472 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



animals — a conservative estimate — the loss would amount to 387,500 

 animals, which, at an estimated value of $15 per head, would amount 

 to a loss of $5,812,500 per annum. And this sum, excessive as it 

 may seem, represents a smaller percentage of loss on the total valu- 

 ation of neat cattle than has been determined by several of the 

 infected States. 



On rare occasions a small outbreak of Texas fever occurs north 

 of the quarantine line as a result of improperly disinfected cars, of 

 unscrupulous dealers breaking the quarantine regulations, or of 

 some accidental condition. Such damage, however, is slight, but 

 should be given consideration in summing up the loss occasioned by 

 the fever tick. 



The advertisement which a breeder obtains and the sales which are 

 made by having his stock in the show ring are usually lost to the 

 southern cattle raiser .who aspires to display his animals in the 

 North, as they are barred from most of these exhibitions. On the 

 other hand, the southern farmer is not given an opportunity to see 

 and be stimulated by the fine specimens of northern cattle which 

 might be shown at southern stock exhibits, for the reason that the 

 danger of contracting Texas fever is too patent to warrant such 

 exposure. The expense incurred by the G-overnment in enforcing 

 the regulations that apply to the quarantine line reaches about $42,000 

 per annum, while the cost to the various States for similar work 

 along their individual quarantine lines amounts to a very modest 

 sum in some States, but to large figures in others, aggregating about 

 $23,000 yearly. 



Another loss which is indirectly sustained by the southern cattle 

 industry through increased freight rates is the cost to the railroad 

 companies of cleaning and disinfecting the cars that carry southern 

 cattle and in providing separate pens for these animals at various 

 locations. This sum. may be calculated at not less than $29,000 per 

 annum. 



If all the above-mentioned losses are added it will be found that 

 the Texas-fever tick is responsible for about $40,000,000 of loss 

 annually to the people of the infected country, and that it also lowers 

 the assets of the South by an additional $23,250,000. These figures 

 are not given as accurate in any particular, but they are sufficiently 

 close to indicate that the loss to the quarantined section from the 

 cattle tick is something enormous and represents about 16 per cent of 

 the total valuation of the cattle in that region. It must be admitted 

 that this is by far too great a barrier to the successful operation of any 

 business. Such a series of encumbrances as those recorded could be 

 carried by the cattle industry of no other section of the country but 

 the South, whose excellent pastures, rich soil, and sulubrious climate 

 are the only reasons for its ability to overcome such obstacles in meet- 



