228 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Man., 1899. 
to the loss on cattle on account of the quarantine have not been greatly 
exaggerated, there would still be a profit of from 100 to 200 per cent. in 
dipping. 
These losses from dipping were, however, entirely unexpected, and 
especially those from the development of acute Texas fever. It is another 
illustration of the fact that if people will rush too rapidly into new things 
they must expect to pay something for their experience. The writer has 
endeavoured to hold back the enthusiasts until the method could be placed 
upon a secure experimental basis; but they would not have it so, and as a 
consequence the Government will be relieved of some of the expenses which it 
would otherwise have been obliged to incur for these investigations. 
A very interesting question just at this time is: Will it be possible to 
reduce materially this loss of 2 per cent., which has occurred this year, by 
greater care or by improving the method? This question may be safely 
answered in the affirmative. An improvement may be expected by attention to 
details in at least four directions. ‘First, the cattle should be reasonably 
strong and vigorous, or they should not be dipped. If this rule had been 
followed there would have been no losses at Mammoth Springs, and a much 
smaller number would have been lost in Oklahoma and Texas. Secondly, if 
the temperature is extreme the cattle should be allowed a few days’ rest after 
dipping, with shade or shelter before driving or loading upon cars. The dipped 
cattle suffered severely from the heat in midsummer, and equally as much from 
the cold which prevailed at the time of or immediately after the later dippings. 
Thirdly, it appears that some of the dipping vats might be improved go that 
the strain and shock would be considerably reduced. Jourthly, there is a 
prospect of improving the dipping mixture so that the irritating effect upon 
the skin and eyes of the cattle will be reduced or entirely prevented without 
impairing its tick-destroying properties. All of these questions are receiving 
very careful study, and no means of perfecting the process will be neglected. 
If the loss and damage which has occurred serves to convince cattlemen of 
the necessity of careful Government supervision of all dipping plants, and of 
the importance of some care and judgment upon their own part, the reverses 
which haye occurred will inure to the benefit of the public. It looked a few 
weeks ago as though there would be as great a rush to establish dipping plants 
for cattle as there was a few years ayo to secure real estate in Oklahoma, or 
more recently to exhaust the gold deposits of the Klondike. Now that the 
brillianey of the prospects for securing immediate fortunes by conducting a 
dipping station has been somewhat obscured, perhaps it will be possible to 
limit the number of these stations, if not to the actual needs of the country at 
least to the inspection resources of the Government. 
The development of acute Texas fever in dipped cattle, though unexpected, 
isnot entirely inexplicable. Jt is well known that the apparently immune 
cattle’ of the infected district carry in their blood the microscopic parasites 
which constitute the contagion. They have the power in some unknown manner 
to hold the parasite in check and prevent it from rapidly destroying the red 
globules of the blood. But this immunity may be lost by the depletion of the 
animal’s force and vitality, and, the restraining influence being no longer sufli- 
cient io control the parasite, this organism multiplies rapidly, exerts its 
destructive influence upon the red globules, and soon causes the symptoms of 
Texas fever. 
It has frequently been observed that when southern cattle were driven long 
distances cr exposed to extremes of temperature or otherwise prostrated they 
haye been affected with Texas fever. Emaciated and unthrifty yearlings taken 
north late in the fall, and exposed without protection to cold winds and rains, 
are particularly subject to it. If, now, to the fatigue of long shipment and the 
change to a cooler climate there is added the shock, the cooling effect, and the 
irritation of the skin which follows dipping, there is no reason for surprise if 
the number of cases of fever which develop are greatly increased. 
