The cattle tick has two phases in its life.

[Illustration:  Cattle leaving Dip.]

After establishing itself on the animal, the tick becomes a blood sucker, and at certain seasons animals running wild over unbroken camps, become literally covered with these bichos; consequently the cattle fall back in condition, and the mortality amongst them mounts up to an appallingly large percentage.  To obviate this the dip is used, and has come into general use.  The animals are collected from afar, and brought into the corral (a strong enclosure), from which there is a wooden passage, having many contrivances useful for marking, branding, and dehorning cattle, all of which are used in their due season; but for dipping purposes this passage terminates in a precipitous slope, and the animals are gently forced along it from the corral to plunge suddenly into a prepared bath of a strong solution, which kills every tick; so it follows, that if the animal has been totally submerged, it is absolutely free from the parasite.  The object of dipping is to kill all kinds of insects and parasites which trouble the bovine race; especially so the common Louse (the Dermatodectis Bovis) which is the scab producer.  The worst pest is, however, the cattle tick or Garrapata, and known under the scientific name of Boophilus Annulatus.

This latter is the harbinger of the microbe of Texas Fever or Tristeza, as it is known in the Argentine.

The remedies that are principally employed are of a tarry basis and prepared so as to be easily mixed with water, usually in the proportion of 1 to 100.

The amount of mixture used is 2.60 litres, and the cost works out at 10 cents. per head.

The greatest number of animals that the Santa Fe Land Company have been able to put through the dip in a day is 6,700, working from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Animals certainly are frightened the first time they take this bath, but very soon they find the comfort of its effect, and come to like and enjoy it.  The cattle we saw dipped to-day had mostly been through the process several times before, and walked calmly down the passage, seeming to enjoy their scramble through the dip.  On emerging from the dip, the animals stand in a small corral on the other side, and are kept there for a while to allow the liquor to drain off their hides, and find its way back to the tank.

Some of the younger animals seemed scared at the first plunge, and though a very great point is made of the fact that they must all be collected and driven into the corral and down the passage, with the utmost gentleness, some of them grew so disturbed at the unusual proceeding, that they leapt on to the animal in front instead of sliding down the dip as the older animals do.  However, there are always plenty of men under the superintendence of the mayor-domo to see that no harm comes to any animal, and though in the early days of dips, broken legs were not unusual occurrences, nowadays there are very seldom any accidents, though thousands of animals may be dipped in a few hours.  One man holds a curious sort of wide blunt prong, with which he presses the heads of any animals, who have not been totally immersed, under the liquid as they pass him, thus ensuring the destruction of all parasites.