CATTLE TICK REGULATIONS

Waipa Post, Volume XXI, Issue 1210, 25 February 1922, Page 6

CATTLE TICK REGULATIONS

IMPORTANT DEPARTMENTAL ORDER. AREAS DEFINED. New regulations appeared in last week's Gazette for the prevention of the spread of ticks among cattle. The object of the regulation is to define clean and infested areas and to control the transference of stock (horses, cattle and dogs) from one area to another. It is stipulated that every person, whether the owner, agent, or servant, who without permission of the inspector " drives depastures or suffers any stock to ■stray" upon a road is liable to a fine not exceeding £SO and not less than £2 for every day of noncompliance with regulations. The inspector is to be compul[sorily notified of the presence of cattle tick within 24 hours of its being noticed, and the inspector is given power to demand immediate attention.

Dealing with the removal of stock from an infested area, the regulations provide that the inspector must be notified seven days beforehand, and his requirements must be satisfied before the specified permit is* issued. In the case of horses which are in constant use crossing between the areas, the inspector may issue a permit subject to regulations requiring thesie horses being kept free from the cattle ticks, but these permits may be revoked at any time by the inspector.

As to saleyards, any infested stock found in a pound or saleyard renders the owner liable for a fine not exceeding £2O for every head infested Paspalum grass seed is brought within the scope of the regulations As to the general penalties, it is stated, " Every person is liable on conviction to a fine of not lessi than £5 and not more than £200" who removes or allows to be removed from an infested area to a clean area any stock without a permit from the in-

spector. The first infested area takes in the northern Waikato district, and extends (slightly north of Auckland, including Great Barrier Island. The second infested area is Southern Waikato and Bay of Plenty districts, The southern boundary strikes along the Napier-Taupo road to lake Taupo, the Waikato river to its intersection with the boundary line between Wharepuhunga and Mungatautari blocks ; along that boundary line to the Owairaka river to the Puniu river to its junction with the Waipa river at the northern boundary of Waitomo county. The line then strikes' to the Pirongia trig and to the ,eastermost inlet of the Aotea Harbour to the sea. The area northwards of that line is declared to be infested. Authorised crossing places;- in this locality are : Whacawhatahoe bridge at Pirongia ; Puniu bridge, Kakepuku ; Puniu bridge, Otorohanga road; Waotu bridge ; there are many other crossing places further afield. Director of Live Stock's Views. " There were several factors responsible for these regulations," said Colonel Young, director of the Live Stock Division of the Agricultural Department to a Dominion reporter. " All over the world, where cattle ticks exist, they are regarded as most unwelcome visitors, as- they cause great loss by undermining the health oi cattle, damage the hides, and also spread the disease over the countryside. The Department has taken this action with the view of preventing the lurther spread of the disease."

The Director of the Live Stock Division went on to explain that the new regulations now in force embrace the whole of the north, which has been divided into two sections — (a) An area well known to be infested, and (b) an area where occasionally ticks are being found. Much controversy, he stated had taken place over the boundaries so drawn as it appeared that in many cases patches of country in each appear to be free from tick. " But against this," declared Colonel Young, " the explanation of the Department has been that ticks may be conveyed a lcng distance, yet not make their presence known for two or three yea.rs. It was therefore, decided thai; it was a 'jound er policy to get well outride where ticks at present existed, so ;hat as time warranted the oouti hrie;; could be contracted than io f.iopt a narrower sphere and be continually txtending so as to overtake fresh cases;.

Dipping 1 in A Area Compulsory. Colonel Young said that under the new regulations' the dipping of cattle in the A area had been made compulsory, This was brought about by the fact that some settlers were not taking advantage of the dips already erected in the district by other energetic settlers. That being so, it was a hopeless task to try and eradicate tick, as a few breeding grounds would always be left. No' cattle may now leave A area, whether infester or not, before they are first passed through an approved dip. This would ensure that B area, which in reality is a buffer state, would not be furL her infested. Dips should not. how-

ever, he advised, be erected too close to the boundary, so as to allow of this being gradually contracted when the time proved opportune, as such contraction would leave the dips outside the area, and they would, therefore, not be available.

" Is it possible to eradicate tick ?" was a question put by the reporter. " Yesi" replied the Director of the Live Stock Division ; "it has been demonstrated in America and Africa that ticks can be eradicated where systematic d.'pping is in force, and where the settlers co-operate wholeheartedly in the matter, not only by dipping,,but by burning off all rough herbage at the proper season of the year." The young seed ticks, he explained, gain access to the cattle principally by climbing up the stalks of long grass. It was necessary that dipping should take place at regular intervals, otherwise the ticks would drop to the ground in a fertile state and carry on business as usual. "The practical way to look upon the procedure," said Colonel Young, "is to recognise that the ground is infested with tick, and that the cattle only act as collectors thereof. So soon, therefore, as they have collected a number of ticks these must be destroyed by dipping or other rneansi, whilst the stock return to the pasture to collect more ticks."

It would appear that the Department has taken every precaution, as no cattle will be allowed out of the out a certificate that they have been dipped, and no cattle can leave B area 'before they get a permit from an inspector of stock. There are mo .restrictions upon the importation of cattle into the prescribed areas, but no cattle will be alowed out of the infested areas, even for show purposies.

The A area embraces all the territory north of a line drawn from Manakau Harbour to Coromandel, while the B area consists of the country jbelow this to a line stretching from Kawhia to Cape Runaway.