20 



movable in the house should be taken outside. Sweep the dust 

 and cobwebs off the walls, windows and ceiling. Sweep the 

 floor, if you have one. The walls should then receive a generous 

 coat of hot whitewash, put on with a spray pump to save time. A 

 good receipt for whitewash is as follows : Take a sufficient quan- 

 tity of lime, slack it slowly and wet enough to make into a thick 

 putty. Let it stand in this shape a few hours or a few days, and 

 then reduce it with water to the thickness desired. Add one pint 

 of crude carbolic acid to every 12-quart pailful, and you will have 

 a combination that will be death of lice. Sprinkle the floor with 

 napcreol or some other disinfectant, kerosene the roosts, paint 

 the nest boxes with some good lice killer, cover the dropping 

 board with a coat of hot tar in short give the house a thorough 

 cleaning. 



LICE AND RED MITES. 



Relentless and persistent war must be waged against lice 

 and red mites. The poultryman who keeps his house in the san- 

 itary condition I have described is apt to think that the battle is 

 won, that there is nothing more to do. Such is not the case. The 

 foe is in hiding; it is not destroyed. There comes a falling off 

 in egg production, and the poultryman wonders what is the cause. 

 "Lice," says a too candid friend. The poultryman waxes indig- 

 nant. "I'll give you a dollar apiece for every louse you find on 

 my hens !" he exclaims. The friend takes a hen off the nest, and 

 holds her up toward the light. "Pull apart the fluff around the 

 vent/' he commands. The poultryman does so, and, lo ! a covey 

 of lice may be seen cutting to cover in the dense jungle of soft 

 feathers. 



Where a big egg record is desired the hens must not be left 

 to rid themselves of lice by their own efforts, but must be dusted 

 from time to time. The poultryman can make his own insect 

 powder cheaper than he can buy it, but where only a few hens 

 are kept it will not pay him to do so. Lambert's "Death to Lice" 

 and Cyphers Lice Powder are standard preparations. If the 

 poultryman wishes to make his own powder here are two formu- 

 las that may be depended upon : 



I. Take one pint of slacked lime and stir into it one ounce 

 liquid carbolic acid. Add to this mixture three pounds finely 

 ground tobacco and mix thoroughly. This powder dusted 

 wherever lice are will kill them. 2. Take five pounds strong 



