EFFECTS OF TICK ERADICATION. 25 
From Hon. L. E. Davis, county judge of Benton County. Camden, Tenn., 
May 1. 1912: Almost three years ago we took up the work of tick eradication 
iu Benton County. We met with a .meat deal of opposition at first, but at 
the end of the first season the results were so marked that many who first 
opposed the work came to us and expressed themselves as entirely satisfied 
that it was possible to rid our county of the tick — and we got a large propor- 
tion of our territory released from quarantine the first year. But where we 
did not get the cooperation of the people the work was slow, and the result 
was that we have a small portion of our county quarantined yet, but we hope 
to get entirely free this year, and possibly by the 1st of July. At our April 
term of county court the question was before the court, and the justices that 
had always fought it before spoke in favor of it and said that the end seemed 
so near that they could not afford to oppose it any longer, and besides they 
were convinced now that it was possible to rid a county of ticks. The cattle 
industry has grown in our county and prices have more than doubled. 
In conclusion, I feel safe in saying that our money has been well spent, and 
I believe our people are well satisfied with the work and are fully agreed that 
any county or territory cau rid itself of the fever tick under Government 
supervision. 
I hope this will be an encouragement to some others to take up the work 
and push it to a finish, for cattle are too precious for the tick to eat. 
From Hon. Ward R. Case, county judge of Fentress County, Jamestown. 
Tenn., April 22, 1912: Replying to yours of the ISth instant, will say, while 
there was at first some hostility on the part of the farmers toward the authori- 
ties endeavoring to eradicate the cattle tick, there are now but four or five 
farms infected, and I believe the people generally appreciate what has been done 
for them and are taking an increased interest in improved methods of stock 
raising and farming. 
From Mr. J. R. Brown, chairman of the county court of Bradley County, 
Cleveland, Tenn., May 10. 1912 : I take great pleasure in stating that the prog- 
ress made in the eradication of the cattle ticks in Bradley County, Tenn., is 
entirely satisfactory to all the people of the county. We have rid our county 
of all the ticks, with the bare possibility of one farm, for the year 1912. There 
were no deaths or sickness for 1911. 
There is no one in Bradley County who would dare make an unfavorable 
criticism of the good work and results of the completed work. To say that 
everybody is delighted with the eradication of the ticks is to put it mildly. 
The price of cattle has more than doubled. The first eight months after we 
got above the national quarantine line our people sold and had shipped between 
thirty and thirty-five thousand dollars' worth of cattle for more than twice the 
former price. The interest in live stock has had a great uplift, since we can 
raise and keep our cattle with the certainty of their living to maturity and to 
an age to justify a profit on their raising. Our county is being filled up with 
better breeds of cattle, none of which have died; this could not be doue before 
1907, the beginning of our work. Money would be of no inducement to us to go 
back to conditions in 1906. It has been more to Bradley County than any 
other blessing that has come to us in the last 50 years. 
From Dr. John Roberts, health officer of Roane County, Kingston, Tenn.. 
May G, 1912 : The people of Roane County are all highly pleased at the results 
obtained from eradicating the fever tick from their county. We were three 
years below the line and the cattle business was at a standstill, but we spent 
two years in a successful campaign against the tick and are now released 
from quarantine. The cattle business is good in the county and everybody is 
pleased. 
