42 



soldier, with a light brown head, blotched in the centre of the upper sur- 

 face with a darker reddish-brown tint, with a pale line of suture down the 

 centre; and antennae composed of fourteen joints. It has a wide range 

 over the coastal districts of New South Wales, and probably will be found 

 extending into the other States. 



Prevention and Methods of dealing" with White Ants. 



Termites are individually very delicate little creatures that can be 

 easily destroyed by any contact poison if once found, and their where- 

 abouts noticed in time; so that it is not difficult to check or drive them 

 away in the first instance. 



The food of these insects is wood or vegetable matter of all kinds, and 

 the wonderful instinct or sense of smell that enables them to find their 

 way upwards through feet of clay or brickwork to the wood above is very 

 remarkable. 



Therefore, as prevention is better than cure, the more perfectly the 

 house being built is isolated from the ground beneath the better chance 

 there is of keeping out the white ants. The first thing to do before 

 building any kind of house in a district where white ants are known 

 tC' be troublesome is to thoroughly examine the proposed site for all 

 stumps, roots, or dead wood, and remove everything found; if it is 

 practical to remove all the surface earth that is being built over for a 

 depth of 6 inches or more, so much the better ; some foreign authority 

 recently advised deeply ploughing the site first, and claimed that he had 

 never had a house infested with white ants where this practice had been 

 followed. 



All floors should be raised above the surrounding level, so high that a 

 man could crawl all over under the building and have access to the wood- 

 work. In many of the cases where houses are badly damaged by white 

 ants the floor joists will be frequently found resting upon or only a few 

 inches off the ground. 



In country houses where timber supports or piles are used, they should 

 be charred or tarred, and if ^ a lb. of salt be placed in each hole beneath 

 the post it would be a great preventive ; on the top of each a tin or zinc 

 cap should be placed, for, though not everlasting, they help to keep the 

 pests out of all upper woodwork. 



Where bricks can be used it is much better to build all supports with 

 them, as they do not attract the termites. The floor joists after they are 

 laid should be thoroughly dressed with wood-preserving oil, to which has 

 been added 1 lb. of arsenic to 4 gallons of oil. If equal parts of washing 

 scda and arsenic are boiled together, the latter will be dissolved and can 

 then be mixed with the oil. This is the basis of all " anti-ant paint " and 

 " white ant exterminators " that are placed upon the market; they can be 

 just as easily compounded at home for less than one quarter the cost. 

 Sometimes after the floor is laid upon the joists the oil will ascend through 



