424 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



tion to the use of proprietary dips for such use, the in- 

 gredients composing them should be disclosed, with the 

 formulas for compounding them. The proprietors of 

 these dips objected on the ground that to comply with 

 the request of the Bureau would be to give away the 

 secret which was virtually the foundation on which the 

 success of their business rested. The real question at is- 

 sue was not the efficacy of those proprietary dips, or 

 whether they should be used in a private way, but 

 whether authorities representing the government should 

 give their sanction to the use of dips in what may be termed 

 compulsor}^ dipping without being fully informed as to 

 the character of the dips. It would seem in every way 

 reasonable that the Bureau should take such a stand. 

 Nor does this conclusion in any way reflect upon the 

 efficacy of proprietary dips or upon their relative cost. 



The most important of the dips approved by the 

 United States Bureau of Animal Industry are: (i) The 

 tobacco and sulphur dip; (2) the lime and sulphur dip; 

 and (3) coal tar dips, when these are used according to 

 the approved formulas. The use of arsenical and carbolic 

 dips the Bureau does not encourage, even when the for- 

 mulas by which they are made are published. 



In nearly all instances, however, the formulas for 

 making proprietary dips have not been disclosed. That 

 some of these are efficacious is undoubtedly true. That 

 the cost is not excessive is also true in some instances. 

 But the fact remains that in many instances the purchaser 

 takes chances. The only guarantee of the genuineness of 

 the solution is the reputation of the individual or the firm 

 who have put it on the market. Of this he cannot always 

 be able to secure information. The best that he can do 

 is to purchase a dip the reputation of which has brought 

 it into general use. 



Proprietary dips have one advantage over non-pro- 

 prietary dips which, more than anything else, probably 

 accounts for their very general use. They are already 



