398 
DR, COOPER CURTICE. 
the laws of climate, which restricted the distribution of the 
spreader of the disease. 
The Spanish invader upon this continent was responsible for 
many things. Could he have planned, as diligently as he did 
inquisition methods, to have left behind him a cattle plague 
which would harass his foeman for ages, he could scarcely have 
found a better means than the tick. 
The experiments of the Bureau of Animal Industry show as 
conclusively as may be, that no disease-giving property is elim¬ 
inated by cattle upon the ground. The matter up to now, then, 
lies this way. This cattle plague is nothing more nor less 
than the result of an invasion of this continent by the parasitic 
tick, which cattle carry with them. 
Is this invasion permanent or temporary ? Mr. H. J. Wing, 
of the Experimental Station in Georgia, picked and killed every 
tick on his cows in 1892. Since then he has had none. Although 
he bought ticky cows, he confined them in the stable until he 
had cleaned them. On that farm cattle from all parts are min¬ 
gled and none die. East year he cleaned an adjoining farm of 
ticks by regular hand-picking, permitting none to escape. Al¬ 
though the cattle went to pasture daily the process occupied but 
little time, three times a week for a couple of months, although 
the observation was continued longer. 
The invasion of these farms was, therefore, but transient. 
The invasion of many counties and farms in Virginia, although 
well within the permanent area, is well known to have been 
transient. There is no farm in this State or any other State, 
but that is transiently infected by ticks. The word permanent 
as it relates to ticks has no place in the American vocabulary. 
All ordinary herds may be freed with comparatively little trou¬ 
ble by confining animals and hand-picking. If they are kept 011 
an enclosed farm regular persistent hand-picking will free them. 
And the labor is not so great as it seems. If cattle roam upon com¬ 
mons, then all owners must keep their own cattle free. This will 
be found to be the direct effective means for freeing all cattle 
in Virginia. If, however, enclosed land is abundant, the ticks 
