TEXAS FEVEE.. 505 



In consequence of the enforcement of these quarantine reguhitions, 

 Texas fever has been practically prevented in the noninfected dis- 

 tricts for se\eral years, and little or no hardship has been caused to 

 stockmen handling cattle fi'om the infected areas. Prior to the 

 adoption of these regulations the tick-infested district Avas rapidly 

 extending northward, but since the quarantine line was established 

 and rational regiilations enforced it has gradually been moved farther 

 south. This problem of still further reducing the infested area is of 

 the greatest importance to the cattlemen of the South — in fact, to 

 those on both sides of the line — and one which is receiving special 

 consideration by this department as well as by many of the interested 

 States. 



TICK ERADICATION. 



Systematic cooperative work by the Federal Government and the 

 affected States for the eradication of the cattle ticks which transmit 

 Texas fever was begun in the summer of 1906 under authority given 

 by Congress in the appropriation act for the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. The first Federal appropriation for the fiscal year ended June 

 30, 1907, was $82,500, and for the fiscal year 1908 an ajopropriation 

 of $150,000 was made, then for several years $250,000, and this has 

 been increased to $388,800 for 1916. Funds have also been provided 

 by States and counties. 



The original infected area amounted to 728,543 square miles. Of 

 this territory there has been released from quarantine as a result of 

 the work above mentioned 284,521 square miles (up to AjDril 1, 1916). 

 In other words, 38 per cent of the area has been freed from ticks 

 in a little over nine years. 



Great improvement has already resulted from this work in the 

 released territory. More cattle are being raised, and a better grade 

 of breeding stock is being introduced ; .calves grow faster, and cattle 

 put on flesh more rapidly during the grazing season and go into the 

 winter in better condition because of the absence of the ticks; they 

 can be marketed without quarantine restrictions, and higher prices 

 are being obtained; dairy cows give a larger yield of milk; and 

 values of farm lands are enhanced. 



The difference between the prices realized for cattle from the tick- 

 infested region and the prices of cattle of similar grades from above 

 the quarantine line ranges from $2.25 to $5 a head at the principal 

 northern live-stock markets, without taking into account the im- 

 provement in quality and weight of cattle because of the eradication 

 of the ticks. As from 800,000 to 1.000,000 cattle from the quarantined 

 area are annually sold in these markets, it can easily be seen that the 

 extermination of the ticks means an annual increase of at least 

 $3,000,000 in the prices obtained for southern cattle sold in northei'n 



