The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., August 06, 1910, Page 551, Image 11

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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pig until he is at least 8 months old,
but as a general rule it will pay to
do this also. On the other hand, it
is customary in the South to use a
boar a year or two and when he gets
♦ o that maturity which renders him
of the greatest value, he is disposed
of because too large or too much
trouble to manage, or because of the
bad habits he has been encouraged
to form. If the sows were selected
with more care and kept during the
period of their greatest usefulness,
2 to 5 years of age, there would be
less ground for the excuse that a
change of boars is necessary to pre
vent inbreeding. This of itself is
also largely an imaginary objection.
There is no reason why the farmer
who has a good boar and is raising
hogs for pork, should not inbreed to
a greater extent than is generally
supposed. At any rate the boar that
is properly handled will usually do
good service until he is 6 or 7 years
old, and we would much prefer such
an animal to an immature pig.
The feeding of the boar pig in
tended for breeding purposes is a
more important matter than the at
tention generally given It would in
dicate. There is no question about
the character and amount of feed
having played an important part in
the development of the improved
breed of live stock and if we are to
become live stock growers we must
at least learn the one lesson of more
liberal feeding. But with more lib
eral feeding must come more intel
ligent feeding.
The young boar can not be grown
on grass alone, nor can he be grown
on corn alone, nor will he be best
grown on both combined. If cowpeas
soy beans or peanuts can not be
grown for him, then some of the
clovers will help out, and if none of
these can be supplied, buy a little
tankage to mix with the corn to
balance up the ration and supply the
materials needed for bone and mus
cle making. Boars are usually kept
too poor instead of too fat for good
service, in the South.
to remove them except to prevent
them from reproducing other ticks;
for they will drop off soon after they
become filled with blood without any
effort on our part, if however, an
attempt is made to remove them
from the cattle at this time, they are
at a stage which renders them most
difficult to kill by the application of
any substances to them or the cow.
That is, grease or other substances
applied to the cow kill the small ticks
much more readily than these large
ticks. Again, many people are de
ceived into believing that substances
fed the cow cause the ticks to drop
off, whereas they have arrived at a
stage of their development when they
drop off regardless of whether any
thing is given or not. If sulphur,
kerosene and other substances were
given when the ticks were small they
would be seen to have little or no
effect; but they are not usually given
at this time because the cattle owner
does not know they are on the cattle
(11) 551
in large numbers. When they reach
the stage at which they would drop
off anyway he begins to see them and
gives the sulphur, etc. Of course,
they drop off and the sulphur gets
the credit; but these large ticks
would have dropped off just the same
if no sulphur had been given.
Sulphur No Good.
So far as any one now knows,
nothing can be fed the cattle that
will keep the ticks from infesting the
cattle nor that will cause them to
drop off until they have completed
their natural period of development
on the cattle. It is absolute folly
to depend upon any such measures
for protecting the cattle from ticks.
In our next article we shall fur
ther describe the life-habits of the
ticks.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE CATTLE TICK.
The Habit* nnd Life History of the Cattle Tick—Only One
Kind That Cnrries the Germ of Texas Fever, and How to Dis
tinguish It—Nothing Fed the Cow Will Cause Ticks to Drop Off.
By Tait Butler,
THERE are many kinds or spe
cies of ticks. Some eight or
ten different kinds have been
found on cattle in the United States,
and sometimes as many as three or
four different species may be found
on a cow at the same time; but there
Is only one kind or species that car
ries the ‘‘germ” of Texas or tick
fever, and It is very rare Indeed that
any but the fever tick over infests
cattle in large numbers.
How to Distinguish the Fever Tick.
If a largo number of ticks are
found on nu animal, especially any
time after the middle of the summer,
-it Is pretty safe to couctude that these
are the Southern cattle fever tick
(Margaropus annulatus), which is
the one referred to in this discus
sion of tick eradication. To the farm
er these different kinds of ticks may
look very much alike, but if he will
compare the fever tick with the oth
er species he will usually seo as
great differences as there are be
tween a bulldog and a setter. There
are two other common species which
are perhaps most likely to get on
cattle, which may usually bo distin
guished from the fever tick with
reasonable certain, even if pres
ent in such considerable numbers
an to make it difficult to tell the spe-1
cIjs probably present by the fact of
numbers alone. One Is the common
dog tick which differs from the fever
tick in having different and more
prominent mouth parts and in its
color. The color of the fever tick Is
of a bluish or lead color, while the
dog tick is more of a light brown
color.
The other species lias a white spot
just buck of its head and is shorter
nnd more round in shape than the
fever tick.
Clear Cattle of Ticks ami the Work
is Done.
The fever tick rarely infests other
unimuls than the cow, horse, mule
and deer. In fact, if it gets on
other unlmals, and it does sometimes,
it is bo rare as to be of no practical
importance in tick eradication. We
are constantly being asked how the
cattle ticks cun be eradicated when :
dogB, rabbits and squirrels carry
them every where. Those animals
carry ticks, but they do not carry
the fever ticks, therefore, the ticks
they carry do not in any way effect
ttotnroblem of eradicating the cattle
fever tick and may be entirely ig
nored.
All are familiar with the large
bluish colored ticks which infest cat
tle. They may not be noticed until
they become filled with blood and be
come large. These large ticks are
females that have reached their full
stage or degree of development on
the cow and are ready to drop ofT
and begin another part of their life
work. The male is only two or
three times the size of an ordinary
pinhead and unless searched for is
not likely to be seen. He is nearly
always to be found on the cow with
the female, but only a close examina
tion is likely to reveal his presence.
We are little interested in him, how
ever, and shall now watch the female
ticks as they drop off the cattle.
The Female Tick.
When fully engorged with blood
these large female t icks naturally
drop off the cattle. They are usually
not visible until they suddenly be
come distended with blood, and it is
at this time that efforts are usually
made to remove them by picking,
greasing and other means. In so
far as these big ticks are concerned,
it is not necessary to take any steps
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