Insect Vermin. 



183 



Hatvks arc only destructive in the country, or very open suburban districts. They usually 

 visit a yard at about the same hour of the day, and hence are easily lain in wait for and killed by a 

 good marksman. Failing this, it sometimes answers to turn loose a good sharp-fighting Game 

 hen with her chickens, previously well heeling her with steel : unequal as the contest might be 

 thought, such a mother has on more than one occasion proved victorious. 



Other birds are chiefly devourers of the grain or other food ; and there will be little of 

 this if, as we have so often advised, the chickens or fowls are thrown it only as they eat it, 

 with the owner or attendant standing by. Where the breeds kept are not much subject to 

 over-fattening, another method of cheating the birds is to feed with maize or Indian corn, the 

 grains of which are too large for them. Still another plan of contending with these little enemies 

 is to employ a feeding-cage or pen entirely enclosed with wire, with the exception of one or two 

 hanging swing doors. These the fowls soon learn to push up, and feed themselves without 

 difficulty, while the little thieves are completely " done" out of any participation. 



Lice or other insect vermin will rarely give trouble if the houses be whitewashed twice a year 

 with good hot lime. If some sulphate of iron be dissolved in the water, the power of the wash 

 will be much increased. The dust or sand in the sheds must also be looked after, and cleansed 

 by sifting, or else renewed altogether at due intervals. If, in spite of all, the tiny pests appear, the 

 houses may be effectually cleared by syringing with diluted carbolic acid, watering the floor with 

 the same mixture, or freely scattering about from a dredger some of M'Dougall's or any 

 other Carbolic Disinfecting Powder. The smell will last for days, and no vermin will withstand 

 it long. The ordinary brown acid of commerce will dissolve in hot water, though not in cold ; 

 but a clear preparation may also be purchased which \will mix in cold water to any strength 

 desired. By the judicious use of one or the other of the carbolic acid preparations, all insect pests 

 whatever may be easily defied. 





