8 Farmers’ Bulletin 1101. 
an inch wide is ideal for this purpose. After it has been treated in a 
saturated solution of bichlorid of mercury and dried, pieces are 
wrapped around the leg of the piece of furniture to be isolated and 
ends lapped over tightly and pinned. The tape can be readily re- 
newed by another soaking in bichlorid of mercury and repinned in 
place. 
Twenty-five per cent of bichlorid of mercury mixed 3 in shellac may 
be painted around the legs of furniture, and when dry it will be quite 
as satisfactory as the tape. 
Extreme caution is advised in handling hichgcnss of meroviry, as 
there is always an element of danger in using this poison. In recent 
years the sale of this drug to the layman has been practically dis- 
continued. 
A simple and efficient though perhaps unsightly barrier may be 
made by placing the legs of furniture in saucers and putting a gen- 
erous supply of moth balls in each saucer. The moth balls will 
slowly volatilize, and it is necessary to add more from time to time, 
but the ants will not cross the barrier thus formed. 
Coal oil placed in saucers in which the legs of furniture rest will 
repel the ant, but the odor of the oil is disagreeable to most persons. 
STRONG ANT POISONS. 
Many and varied experiments have proved that it is futile to try 
to exterminate Argentine ants with a poison which kills rapidly. A 
few workers may be killed, but the masses of ants will quickly recog- 
nize the source of fatality and avoid the “ doctored” food. The few 
workers killed in this way will have no effect in reducing the 
numbers. None of this poison will reach the queens in the nest, and 
it has been found that it is essential to kill off the queens in order to 
prevent further multiplication of the pest. 
Such poisons are, however, satisfactory for quickly ridding a 
house of ants, though the relief obtained is not permanent. Strong 
antimony or arsenical sirups, a number of which are sold by drug- 
gists in infested territory, are used for this purpose. They are 
usually placed about the infested house in small dishes, a few drops 
to a dish. Though the ants feed on such a sirup at first, they soon 
realize that it is harmful and vacate the building for a few weeks. 
A SIRUP MADE ACCORDING TO A SPECIAL FORMULA MOST 
SATISFACTORY. 
A weakly poisoned sirup, on the other hand, may be continually 
attended, the workers carrying it to the nest and feeding it to the 
