o-^^

Issued by the

I H C Service Bureau

International Harvester Company of America

(INCORPORATED)

Chicago USA

S. B. 277B

INTRODUCTORY

The area infected with the cattle tick includes
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana,
Arkansas, two-thirds of Texas, half of Oklahoma,
half of IS'orth Carolina, nearly all of South Carolina,
a few counties in Tennessee and also one or two
counties in California.

It is estimated that the annual loss due to the
cattle tick is approximately $100,000,000.

The facts relative to the cattle tick set forth in
tiie following pages should be known to every South-
ern farmer. By united effort the tick pest can be
destroyed, and its destruction will save the Southern
farmer millions of dollars. Everyone who owns
cattle in the infected area is interested in knowing
how to destrov the cattle tick.

281908

The Cattle Tick and How to Destroy It*

There are various kinds of species of ticl^s to be found on cattle in
the Southern States, but the one that cliiefly concerns us liere is that
commonly called the "cattle" or "Texas-fever" tick. It is the one
most frequently found on cattle and is much more abundant than the
other species. When the losses occasioned by this parasite are once
thoroughly understood by farmers and stockmen there will be little
need for arguments in favor of tick eradication. Some of the losses
are not directly noticeable and consequently make little impres-
sion, while other losses properly chargeable to the tick are frequently
attributed to other causes.

It is liardly necessary to emphasize the important fact that the
tick is something more than a simple parasite drawing blood from his
host, it being the carrier of a dangerous micro-organism or germ,
which it transmits to the blood of cattle, thus causing a disease known
by many names, among which are Texas fever, tick fever, splenetic
fever, and murrian. Without the tick there can be no Texas fever,
and it is by preventing the spread of the tick beyond its natural bounds
that the fever has been prevented from waging destruction among
Northern cattle, which are especially susceptible to the disease. In
order to restrict the distribution of the tick the national and state
government maintain a quarantine line extending from the Atlantic to
the Pacific coast, marking the boundary between the states or portions
of states harboring this pest and those that do not. Cattle of the
quarantined area can not be driven across this line, and may be shipped
only in accordance with the regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture
to prevent the spread of splenetic fever of cattle.

The more important losses for which the tick is responsible are as
follows :

1. Deaths from tick fever among native cattle and pure-bred cattle
imported from the North for breeding purposes.

2. Deaths of cattle north of the quarantine line from fever follow-
ing the occasional accidental introduction of the tick.

3. The temporary and permanent arrest of growth and develop-
ment resulting from attacks of the fever.

4. The decrease in weight and the lessened rate in putting on flesh
in the case of beef cattle, and the decrease in the amount of milk pro-
duced by dairy cattle, as the result of the irritation and loss of blood
occasioned by great numbers of ticks.

*Note — Excerpt from Farmers' Bulletin 378 by H. W. Graybill. published by United
States Department of Agriculture.

THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

6 THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

5. The prevention of Southern breeders from exhibiting their stock
in the North.

6. The decreased price that Southern cattle bring on the market
on account of the restrictions placed upon them.

7. The considerable expense incurred each year by the Federal
Government and the infested states in establishing quarantine lines
and in enforcing regulations to prevent tiie spread of Texas fever.

Various writers iiave estimated the annual loss due to the tick at
from $40,000,000 to $100,000,000. These figures should be ample argu-
ment, even to the most conservative, for the eradication of the tick.

The South needs more and better live stock and a larger and
better dairy industry, and these objects vpould be greatly promoted
by the destruction of the tick. Furthermore, the increased production
of live stock, by reason of its important bearing in maintaining and
improving the fertility of the soil, would be of distinct benefit in in-
creasing the yield of field crops. An incidental though important
advantage of stock raising and dairying would be found in the dis-
tribution of the farmer's income throughout the year, enabling liim to
live on a cash basis. It can thus be seen that the benefits which
would accrue to Southern agriculture from the extermination of the
cattle tick would be very great and far-reaching.

Life History of the Tick

Before methods of eradication can be carried out intelligently
and successfully, it is necessary to know the life history of the tick,
and the influence of temperature, moisture, and other climatic condi-
tions on the various stages of its existence. These matters will there-
fore be taken up first, it being understood that whenever the term
"tick" or " cattle tick " is used, it refers to the one species or kind.

