656 DISEASES OF SWINE 



of the dipping vat, and where any large number of hogs are to be 

 dipped the vat will pay for its cost in the amount of disinfectant 

 that will be saved, to say nothing of the convenience and time 

 saving that it allows, as well as more thorough work and satisfac- 

 tory results. 



Disinfection of Quarters. — As has already been pointed out, no 

 progress can be made if the dipped animals are turned back around 

 an infected straw-pile or hog shed. These old straw-stacks should 

 be burned or hauled away for manure, or fenced off so that the hogs 

 cannot get to them. Old tumble-down sheds must be thoroughly 

 cleaned up, repaired, and hberally sprayed with the disinfectant 

 solution, using about a 5 per cent, strength for this purpose instead 

 of the weaker solution used on the hogs. 



Where it can be conveniently done, it is the best plan to turn 

 the hogs after dipping into a new range and keep them away from 

 the old feed lots for several weeks. The hog-louse cannot live long 

 without getting upon the body of a hog, and will die out if the hogs 

 are kept away. In the meantime the lots can be thoroughly 

 cleaned up, tumble-down sheds removed or repaired, old straw 

 piles disposed of, and thorough disinfection accomplished by a 

 liberal spraying of the ground and sheds with a strong solution of 

 the disinfectant. 



Rubbing Posts. — The rubbing post is also a common means of 

 combating the louse in hogs. This post can be home-constructed 

 very readily. All that is required is to take a round post about 

 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and bore down through the center of 

 it a hole 2 or 3 inches in diameter. Now take a small bit and 

 bore holes through the side of the post so that they will 

 open into the central bore. These small holes should then be 

 plugged with a soft, porous wood, which will permit oil to soak 

 through them. 



After being thus prepared the post is now set in the ground in 

 the middle of the feed lot, and kerosene oil poured into the hollow 

 space in the center of the post. This oil will seep out through the 

 small wooden plugs and give the entire post a continuous coating 

 of oil. The lousy hog will rub against the post as a natural attempt 

 to relieve its itchiness, and the oil coming in contact with the para- 

 sites destroys them most effectively. 



