150 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUETURE. 



Mar. 1 



house, and these fleas seem to abound in sandy 

 places. We are getting in the Bermuda as fast 

 as we can. I wrote to the Florida Experiment 

 Station, and below is what Prof. Rolfs has to 

 say about them: 



UN'IVERSITY OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA. 

 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, 



Gainesville. Jan. 25, 1909. 



Mr. Rod: — I note what you say in regard to the "chiggers," or 

 chicken-flea. The remedy which you have used in connection 

 with the fowls is about the best, from a practical standpoint. In 

 my own experience, which extends over more than fifteen years 

 in Florida, 1 have found no great difficulty in ridding our prem- 

 ises of these fleas. Sometimes they are extremely annoying and 

 severe. At one time we moved into a house that had not been 

 very carefully attended to ; and after cleaning up thoroughly we 

 found the sand under the h juse swarming with these little pests. 

 The sand looked fairly alive with them. Of course, the pesis 

 bred under the old matting that had been left in the house for 

 years. We also found at one time that out chicken-runs were 

 pretty badly infested. We promptly moved the poultry to a new 

 run. Of course, we treated the fowls before moving them. We 

 have had as many as 300 head of chickens on the place at once. 



Now as to the way in which we treated them. As soon as we 

 found that the pest was present in laige numbers we had the 

 poultry-runs carefully raked over so as to get rid of all trash and 

 rubbish, which was burned. Then by means of a spraying- 

 machine we treated the part of the yard that seemed to be most 

 severely infested. The house was treated in practically the 

 same way. The old matting in our dwelling was, of course, 

 taken up and burned, the floors thoroughly scrubbed, and the 

 ground under the house treated with a spraying solution. For 

 this spraying solution we have I'sed both kerosene and carboline- 

 um. The latter is much more expensive ; but the former is, ob- 

 viously, not safe to be used under a house. After using the kero- 

 sene the coops were thoroughly dusted with tobacco dust, getting 

 it into the nests and cracks as completely as possible. The 

 chickens do not seem to mind the tobacco dust; but the young 

 fleas evidently don't relish it. 



The above is, in brief, an outline of the way in which we get 

 rid of fleas — both the chigger and the dog-fleas. I do not recall 

 at present whether these are the same as the California sand- 

 fleas ornot. 1 should have to look up the literature on this sub 

 ject to find out. P. H. Rolfs, Director. 



If any of the friends can send me, or put me on 

 track of any printed literature on the subject, I 

 shall be very glad to get it. The Department at 

 Washington, D. C, surely ought to have a bul- 

 letin covering the whole ground. Many people 

 are deterred from coming to Florida, as I know 

 by my correspondence, from fear of these insect 

 pests. I feel sure there is an easy way to be rid 

 of them, and we should all be fully posted on the 

 best way. 



DESTROYING NOXIOUS WEEDS BY THE USE OF 



CHEIWICALS; SOMETHING PROM THE OHIO 



EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Last spring we received quite a little advertis- 

 ing matter highly recommending various chemi- 

 cals for killing weeds. The claims of some of 

 these that were offered for sale seemed rather ex- 

 travagant, and therefore I submitted the adver- 

 tising matter to our Ohio Experiment Station, 

 and below is what our botanist. Prof. A. D. 

 Selby, says about it: 



Mr. A. I. Root; — Your recent letter, addressed to Prof. Green, 

 contains a reference to claims made by the Reade Manufacturing 

 Co., Hoboken, N. J., for their weed-exterminator called " herbi- 

 cide." Several claims are made for this herbicide, which is to 

 be sprayed upon the plant. Among others " it is the preparation 

 which actually kills weeds of all sorts for two whole years, no 

 matter how deep the roots may be — poison ivy, Johnson grass, 

 Canada thistle, Bermuda grass, etc., on economical and scientif- 

 ic principles." This preparation is, of course, sold or offered 

 for sale to the public. 



A good deal has been done in the last five years in the matter 

 of sprays applied for the destruction of weeds, especially for the 

 destruction of mustard weeds in fields of wheat and oats. The 

 successful sprays for this purpose have been tested somewhat 

 thoroughly in recent years by Prof. H. L. Bolley, of the North 

 Dakota Agricultural College and Experiment Station. Fargo. 