Tlie usual host for this tick is the cow or ox. Frequently, how-
ever, horses, mules, deer, and sometimes even sheep serve as hosts.
But none of these latter animals, with the possible exception of deer,
are susceptible to tick fever, consequently they suffer from the tick as
a simple parasite and not as a transmitter of disease, although they
must be considered in plans for eradication.

Only a part of the development of the tick takes place on the host;
the rest of the development occurs on the pasture occupied by the
host.

Development on the Ground

In tracing the life history of the cattle tick it will be convenient
to begin with the large, plump, olive-green female tick, somewhat
more than half an inch in length, attached to the skin of the host.
During the few preceding days she lias increased enormously in size
as a consequence of drawing a large supply of blood.

THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

TheFe

and Its Eggs

One tick is capable of lay-
ing 4,000 eggs. The period
of depositing eggs lasts about
one week. The eggs hatch in
about three weeks in summer;
in fall and winter they lay
dormant. Each egg is capable
of furnishing one seed tick

When fully engorged she drops to the ground, and at once, espe-
cially if the weather is warm, begins to search for a hiding place on
moist earth beneath leaves or any other litter which may serve as a
protection from the sun and numerous enemies.
- •'«*- The female tick may be devoured by birds or

destroyed by ants, or may perish as the result of
unfavorable conditions, such as low temperature,
absence or excess of moisture, and many other
conditions: so that many which fall to the ground
are destroyed before they lay eggs.

Egg laying begins during the spring, summer,
and fall months in from two to twenty days, and
during the winter months in thirteen to ninety-
eight days. The eggs are small, elliptical-shaped
bodies, at first of a light amber color, later
changing to a dark brown, and are about one-
fiftieth of an inch in length. As the eggs are
laid they are coated with a sticky secretion which
causes them to adhere in clusters and, no doubt,
serves the purpose of keeping them from drying
out. During eg^ laying the mother tick gradu-
ally shrinks in size and finally is reduced to

about one-third or one-fourth her original size. Egg laying is greatly

influenced by temperature, being retarded or even arrested by low

temperatures. It is completed in from four days in the summer to

one hundred and fifty-one days, beginning in the fall. During this

time the tick may deposit from a few hundred to more than 5,000 eggs.

After egg laying is completed the mother tick has fulfilled her purpose

and dies in the course of a few days.
After a time, ranging from nineteen

days in the summer to one hundred

and eightj-eight days during the fall

and winter, the eggs begin to hatch.

From each %gg issues a small, oval,

six-legged larva or seed tick, at first

amber colored, later changing to a rich

brown. The seed tick, after crawling

slowly over and about the shell from

which it has emerged, usually remains

more or less C[uiescent for several daj's,

after which it shows great activity.

especially if the weather is warm, and

ascends the nearest vegetation, such

as grass, other herbs, and even shrubs.

Since each female lays an enormous mass of eggs at one spot, thou-
sands of larva will appear in the course of time at the same place and

will ascend the near-by vegetation and collect on the leaves. This

<«'-'

.?^.

Seed Tick

"■\

After emerging from the eggs it crowds upon
spears of grass, and as soon as possible attaches
itself to a passing cow. If no cattle give it
succor it will die of starvation in about four
months during the summer; but in winter it
remains dormant; therefore it ic possible for it
to live in a pasture or field several months

THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

Engorged Female Tick

Having completed its development on the
animal, and having been filled to its entire
capacity with its host's nourishing blood, it is
ready to fall to the ground where it seeks
seclusion and comfort to deposit its eggs

instinct of the seed ticks to climb up-
ward is a very important adaptation to
increase their chances of reaching a
host. If the vegetation upon whicli
tliey rest is disturbed, they become
very active and extend tlieir long front
legs upward in a divergent position,
waving them violently in an attempt
to seize hold of a host.

The seed tick during its life on the
pasture takes no food and consequently
does not increase in size, and unless it
reaches a host to take up the parasitic
portion of its development, it dies of
starvation. The endurance of seed ticks
is very great, however, as they have
been found to live nearly eight months
during the colder part of the year.

