INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 477 



placed on noninfested pastures — it is recommended that the cattle be 

 kept in a small tick-free inclosure for three weeks, when many of the 

 ticks will have fallen off. They should then be removed and placed 

 in a similar paddock for another three weeks. At this time the cattle 

 should be examined, and if found free from ticks they may be placed 

 in the noninfested pasture at once. On the other hand if any ticks 

 are observed the cattle should be placed in a third pen for two weeks 

 more. By this time even the youngest ticks that were on the cattle 

 at the start will have matured and dropped off; and as the animals 

 are removed from each pen before they could possibly become rein- 

 fested with the seed ticks that hatch from the eggs of the females 

 that .fell off', they are now tick free. The same pens can not be used 

 repeatedly for this purpose without thorough disinfection, as they 

 become infested with young ticks, which will at once attack cattle if 

 given an opportunity to do so. Care should be taken that hay fed 

 the animals in these pens is from noninfested fields. 



HOW TO FREE PASTURES OP TICKS. 



How to rid pastures of ticks without destroying the vegetation on 

 them was for a long time a problem. While this may be impossible 

 on large ranches, it has been successfully accomplished on small 

 farms by systematic efforts based upon a knowledge of the life his- 

 tory and the habits of the cattle ticks. The most satisfactory as well 

 as the most practicable methods have been found to be as follows: 



By excluding cattle for a definite period. — The removal of animals 

 from an infested pasture for a stated period will cause all ticks pres- 

 ent therein to starve, and the pasture will thus become tick-free. 

 One method of accomplishing this result is to divide the pasture into 

 two parts by a double line of fence. This fence should be board- 

 tight at the bottom to prevent ticks from crawling out, aud there 

 should be a 10-foot space between the two lines so that the ticks 

 would be unable to crawl across to the opposite pasture if they should 

 perchance get out. One of these pastures is then kept free from 

 cattle, horses, mules, and asses from spring to late fall, or, better, 

 until January. By this time it will be free of ticks and ready for 

 tick-free cattle that have been cleaned by any of the methods above 

 described; then the other pasture is abandoned for the same period 

 of time. 



Butler states that the pasture may be kept free of ticky animals for 

 a shorter period with equally beneficial results, and recommends the 

 following method : 



The tick-infested cattle should be removed from their pasture on 

 September 1, cleaned of ticks by any of the methods previously men- 

 tioned, and placed in a cultivated field or pasture where no ticky ani- 

 mals have been for at least six months and where they can not come 

 in contact with ticky animals or ticky soil. The original pasture 



