THE CATTLE TICK.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1922, Page 4

THE CATTLE TICK.

DISCOVERED ON A TARANAKI FARM. MENACE TO THE PROVINCE. The dreaded cattle tick is reported, to have made its appeitranee in the dairy herd of a farmer living near Oaonui. The animals on which the ticks were found came from the Urenui district a short time ago, and it is presumed they were infected by cattle coming originally from the Mahoenui district. It is known that the. tick has spread throughout the Waikato district, and is occasioning the authorities some anxiety. The Taranaki A. and P. Association and the Taranaki executive of the Farmers’ Union have for some time past been urging upon the Government the necessity for taking greater precautions than were being taken to keep out the disease, including the erection of a dip at the Mokau river, and the dipping of every animal that crossed the river into the Taranaki province, hut all the satisfaction they received was the usual stereotyped reply that the representations “were receiving careful attention,” and that the Agri? cultural Department were taking every precaution, etc. To anyone acquainted with the existing conditions these assurances carried no weight whatever. Cattle in hundreds have been driven from the Waikato and Te Kniti districts through to Taranaki, and if they came from or passed through infected districts the chances were that they could carry the tick into Taranaki. Dogs, too, are carriers of the disease, and of course accompany the herds. The only effective precaution is dipping, but the Government signally failed to realise the danger of flie disease spreading to Taranaki. anti practically did nothing but issue assurances that everything was quite all right. Now, it would seem, the expected lias happened, and stockowners have something to think abou.. Yesterday the stock inspector at Opnnake and the police at New Plymouth were informed of the discovery, and it was hoped means would be taken to quarantine the farm on which the tick has appeared and to endeavor to localise the outbreak. Certainly no means . can be found too drastic to suppress the trouble, which, If it once spreads, may easily reduce Taranaki’s income by hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. The tick increaaeH at an astonishing rate, and a better hunting ground in Now Zealand than Taranaki could not be found. It digs into the skin of an animal and causes it irritation and agony, which interferes with its supply of niilk, as also does the dipping. In course of time, however, cows get used to the dipping, and rush into the dips in order to obtain relief from the vermin. This is happening in the North of Auckland, where the disease is rife, though little or nothing is said about 11 It is a matter of common knowledge that when the tick first made its appearance in North Auckland, Dr. Gllrutii, then at the head of the Agricultural Department, submitted to the Government by which he_ expected to crush out the disease in a few months. His proposals were certainly drastic—they meant segregating the north from a stock point of view for some time, and were as drastic as his proposals for the suppression of blackleg in Taranaki. The then Government. however, were afraid of the outcry that might he raised by the farmers, and did not accept the advice of the distinguished doctor. Who shory' v after retired from the Government's service. Had the Government then shown a stronger attitude and hacked up their veterinarian chief of staff, there is little doubt amongst those qualified to speak that the cattle tick would have been removed from New Zealand as effectively as was the blackleg. , The extent of the loss caused by the spread of the tick may be guaged from the fact that the estimated loss to Australia is five millions annually—all caused by a beast from a Javanese boat jumping ashore at Darwin and carrying the tick. It is proving an expensive beast, not only to Australia, but to New Zealand.