Development on Cattle

The parasite phase of development
begins when the larva or seed ticks reach a favorable host, such as a
cow. They crawl up over

the hair of the host and ^ . '^.^^v.^ . -i

commonly attach them-
selves to the skin of the
escutcheon, the inside of
the thighs and flanks, and
to the dewlap. They at
once begin to draw blood
and soon increase in size.
In a few days the young
tick changes from a brown
color to white, and in from
five to twelve days sheds
its skin. The new form

has eight legs instead of ^^

six, and is known as a J

nymph. In from five to
eleven days after the first
molt the tick sheds its
skin and becomes sexually
mature. It is at this stage
that males and females
are with certainty dis-
tinguishable for the first

'^^'l''^-'

Ticks of all sizes sbingied on hide
of a cow, all sucking the life's blood

THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED 9

Portion of steer's hide showing the Texas fever tick

time. The male emerges from his skin as a brown, oval tick, about
one- tenth of an inch in length. He has reached his growth and goes
through no further development. He later shows great activity,
moving about more or less over the skin of the laost The female,
at the time of molting, is slightly larger then the male. She never

10 TEE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTBOYED

shows much activity, seldom moving far from her original point of
attachment. She still has to undergo most of her growth. After mat-
ing, the female increases very rapidly in size, and in from twenty-one to
sixty-six days after attaching to a host as a seed tick she becomes fully
engorged and drops to the pasture, to repeat the cycle of development.

Summary of Life History

To sum up, on the pasture there are found three stages of the
tick— the engorged female, the egg, and the larvag and on the
host are found four stages — the larva, the nymph, the sexually mature
adult of both sexes, and the engorged condition of the female.

Methods of Eradication

In undertaking measures for eradicating the tick, it is evident that
the pest may be attacked in two locations, namely, on the pasture and
on the cattle.

In freeing pastures the metliod followed may be eitlier a direct or
an indirect one. The former consists in excluding all cattle, horses,
and mules from pastures until all the ticks have died from starvation.
The latter consists in permitting the cattle and other animals to con-
tinue on the infested pasture and treating them at regular intervals
with oils or other agents destructive to ticks and thus preventing
engorged females from dropping and reinfesting the pasture. The
larva on the pasture, or those which hatch from eggs laid by females
already there, will all eventually meet death. Such of these as get
upon the cattle from time to time will be destroyed by the treatment,
while those which fail to find a host will die in the pasture from
starvation.

What Tick Eradication Means

The eradication of the cattle tick in the South means the awaken-
ing of a new industry. It means an immense market for the produ-
cers of registered cattle of all breeds.

The United States Bureau of Animal Industry is co-operating with
tlie officials of the Southern states in striving to accomplish this
laudable work in the shortest possible time.

The tick has been the cause of the lack of interest in cattle raising,
because it made necessary the establishing of an ocean to ocean
quarantine line, separating the cattle grown in the South from the
best markets of the Union.

Deprive any commodity, grown or manufactured, from the best
markets of the world, I care not what it may be, cotton, corn, cattle,

THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

11

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THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

or automobiles and the result cannot be but failure. Such it has
been, most unfortunately, with cattle in tlie quarantined area.

The extermination of tlie tick means
the revolutionizing- of the live stoclc in-
dustry of the South, and so far as the
state of Mississippi is concerned, the
people have decreed that this evolution
shall come within two years.

Specifications for the Con-
struction of a Cattle
Dipping Vat

Tlie site selected for the vat should
be dry. The excavation should be

Seven feet deep

Twenty-seven feet long- at the top
Thirteen " " " bottom

Four " wide " top

Thirty inclies " " bottom

The walls and floor should be six inches
tliick. The wooden frames should be con-
structed of 2x4 inch braces, on the out-
side of which 1-inch boards are tacked.
After the concrete has set, take out
frame, and plaster inside of vat with a
mixture of 1 part cement and 2 parts
sand. The walls of the vat should be
built one foot above the surface of the
ground. The slide where the cattle go
into the vat should be three feet long
with a fall of two feet. The concrete
should be made as follows :

Cement . . . . i part
Sand ----- 2i parts
Gravel or Broken Rock - 5 parts

all thoroughly mixed.

