558 



Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



deference to the landowner, future va- 

 cationist, and his own conscience is to 

 make sure that his fire is out dead out. 

 If local rules forbid lighting fires, there 

 is a good reason for the regulation and 

 for obeying it. Use plenty of water in 

 drowning your fire; make sure that it 

 has soaked into the ground thoroughly. 

 Take the time to stir the water into 

 the soil with a shovel or stout stick. 

 Never let it be said that you found a 

 green camp site and left it a ruin. 



If there is any doubt as to the purity 

 of the water supply, search for a re- 

 liable source, and boil the water for 15 

 minutes, or add one of the purifying 

 agents available at most camping-sup- 

 ply stores. Take no chances with ques- 

 tionable drinking water. 



Learn to identify poison-oak, poison- 

 ivy, and poison sumac. Avoid them. If 

 contact is impossible to avoid, one home 

 remedy is to wash all exposed parts of 

 your body with a strong laundry soap. 

 If you set out to rid a patch of poison- 

 ous plants, wear gloves at all times; if 

 you have to burn the plants, keep out of 

 the smoke. 



Ticks of various kinds, from mid- 

 April to mid-August, may be a source 

 of infection; the "sick" ticks are poten- 

 tial carriers of spotted fever. After a 

 day in the woods, search for ticks that 

 may have become attached to the skin. 

 Check carefully under armpits and in 

 body creases. If you find a tick, be sure 

 that you remove his head as well as his 

 body. Cautious forest rangers, loggers, 

 and stockmen who work in the tick 

 country properly respect the "sick" 

 tick; they are inoculated before the tick 

 season starts. 



The little ones of the forests can 

 cause great discomfort; they should be 

 anticipated when assembling supplies 

 for the trip. The bites of mosquitoes, 

 punkies (midgies or no-see-ums) , black 

 flies and other biting flies, and chiggers 

 or red bugs (mites) can be avoided 

 by repellents, which have little or no 

 odor and remain effective up to several 

 hours, even when those bothersome in- 

 sects assemble in large numbers. Re- 

 pellents developed primarily for mili- 



tary use have been adopted widely for 

 civilian purposes. Detailed information 

 is furnished in a leaflet, Use of Insect 

 Repellents and Miticides, distributed 

 by the Bureau of Entomology and 

 Plant Quarantine, Agricultural Re- 

 search Administration, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton 25, D. C. The leaflet recommends 

 the following mixtures of repellents as 

 effective against a wider range of insect 

 species and on more individuals than 

 any one of the chemicals when used 

 alone (all parts are by weight) : 



Formula 1 



Dimethyl phthalate 3 parts 



Indalone 1 part 



Rutgers 612 1 part 



Formula 2 



Dimethyl phthalate 1 part 



Indalone 1 part 



Rutgers 612 1 part 



Formula 3 



Dimethyl phthalate 3 parts 



Indalone 1 part 



Dimethyl Garbate 1 part 



Mosquito nets often are useful. 



Learn also to identify the poisonous 

 snakes. Three of them (copperheads, 

 water moccasins, and rattlesnakes) are 

 easily distinguished from the harmless 

 species by their four nostrils. If one 

 does not care to get close enough to a 

 questionable reptile to count his nos- 

 trils, his larger, triangular-shaped head 

 (in contrast to the smaller, oval-shaped 

 heads of the harmless snakes) is usually 

 a safe distinction. The other poisonous 

 snake, the coral snake, can be identi- 

 fied by its brilliant coloring. It is sel- 

 dom longer than 2 feet and is encircled 

 with alternate red, yellow, and black 

 bands. It occurs only in the Deep 

 South, but it is the most poisonous of 

 all. Do not kill every snake you en- 

 counter, but you will be doing a service 

 to mankind by dispatching the ones 

 that have the large, triangular heads 

 (especially those that rattle) and those 

 in the South with brilliant coloring. 



If a lightning storm overtakes you, 

 do not seek shelter under a single tree 



