344 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



At the tK^ginniug of the operation, nil rtirt and diin.s: adherent to the walls, mangers, 

 floor, and wherever it may be found, shoiild be thoroughly removed. To do this 

 effectively, it may be necessary to add sufficient water to soak the hardened ma- 

 tei'ial until it may be easily removed by a hoe or scraper. The success of the under- 

 taking is largely dependent upon this first step. 



Following a thorough cleaning is the spraying with a solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate, the strength of which is one of corrosive sublimate to one thousand parts of 

 water. Spraying is particularly mentioned as the most rapid process of using the 

 solution. Inasmuch as mercur.v attacks everything metallic, it is necessary to either 

 use a wooden spray-pump or a more complex device suggested by Prof. Taft, tne 

 horticulturalist of this station. By this latter method a metallic spray-pump may be 

 used by placing it in a barrel half full of water. In another barrel is placed a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate of a strength of one to five hundred. This bar'-el is 

 closely coi-ked and is connected with the force pump by means of a tube. Leading 

 out from the barrel is also another tube, which is used for spraying. The water is 

 now forced into the closed barrel under pressure so that the solution is forced out 

 for spraying purposes. This of course makes a solution of from one to five liundred 

 to begin with, and after half a barrel of water has been pumped in, it is diluted to 

 one to one thousand. When this point is reached, sufficient mercuric chloride 

 is added to make the solution up to one to five hundred again. The barrel Avhich 

 contains the pump is again filled half full with water and the operation is repeated 

 as before. By this method, a metallic pump may be used without coming in contact 

 with the solution. Although the solution is one to five hundred at times, it will dc 

 no harm and will be. if anything, more effective. 



The spraying should be continued until all the ceiling, walls, woodwork and floor 

 ha ve been thoroughly wet down. 



Having applied the corrosive sublimate solution two coats of whitewash should 

 follow. To be most effective and satisfactory, the whitewash should be put on with 

 a brush while it is hot and in the process of slacking. In this condition the white- 

 wash has better disinfecting properties and adheres more securely to the walls and 

 ceiling. Perhaps, however, the matter of expense in whitewashing after this 

 method may exceed the advantages gained, and a faster but not so desirable method 

 may be more practicable. The lime may be slacked a day previous to the white- 

 washing, strained through burlap and then put on with a spraying pump. This can 

 be done very rapidly. 



There are so few barns in which a gas disinfectant may be used, because of the 

 many chances of its escape, that it cannot be usually recommended. If a barn is 

 sufficiently tight to hold the gas, it may be used under the same rules as were desig- 

 nated in the disinfection of rooms. 



DISINFECTION OF PASTURES AND YARDS. 



The disinfection of large tracts of land must be regarded as impracticable with 

 artificial disinfectants. "When an infectious disease is prevalent, it is wise, as far 

 as possible, to confine it to a small area. However, there are many instances where 

 this has been found utterly impossible, and the contagion has been spread over lax'ge 

 fields. In this case, it is necessary to leave the disinfection to the direct rays of 

 the sun and the weather and employ the field for cultivation instead of pasture for 

 a period of time. If it were possible to expose all the obnoxious germs to the direct 

 rays of the sun, the difficulty would be easily unraveled, but it is merely the upper- 

 most layer of the soil, and a very thin layer at most, that is exposed, so that to rely 

 upon the direct raj^s of the sun entirely is unsatisfactory. With most pathogenic 

 germs the conditions provided by the soil are not suitable for their sustenance; 

 they consequently become Aveakened and less dangeroiis. There are resident in the 

 soil the germs of symptomatic anthrax or quarter evil, and tetanus or lockjaw, 

 which are able to induce these diseases if the proper circiimstances exist. A class 

 of bacteria, while not naturally belonging to the soil, finds itself associated with 

 the soil by means of filth. The germs of chicken cholera, hog cholera and tyiihoid 

 fever are not infrequently foiuid in such environments, and they are able to exist 

 thus for an indefinite period of time. 



If an artificial disinfectant must be resorted to, a layer of slack lime or chloride 

 of lime is recommended for t is work. Chloride of lime is always preferable to 

 slack lime. 



DISINFECTION OF STOOLS AND URINE. 



The excreta of both animals and man suffering from infectious diseases become 

 at times one of the gravest sources in .spreading disease. Many of the contagious 