The dipping vat should be covered
with a shed and provided with convenient
pens, chute, and dripping pen.

THE CATTJ.E TICK CAN BE DESTROYED 13

The arsenical solution has proved the most effective of any of the
preparations that have been used to destroy ticks.
The following- formula is most commonly used:

Sodium Carbonate (Sal soda) 24 lbs.

White Arsenic ----- 8 lbs.

Pine Tar ------ i gallon

AVater 500 gallons

^\\\ the soda and arsenic within a kettle containing 30 gallons of
w ater: boil it 30 minutes: let this solution cool to 140 degrees, then
slowly add the pine tar.

Dipping vat in operation at Jackson, Mississippi

Keep These Facts in Mind

The cattle tick is a disease-transmitting parasite peculiar to the
bovine specie.

The disease is known as splenetic or tick fever otherwise known
as bloody murrain.

The tick is a blood-sucking parasite which fattens at the expense of
the infested cow.

14 THE CATTLE TICK CAN BE DESTROYED

It is on account of the tick that the national quarantine line was
established north of which cattle may not be moved except under
rigid restrictions.

Cattle not of the tick-infested area when brought in to improve
the grade of stock become infested with the tick and a large percent-
age of them die of tick fever.

Tlie milch cow infested with the tick gives at least ten per cent
less milk by reason of its parasites.

The tick injures the hides so they sell for one-half cent per pound
less than similar hides not so affected.

Tick-infested cattle are not immune from tick fever.

Every year in every tick-infested country the loss of cattle from the
disease would more than pay for the eradication of the tick.

Tick infected steer — August 12, 1911. Weight 730 pounds

The tick curtails opportunities for an open market for your cattle;
hence, a substantial curtail in price.

The tick causes an unsanitary and unwholesome condition of the
animals infected. Their products are undesirable for human con-
sumption.

It is not human to allow the tick to suck the vitality from the
dumb brutes we are in duty bound to care for.

You cannot fatten cattle and feed the ticks upon tliem.

We need more and better cattle.

We need more home-produced beef, pork, and mutton.

We need more barn-yard fertilizer.

THE CATTLE TICK CA}{ 'JiE, i>^j.'ViRrJ^-5;i).«

15

We need more pastures, more green cover crops, more clover, etch,
cow peas, velvet beans, and alfalfa.

We need more feed pens filled with cattle to consume the feeds we
raise.

We need more patriotism and work and less politics to get rid of
the cattle tick.

The cattle tick is costing us up to one hundred million dollars
annuallj\

If all the cattle on a farm, be it large or small, are regularly dipped
once every two weeks for a period of a few months, in a properly pre-
pared arsenical solution, all of the ticks will be eradicated.

The area of ^lississippi is 46,340 square miles — an area of 14-3,000
square miles has been freed of ticks since 1905.

Same steer free of ticks — October 12, 1911. Weight, 1,015 pounds

Mothers! Do not feed your children milk from tick-infested cows;
it is unwholesome, vmsanitary, and unsafe.

Hon. E. F. Xoel, Governor of Mississippi, says:

"Tick eradication work has done much for Mississippi. K^one
who tried it intelligently, so far as I have heard, were otherwise
than pleased and benefited. I sincerely hope the work will be
continued and advanced in this state until we are in at least free
territory for the whole of Mississippi. There was never greater need
of improvement and extension of cattle raising than in the South at
this time. It promotes crop rotation, diversified farming and utiliza-
tion of valuable fertilizers."

THE PURPOSE OF THIS
BUREAU IS TO FURNISH
FREE OF CHARGE TO ALL THE
BEST INFORMATION OBTAIN-
ABLE ON BETTER FARMING.
IF YOU HAVE ANY WORTHY
QUESTIONS CONCERNING
SOILS. FARM CROPS. LAND
DRAINAGE, FERTILIZER,
ETC., MAKE YOUR INQUIRIES
SPECIFIC AND SEND THEM

TO THE
I H C SERVICE BUREAU
HARVESTER BUILDING.
CHICAGO USA

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