LICE, MITES, TICKS AND WORMS 



165 



into a large size dry-goods box, at 

 the bottom of which is a newspaper 

 thoroughly painted with a good lice 

 killer; cover the top of the box with 

 a carpet and leave them in for three 

 hours, then look them over thorough- 

 ly and pull out every feather that has 

 nits on it. The nits hatch out about 

 every five days, so in a week's time 

 look the hens over again, powder 

 them again, and again put them into 

 the box painted with the lice killer. 

 Two applications should cure them. 

 After this, once a month, at Anight, 

 powder them with bubach and look 

 them over occasionally, and if neces- 

 sary, go through the performance 

 again. You can paint the roosts with 

 lice killer, but do not put any in the 

 nests, for it will not only flavor the 

 eggs, but will kill the germs and make 

 the eggs unhatchable. The best thing 

 to use for the nests is a kettleful of 

 boiling water with a large handful of 

 salt added to it, or scalding soap- 

 suds, putting in fresh straw, or better 

 still, making the nests of tobacco 

 stems. You can get these for 25 cents 

 a gunny sack full. 



Spray for Houses and Dip for Hens 



Last summer I found a recipe in one 

 of your articles for spraying hen 

 houses. I used it to good advantage, 

 but have misplaced the recipe and 

 cannot remember the mixture exact- 



ly. It was composed of coal oil, car- 

 bolic acid and soap, with a certain 

 proportion of water. If you will 

 kindly send it to me, I will appreciate 

 it. C. W. 



_ Answer I gladly send you the re- 

 cipe, which is excellent. I have used 

 it for ten years or more. It will kill 

 fleas, lice, mites or any insect pests in 

 the henneries. It will also thorough- 

 ly disinfect the premises from infec- 

 tious diseases and if used for a dip 

 for hens in warm, sunny weather, will 

 rid them of lice and will assist the 

 moult: 



Dissolve one pound of hard soap 

 (or soap powder) in one gallon of 

 boiling water, remove from the fire 

 and add immediately one gallon of 

 kerosene and one pint of crude car- 

 bolic acid. Churn or agitate violent- 

 ly for twenty minutes or until you 

 want to use it. If the oil and water 

 separate on standing, then the soap 

 was not caustic enough. Add to this 

 ten gallons of water. 



I keep the stock solution on. hand, 

 dip out a quart and add to it ten 

 quarts of water and use it for spray- 

 ing the houses once every three weeks 

 in summer and every month in win- 

 ter. Putting it on hot in summer and 

 slopping it well into dark and dusty 

 corners will kill fleas, which are ex- 

 ceedingly troublesome on sandy soil 

 in this part of the country. 



FEEDING IN GENERAL 



Feeding System I am not perfectly 

 satisfied with my feeding system and I 

 follow yours on the food question. I 

 note that you advise dried blood and 

 other food dried in the oven, green cut 

 bone and bone meal. Would you ad- 

 vise boiled liver, lungs and scraps in- 

 stead of prepared meat scraps? Are 

 ground clam shells good in place of 

 cut bone? Could there be any danger 

 from feeding too much ground shell? 

 Should gravel be furnished to chick- 

 ens to pick from? D. F. 



Answer Boiled liver and lungs 

 chopped fine are excellent for fowls. 

 I prefer them to prepared meat scraps. 

 They must be fed while fresh, as 

 spoiled meat may poison the fowls. 

 Clam shells cannot take the place of 

 cut bone. Crushed oyster and clam 

 shells contain lime, which is very good 



for making egg shell. There is no 

 danger of the hens eating too much of 

 this. Gravel or grit should always be 

 furnished to chickens. 



Animal Food for Fowls Kindly in- 

 form me as to the difference, if any, 

 between beef scraps, beef meal, meat 

 meal and blood meal. Which is con- 

 sidered the best to feed laying hens 

 and growing chickens? I have fed 

 beef scraps for nearly a year and had 

 good results from it; at least I think 

 I have. If .some of the others are 

 better, I would like to know what one 

 it is. G. K. W. 



Answer Beef scraps, beef meal and 

 meat meal are the same, only the lat- 

 ter is ground finer than the former. 

 Blood meal is made from the blood, 



