Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 



47 



roughage for winter feed. Although lumber is plentiful, barns 

 commonly follow the sawmill or cotton-gin style of construction 

 and provide little mow space except for baled hay. Figure 12 shows 

 a barn of the hip-roof or truss-frame method of construction on a 

 cattle ranch in Mississippi. This is an inexpensive type of cattle 

 barn which has a large storage space for loose hay. Working plans 

 for constructing the barn may be obtained on application. 



DISEASES AND PESTS. 



The cattle tick {Margaropus ammlatus), which is the carrier of 

 the disease known as Texas or splenetic fever, is the only pest that 

 has been a real detriment to the development of the cattle industry 



Fig. 12. — Modern cattle barn on the experiment farm at Collins, Miss. With the 

 exception of the roof this barn was constructed of used lumber from abandoned 

 " dummy-line " trestles and mill timbers. Note the storage room above and the 

 daylight underneath. 



of the Piney Woods region. The native cattle become immune from 

 the disease through contracting it in a mild form as calves, but ma- 

 ture animals brought in from Northern States or tick-free terri- 

 tory are very susceptible. The disease appears in from 13 to 90 

 days after exposure and is fatal in 90 per cent of the cases in mature 

 susceptible cattle. The damage done consists of the loss of ani- 

 mals from the fever, the extra feed needed to support the blood- 

 sucking parasites, the penalty placed on quarantined cattle at the 

 markets, and the prevention of the bringing in of pure-bred ani- 

 mals for improvement of the herd. The total damage has been 

 beyond reasonable estimate. In 1906 the Federal Government and 

 State and local authorities began the systematic eradication of the 

 tick and great progress has been made in recent years. The entire 

 States of Mississippi and South Carolina are now released from 



