or no hardship has been caused to stockmen
handling cattle from the infected areas. Prior to the adoption of these
regulations the tick-infested district was rapidly extending northward, but
since the quarantine line was established and rational regulations enforced
it has gradually been moved farther south. This problem of still further
reducing the infested area is of the greatest importance to the cattlemen
of the South--in fact, to those on both sides of the line--and one which is
receiving special consideration by this department as well as by many of
the interested States.

TICK ERADICATION.

Systematic cooperative work by the Federal Government and the affected
States for the eradication of the cattle ticks which transmit Texas fever
was begun in the summer of 1906 under authority given by Congress in the
appropriation act for the Department of Agriculture. The first Federal
appropriation for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907, was $82,500, and for
the fiscal year 1908 an appropriation of $150,000 was made, then for
several years $250,000, and this has been increased to $660,000 for 1922.
Funds have also been provided by States and counties.

The original infected area amounted to 728,543 square miles. Of this
territory there has been released from quarantine as a result of the work
above mentioned 523,837 square miles (up to July 1, 1922). In other words,
72 per cent of the area has been freed from ticks in 16 years.

Great improvement has resulted from this work in the released territory.
More cattle are being raised, and a better grade of breeding stock is being
introduced; calves grow faster, and cattle put on flesh more rapidly during
the grazing season and go into the winter in better condition because of
the absence of the ticks; they can be marketed without quarantine
restrictions, and higher prices are being obtained; dairy cows give a
larger yield of milk; and values of farm lands are enhanced.

The difference between the prices realized for cattle from the
tick-infested region and the prices of cattle of similar grades from above
the quarantine line has ranged from $2.25 to $5 a head at the principal
northern live-stock markets, without taking into account the improvement in
quality and weight of cattle because of the eradication of the ticks. It
can easily be seen that the extermination of the ticks means a large total
annual increase in the prices obtained for southern cattle sold in northern