These results are published in bulletin 80, recently issued by 

 the Experiment Station of North Dakota. In addition to salt and 

 some other common remedies for weeds, good results are reported 

 from the use of solutions of blue vitriol, copperas, and arsenite of 

 soda. The latter is somewhat more injurious to grain than the 

 two former. The recommendations are, to use 75 to 100 pounds 

 of copperas in each 52 gallons of water; 12 to 15 pounds of blue 

 vitriol for each 52 gallons of water, and I'A pounds of sodium 

 arsenite to each 52 gallons of water. In summing up the results 

 of his experiments. Prof. Bolley gives two lists — one of weeds 

 which may be controlled by means of chemical sprays, and one 

 of weeds upon which field-spraying methods as now in use are 

 not efJective. 



LIST OF WEEDS WHICH MAYBE CONTROLLED BY MEANS OF 

 CHEMICAL SPRAYS — (bOLLBy). 

 " The following weeds may be eradicated or largely subdued 

 in cereal-grain fields through the use of chemical sprays: False 

 flax, worm-seed mustard, tumbling mustard, common wild mus- 

 tard, shepherd's-purse, pepper-grass, ball mustard, corn cockle, 

 chickweed, dandelion, Canada thistle, bindweed, plantain, 

 rough pigweed. King-head (giant ragweed), Red River weed, 

 ragweed, cocklebur. " 



LIST OF WEEDS UPON WHICH FIELD-SPRAYING METHODS 

 AS NOW IN USE ARE NOT EFFECTIVE — (bOLLEV). 



" The following weeds are some which are not effectively 

 controlled by chemical sprays as now used: Hare's-ear mustard, 

 French weed (penny-cress); pink cockle, perennial sow-thistle, 

 lamb's-quarters, pigeon-grass (foxtail), wild oats, chess, quack 

 grass, sweet or holy grass, and wild barley." 



It will be seen from these that the mustard-plants, with the 

 exception of hare's-ear mustard and penny-cress, or French weed, 

 may be controlled by means of chemical sprays; also that practi- 

 cally no perennial grass upon which experimentation has been 

 made will be exterminated by the chemical sprays. These chem- 

 ical sprays are useful, but have their limitations. Persons propos- 

 ing to spray for the control of weeds will probably be better satis- 

 fied with their results when they use chemical sprays of known com- 

 position, according to the recommendations of tnose who have 

 tested Ihem. The directions for spraying are, apply the spray 

 usually before the plant has opened bloom. The principle is to 

 kill off the leaves of the plant, and in time to starve out the 

 roots, even of perennial plants. It will be seen that much 

 stronger solutions of copperas are required than those of blue 

 vitrol, so that the actual cost of the sprays is not much different 

 with these two well-known chemicals. A. D. Selby, 



Botanist. 



You will notice from the above that Prof. Sel- 

 by recommends using chemicals instead of some 

 secret manufactured composition, and I feel sure 

 this is the better way. I made some experijnents 

 in the matter, and it is really astonishing to note 

 the way in which copperas will kill dandelions 

 without harming the grass and other plants 

 growing close to it. Mrs. Root kills grass and 

 weeds, that come up between the stones on the 

 pavement, with boiling water, and it seems 

 quicker and easier than the chemicals; but, of 

 course, this can not be used where you want to 

 kill only the noxious weeds without harming the 

 other vegetation. 



CHURNLESS BUTTER." 



I was considerably amused by the churnless-butter secret. It 

 is certainly old, probably in all essentials as old as butter itself. 

 Butter is still made that way by a few of the smaller farmers in 

 Devonshire, England, though it is considered about as much oot 

 of date as the scythe for cutting hay. The milk should be stood 

 in a rather deep pan, and brought very nearly to the boiling-point. 

 It needs rather careful watching, as, for the best results, it should 

 not be removed from the fire till the cream begins to rise. If left 

 after that it will boil. I have watched the process of making 

 butter with this cream scores of times. It was as described, ex- 

 cept that the hands were used to beat the cream instead of a pad- 

 dle. I do not remember how long the butter took to come, hot 

 it was certainly longer than " a minute." 1 should think it was 

 from five to ten minutes. Though the custom of scalding cream 

 prevails over all this part of England, it is made up in churns, ex- 

 cept in a few of the most behindhand farms. A great deal of 

 this " Devonshire cream" is sold in the cream state, and it is de- 

 servedly popular. To eat with fruit it is far superior to ordinary 

 cream, and it is so thick that it may be spread on bread and eaten 

 like butter. It is often recommended by doctors for patients who 

 require to put on flesh. Wm. L. Couper. 



Cannington Manor, Sask., Canada, Dec. 17. 



