232 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



has developed, the dead hornlike slough must be cut out and the 

 wound treated with antiseptics. There is no way we know of to 

 make hair come in with natural color after a wound. The swelling 

 on the colt's leg may be reduced by rubbing it well several times 

 a day and at night rub in some 10 per cent iodine petrogen. 



Fly Repellants. 



Can you tell me luhat to use as a spray to kill the Hies in my stable? 

 In the early morning the ceiling and sides are thickly covered with the 

 pests partly dormant but not enough so that they can be swept down and 

 killed. What spray can I use that will destroy them? 



It is difficult to kill flies by spraying them. You can, however, 

 spray the sides and ceiling of the barn with a spray of epsom salts 

 (sulphate of magnesia) using about a cupful to the gallon, which 

 will prevent them from gathering there. And since prevention is 

 better than cure, flies can be kept from gathering around by de- 

 stroying their breeding places, if those are under one's control, 

 by having all manure and litter removed before the flies have a 

 chance to develop. The following may be found useful to readers 

 as a spray to keep away flies: Fish oil, 2 quarts; kerosene, 1 quart; 

 crude carbolic acid, 1 pinr; oil of pennyroyal, 1 ounce; oil of tar, 

 10 ounces. Mix thoroughly and apply in a fine spray. The following 

 has been successfully used to repel flies from cows: Nitro benzine, 

 5 ounces; carbolic acid, 3 ounces; kerosene oil, 3 ounces; sol. formal- 

 dehyde, 1 ounce; fish oil, V/2 quarts. Mix and just touch the hair 

 with the mixture. 



To Destroy Fleas. 



My barn is full of fleas. I tried to destroy them by using creso-dip, 

 but did not kill them all. 



Fleas can only be permanently checked by destroying their 

 breeding places which are in the dust and dirt that accumulate in 

 cracks and corners around barns, sheds and dwellings. Follow the 

 cleaninq- up with a thorough distribution of flake naphthalene. This 

 is most effective where the stable or room can be closed tight for 

 half a day, or even 24 hours. An ingenious suggestion is made that 

 if a sheep can be let run in and around the buildings where the 

 fleas breed, they will soon be less numerous and as new batches 

 hatch out the sheep will soon get them picked up, and after a while 

 the place will be entirely free of them. But the sheep must be 

 allowed to run all around the sheds and breeding places, as the flea 

 jumps up, gets into the wool, and can never get out again. A hog 

 can also be used as a flea trap. One reader says: Pour a little of 

 the crude oil on the hogs' heads and along their backs, about a gill 

 on each hog. This would run down the sides of the hogs and kill all 

 the fleas on them. The oil also remains on the hogs for several 

 days, and all the fleas that jump on the hogs from the ground stick 

 fast and never jump off again. In about three weeks the fleas all 

 disappear and the hogs look fine and sleek from the use of the oil. 



