Dec. 2, 1920.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 897 



necessity of clsaning up once the chickens are of} the yards and giving the 

 surface full exposure to the weather. As a precautionary measure where 

 serious sickness has occurred, it is a good plan to remove 3 ur 4 inches of the 

 surface of the small chicken-runs as soon as they are clear of stock, and to 

 let stand until near the following season's rearing, when the earth should 

 be replaced with fresh soil or sand, whichever is available. 



Prevention of Chicken-pox. 



Last year warts, or more properly speaking chicken-pox, made its anpear- 

 ance somewhat earlier than usual, with the result that protective measures 

 were not commenced sufficientl}^ early to be effective in the eirly outbreaks. 

 Experience proves that the protective measures advocated in these notes are 

 effective in rendering growing stock to a large extent immune from the worst 

 effects of this disease. 



The method of protection consists in giving growing stock flowers of 

 sulphur two or three times a week in the morning mash for about three weeks 

 in succession, the quantity to use being a level tablespoonful to each fifty 

 adult birds. Then give them Epsom salts in the drinking water at the rate 

 of 1 oz. to the gallon for a like period. If these treatments are carried out 

 alternately from January to April little fear of chicken-pox need be enter- 

 tained. February, March, and April are the months in which it is most 

 active in this State. 



Owing to tlie different ages that have to be fed, there appears to be some 

 misunderstanding in regard to regulating the quantity of sulphur to be given 

 on an adult feed basis. This difficulty can be overcome if we take it that 

 one bushel of pollard, bran, &c., forming the morning mash, will feed from 

 180 to 200 adults. It therefore works out roughly at a tablespoonful of 

 sulphur to each 5 lb. of mash before being wetted. 



Coal Smoke and Pruit Trees. 



Whether the fumes from coal fires are harmful to fruit trees was asked 

 by a correspondent. He was living about a quarter of a mile from a large 

 brick kiln, and had been trying to start an orchard, but the fumes from the 

 kiln were killing all the big bush timbef in the vicinity, and the fruit trees 

 were not doing too well. 



The presence of sulphur dioxide in the smoke can alone be held responsible 

 for any injury done bv such smoke. Coal contains a certain amount of 

 sulphur and this, on burning, forms sulphur dioxide, but the quantity present 

 in local coal is not large, and it is problematical whether the fumes given ott 

 are likely to have injurious effects. If, however, there were undoubted proof 

 of injury it would not be advisable to continue the orchard as no remedial 

 measures can be suggested. 



An American investigator states that grain crops, which are most 

 susceptible, are bleached by one part of sulphur dioxide in a milhon ot air— 

 a proportion that is not likely to be approached in ordinary coal smoke.— 

 F. B. Guthrie. 



