6 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 671. 
Sulphur is a sovereign remedy for mites and is the best preventive 
of attack. When exposure is unavoidable and where vegetation is 
not more than 2 or 3 feet high, a sure preventive is found in sifting 
flowers of sulphur into the underclothes from a little above the knee 
downward and,into the shoes and stockings, or it may be rubbed 
over legs and ankles. Naphthalene has been successfully used in the 
same manner... While the sulphur, being inodorous and perfectly 
effective, is undoubtedly preferable against harvest mites alone, 
naphthalene is a safeguard against various forms of man-infesting 
tropical insect pests. Vaseline, pure or mixed with sulphur, will 
serve the same purpose, but is not so agreeable on account of its oily 
nature and the certainty of its soiling the clothing. 
For most localities these precautions are to be observed through 
the months of July, August, and a part of September. The mites 
are seldom bothersome in early June or as late as October, but in 
exceptionally warm seasons they are apt to be encountered in both 
months. 
If exposure has been unwittingly incurred or precautions have 
been neglected and the characteristic irritation has set in, warning 
the patient of, trouble to come, a counter-irritant or cooling lotion 
should be applied directly to the affected parts. For this purpose 
moderately strong ammonia, applied when the symptoms are first 
manifest, has offered the best results, and the writer recommends it 
above all other direct remedies. Bicarbonate of soda, or common 
cooking soda or saleratus, may be substituted in supersaturated 
solution. Similar alkaline solutions would probably also serve in 
counteracting the insect poison, which is acid. These substances 
should be applied liberally until the irritation subsides. Some per- 
sons have testified to the value of a 10 per cent dilution of carbolic 
acid. Alcohol, camphor, essence of peppermint, and similar prep- 
arations are very ‘‘cooling,”’ but afford, as a rule, only temporary 
relief. A dilute tincture of iodine or collodion applied lightly to the 
affected parts is a good remedy in case of severe suffering. The 
latter acts by protecting the ‘‘sore’’ spots from the air. 
DESTRUCTION OF THE MITES IN THE FIELD. 
Much complaint has been made of the presence of harvest mites 
on lawns and in vegetation in country grounds and along pathways 
and roadsides, and information has been solicited by many, including 
officers of country clubs and the like, for methods of eliminating the 
mites from such locations. This can be accomplished by keeping 
the grass, weeds, and useless herbage mowed as closely as feasible, 
so as to expose the mites to the sun. In some cases this can be 
facilitated by dusting the grass and other plants, after cutting, with 
flowers of sulphur or by spraying with dilute kerosene emulsion in 
