that in 

 his vicinity, during the summer, there were plenty of such ticks on the 

 cattle. The people of California have never suspected that the tick, in 

 any way, was the cause of the disease, or even an injury to the cattle, 

 except by the loss of blood which ensued, thus producing a weakness of 

 the system. I was told at Bakersfield and many other places that the 

 losses generally occurred among cattle brought during the latter part of 

 winter, spring, and summer, from Arizona, New Mexico, and other high 

 elevations, to the low elevations along the coast to the San Joaquin 

 Valley, and that if they were brought in during the fall and early 

 winter, the mortality was far less during the following summer." 



On October 28, 1895, Mr. Hill reported as follows: 



"As Mr. J. F. Warren had, at one time, in a communication to the 

 ' Texas Live Stock Journal,' stated that there were no cattle-ticks in the 

 San Joaquin Valley, I thought it advisable to obtain some and take with 

 me. This was done at a dairy ranch a few miles from Los Angeles, Cal. 



"Armed with a box of ticks (Boophilus bovis), I left for Firebaugh, 

 Cal. Mr. Warren met me on the arrival of the train and took me to a 

 ranch-house on the west side of the San Joaquin River, about three miles 

 from the depot.. Here we met a Mr. Smith, who has for twenty-five 

 years presided over this ranch of forty thousand acres, largely in alfalfa 

 and barley fields, belonging to Miller & Lux, of San Francisco, Cal., and 

 on which there is said to be about twenty thousand head of cattle at the 

 present time. 



" While we were talking, a wagon arrived from one of the feed lots, 

 on which were two dead steers on the way to the rendering tanks. On 

 these carcasses, between the hind legs, and on the bodies, I found about 

 a dozen half-grown ticks {Boophilus bovis), to the surprise of both 

 Messrs. Warren and Smith, who said they were the first ticks they ever 

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