134 KENNEL SECRETS. 



in which event they have but to choose some favorite per- 

 fume oil, as rosemary, verbena, or the like, and after 

 properly diluting it with alcohol add it to the mixture, 

 which should be at once well shaken. 



This flea destroyer has the color of whiskey and stains 

 very light coats — although the discoloration washes off 

 readily after the hair has dried — consequently it would 

 scarcely be advisable to apply it to a white dog that one 

 desired to appear at his best. 



In using it pour a sufficient quantity into a hand basin 

 and apply with a sponge or brush until all the hair down 

 to the skin has been well moistened, and then allow it to 

 dry on. As its effects are not nearly so fleeting as those 

 of the insect powder its use is seldom demanded oftener 

 than twice a week even in the most troublesome times, 

 but it can safely be resorted to daily if there is occasion 

 for it. And if this agent is sprinkled over the bedding of 

 dogs and about their kennels, fewer direct applications to 

 them will be required. 



Some breeders make an infusion of insect powder by 

 steeping a pound of it in a pailful of boiling water, and 

 this is then added to ten or twelve gallons of water and 

 in the mixture the dogs are given a bath. But boiling 

 water does not extract the virtues of the powder nearly so 

 completely as alcohol, therefore in an infusion there is a 

 loss ; and when so diluted it is extremely doubtful if it has 

 other than a stupefying effect merely, from which the fleas 

 recover in a very short time. 



The cost of the three gallons of the diluted tincture is 

 less than one dollar, but notwithstanding this fact it will 

 doubtless be held too expensive by many who keep a large 

 number of dogs, consequently it is advisable to consider 

 herein another and cheaper insecticide. 



Crude carbolic acid suggests itself, for it costs only 



