140 BEEF PRODUCTION 



least a ten-foot space not occupied by cattle must be 

 left between, on each side of which shall be a tight board 

 fence not less than five feet high." 



In spite of all precautions that can be taken, there 

 are occasional outbreaks of the disease north of the 

 quarantine line. When such an outbreak occurs there 

 are several ways of freeing the cattle of ticks: (1) pick- 

 ing or brushing them off; (2) smearing or spraying the 

 animals with a disinfecting solution; (3) dipping the 

 "ticky" animals in a vat containing a solution capable 

 of killing the animals and not injuring the cattle; (4) 

 the "soiling system." 



Picking or scraping off the ticks. — This is a laborious 

 undertaking but may be quite effective on a small herd, 

 if care is taken to go over all parts of the animal fre- 

 quented by the ticks, especially under the belly, around 

 the tail, and on the inside of the legs. They should be 

 scraped off with a dull knife or curry comb and burned. 

 The cattle should be gone over at least three times a 

 week during the tick season and should be frequently 

 examined later to see that none are missed. 



Smearing or spraying with a disinfecting solution. — 

 In small herds, smearing the cattle with a mixture of 

 one gallon of kerosene, one gallon of cottonseed oil, and 

 one pound of sulphur, or with a mixture of equal parts of 

 cottonseed oil and crude petroleum, or with Beaumont 

 crude oil alone has proved efficacious when applied to 

 the skin two or three times a week during the tick sea- 

 son. Where a large number of animals are to be treated, 

 but not sufficient to make it advisable to construct a 

 dipping vat, spraying the infected animals gives very 

 good results if thoroughly done. Spray with Beaumont 

 crude oil or a five per cent solution of any standard coal 

 tar dip applied with a force-pump. 



Dipping in a vat. — The Bureau of Animal Industry 

 has been experimenting for a number of years on the 

 subject of dips, and the most successful one found is 

 Beaumont crude oil, obtained from certain Texas wells. 



