106 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



July 19, 1902 



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POULTRY. 



Ticks on Fowls. 



On page 74 of thi.s Journal it was mentioned that 

 a piece of skin, removed from a fowl's breast, covered 

 ■with ticks, liad recentl}- been forwarded to this Depart- 

 ment by Mr. C. W. Moaden, who was of opinion that 

 these parasites were the cause of considerable loss of 

 poultry. Referring to this pest iir. Hart writes: — 



This tick was described in tlie Trinidad Biillcfin for 

 Ajiril 1.S99. It is mostly nocturnal ii\ its habits when niature, 

 while in the primary stages it infests the skin of fowls. 

 Jlr. ^Meaden sent tlieni to me for identification when he found 

 them at Valsagn Tlie tick has been sent to the Department 

 of Agriculture, United States of America, and Prof. Howard 

 lias had it determined as Arr/as s]). — probably to be referred 

 to a Guiana species. It kills fowls rapidly unle-ss they are 

 treated. We have found kerosene and cocoa-iuit oil, equal 

 parts, very effective. It is quite useless to burn down fowl 

 houses alone, because the ticks are always sure to be on the 

 fowls and will infest the next foAvl house readily. The oidy 

 plan is to tlestroy all the fowls as well as the fowl house. 



Keti'rring to the query on [lagc |)() enncerning an 

 imported Plymouth Rock rooster who.se legs have 

 become covered with scales, Mr. J. Barclay, the 

 Secretary of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, writes: — 



This is a conunon disorder among fowls, more especially 

 those having Asiatic blood and yellow legs, as the Plymouth 

 Itocks have, and it is termed 'scaly leg.' The rough warty 

 .scale may safely be jiicked off, and it does not matter if 

 a little blood sliows. Then the legs should 1k' rubli^d uitli 

 kerosene and sweet oil, equal jiarts mixed. 



It is a .simple matter to cure when taken at an early 

 Stage, but when it is as bad as stilted, it will take .some little 

 time before the bird is fit again. Give a dose of one tea- 

 spoonful of Ejisom salts in water or soft food once a week, 

 and do not feed corn for three weeks, but rather some dry 

 rice, pigeon ])eas and liousi-liold scraps. 



Bats prefer Purple Grapes. 

 What ap|)iMrs an interest ing case of i)ats jirrfer- 

 ring pui-ple grapi's to green kinds eonu's to hand from 

 Montscriat. The Agricultural Instructor reports that 

 the bats bit through and in souu' cases tore off 

 mo.scpiito netting bags ])lac'ed o\ei- pui-e ])urple grajies 

 at the (irove Station, wiiilst a lit! le distance off green 

 grapes not protected at all, ripened witlui\it molestation. 



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BEE-KEEPING. 



Montserrat. 



Sati.sfactory progress is reported from ilontserrat of the 

 bee-keeping industry in this island. A consideralde increa.se 

 has been made in the nundier of colonies, the nnnd)er at the 

 Experiment Station rising from eighteen to forty-four during 

 the last three months. The i>rincipal source of honey in 

 stated to be C'/eoiiie, a common weed, found every where and 

 flowering a few days after rain. A considerable amount of 

 honey was also gathered by the bees at Olveston Station 

 from Logwood which remained in flower only a short time. 

 On several occasions when the Alfalfa, a well-known Ameri- 

 can bee-plant has been in flower, the Italian and Black 

 bees have altogether discarded it, though the little wild 

 stingless bee worked actively on it. 



Honey a Nutritive Laxative, sir .lames Sawyer, 



the well-known physician, is never tired of dilating upon the 

 virtues of honey, .\ddressing the mendjers of the Warwick- 

 shire Bee-keeper.s' Association recently, he declared that 

 honey was a nutritious food, cai>able of adnnnistering to 

 every activity of the body and nnnd, of nuiscular action, and 

 of resistance to cold and disease. If we consume ordinary 

 sugar it has to be changed into glucose before we can assimi- 

 late it, but the bee has already done that for us with 

 regard to the sugarsolutiiMi which it took from the flowi'r. 

 Besides being nutritive, honey is valual)le as a laxative. 

 (^^cience Siftinyx.) 



Preserving Corn. 



In the West Indies, as in most tropical countries, 

 stored crojis, es])ecially cereals, are liable to the attacks 

 of in.sects, which result in serious loss to the cultivators. 

 A simple and iiu'xpensive method of pi'eserving corn, 

 guinea corn, jiigecui ])eas and all foodstuffs, from 

 weevils and other insects is recorded in Pampldeb 

 Series No. 5, (p. 2()) issued by this Department: — 



' Grain may be freed tiuni weevils by exposing it 

 for tweiity-fiuir hoins in an air-tight receptacle, to the 

 fumes of carbon bisulphide at the rate of oiu' teaspoon- 

 ful (I draehni) jier cubic foot of space. This will kill 

 t'\ery insect within twenty-four hours and will not 

 damage the grain. Carbon bisuliihide is obtainable in 

 cans from 7 lb. u])war(ls at about 0(/. per lli. in England 

 or the United States. It may also be imj)orted in 1 lb. 

 or .5 lb. bottles more readily, though at a higher ]>rici'. 

 In Barbados the retail price is 2.v. per lb. Benzene 

 may be used in the same way, taking rather more 

 per cubic foot as it is less powerful. As both these 

 substances are very intiammable, care must be e.Kercised 

 in usintr them." 



