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424 REPORT OF THE‘COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 
Loe vies 
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Directions.—To insure the best results it is necessary to Soak the grain in the ~ 
poison solution at least forty-eight hours. Itshould thenbedried. Grain prepared — 
in this way maybe kept in jars, to be used as required. + aha iy 
& 
Corrosive sublimate, cyanide of potassium, phosphorus, and a 
number of other poisons, although efficient, can not be recommended =~ 
on account of the danger attending their use. Py 
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS. aa 
In dealing with as suspicious a bird as the English Sparrow, in 
cases where the continued use of the poison isrequired,aslow poison 
(such as arsenic) is preferable to one of rapid action (suchas strych- 
nine), for the reason that the effects of the latter may become appar- 
ent in certain individuals while the birds are still feeding, the pecu- 
liar actions of the affected birds frightening the others away before __ 
they have taken enough of the poisoned grain to insure fatal results. 
In such cases it has been observed that the frightened birds never rn 
return to the grain. . ar, 
Before putting out poison for sparrows, the birds should be baited 
to a certain locality. At the same hour each day they should be fed : 
with the same kind of grain that subsequently is to be used asthe 
vehicle for the poison. ei. 
PRECAUTIONS. (74 
In the use of poisons the utmost caution is necessary to prevent 
the possibility of accident from the poison itself, or from the grain. 
employed as a vehicle for the poison. The following precautions ~~ 
should be observed: (i) All vessels containing poison or poisoned “FP 
grain, and those in which the same are mixed, should be labeled = 
with the word Poison, in large letters; (2) all vessels containing 3 
poison or poisoned grain should be kept out of reach of children and x 
domesticated animals; (3)in preparing and exposing poisoned grain, 
great care should be taken to avoid spilling any of it where it might ce 
be found by children, farm animals, or poultry. 
Another possible source of danger in the use of poisons, and one 
that is much less easy to guard against, arises from the fact that the 
bodies of the poisoned birds are liable to fall where they may be-- 
picked up and eaten by man or beast. However, very little real ~~ 
danger is to be apprehended from this source. ; 
SYNOPSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. 
Following is a brief synopsis of the experiments in poisoning made 
by the division: 
EXPERIMENTS WITH STRYCHNINE. 
No. 1. (1 bird.) Fed on wheat soaked one and a half hours in a solution of strych- 
nine (.65 of a gram to 30 c.c. of cold water) and dried. Bird commenced eating at 
1.16 p.m. Atl.27 p.m. showed first symptoms. At 3.10 p.m. it had apparently 
nearly recovered. Next morning it wasdead. Stomach and crop contained 9 ker- 
nels of wheat. 
No. 2. (1 bird.) Fed on hemp seed soaked twenty-four hours in a solution of strych- 
nine (.325 of a gram to 30 c. c. of cold water) and dried. Bird commenced eating 
at 11.35 a.m.; died at 12.20. Crop contained 3 shelled hemp seeds; stomach none. 
No. 3. (Sbirds.) Fed on hemp seed soaked twenty-four hours ina solution of strych- 
nine (.65 of a gram to 30 ¢.c. of cold water) and dried. Commenced feeding at 12.15 
(it is impossible to say that all three commenced at that time). Bird No. 1 died at 
12.42. _Crop contained 3 shelled hemp seeds; nonein stomach. Bird No.2 at about 
i o'clock showed first symptoms while eating; at 3.10, hewever, it had partially ~~ 
recovered. It was dead the next morning, Stomach and crop contained 4 to 9 
