6 BULLETIN 1228, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



CONCLUSIONS REGARDING DUSTS. 



From the foregoing it appears that of the dusts derris powder is 

 the most efficient, that pyrethrum is of much value, that naphthalene 

 is efficient only in circumscribed areas where a good fumigation 

 effect can be obtained, and that ground sabadilla seeds may prove 

 efficient but require more thorough testing. 



PAINTS. 



Various preparations and substances have been tested as paints, 

 applied with a brush. A dust consisting of naphthalene 23 per cent, 

 phenols 0.6 per cent, coal-tar hydrocarbon oils 1 per cent, tobacco 

 dust, and siliceous material was inefficient when mixed with water to 

 form a thick paint and applied on an infested nest box. A prepara- 

 tion containing coal-tar creosote oil 87 per cent (the remainder being 

 water) was efficient when painted over the entire inside of a chicken 

 house. Anthracene oil alone and also at the rate of 1 pound to a 

 gallon of turpentine killed mites on roosts. Cresol in whitewash in 

 a roost treatment was efficient at 5 per cent, but not at 2.5 per cent. 

 Whitewash alone was inefficient. 



All efficient contact sprays are of value when applied as paints if 

 the infested premises do not contain deep cracks (which harbor the 

 mites) into which the liquid can not be forced with a paint brush as 

 successfully as by the spray nozzle. While roosts can be painted 

 without much trouble, it is more satisfactory to spray nest boxes, 

 coops, and chicken houses. 



SPRAYS. 



In the tests with sprays the liquids were applied with a knapsack 

 sprayer holding approximately 5 gallons, and a Bordeaux type of 

 nozzle was used in most instances. In some cases where roosts or 

 coops were treated a hand sprayer was used. 



SOLUTIONS OTHER THAN OILS. 



Spray tests with solutions other than oils are summarized in Table 

 1. Some of the materials contained animal oils (whale oil), but 

 none mineral oils. 



Table 1. — Results of spray materials {other than oils) against the chicken mite. 



Material. 



Dilution in water. 



Subject of test. 



Results. 





Per cent. 

 ... 28.00 



lto9 



Roost 





Alcohol, ethyl 



... 95.00 



None 



Roost and coop 



Chicken house, coop. . . 

 Roosts, nest boxes. 

 Nest boxes 



Do. 



Formaldehyde 



37.50 

 04)3142.34 

 ... 1.94 



13.87 



12.45 

 ... 34.00 



41.82 

 ... 8. 72 



lto9 



Somewhat efficient. 



Ferric sulphate [ Fe 2 ( S 

 Sodium hypochlorite . 



1 to 9, 3 to 7 



Inefficient. 





Do. 



Do..... 



ltol6 



Coops 



Do. 



1 to 8, 1 to 5 



Roosts 



Do. 



Lime-sulphur (32° B. 



1 to 15, 1 to 9 



Chicken houses, nests.. 



Chicken houses 



do 



Do. 



Nicotine sulphate 2 . . 

 Do 2 ..... 



Ito600 



Somewhat efficient. 



lto75 



Moderately efficient. 



Derris extract 2 



16.00 

 80.00 

 80.00 



1 to 1,000, 1 to 500... 



do 





Whale-oil soap 



Do 



llb.tolgal 



do 



Somewhat efficient. 



21bs. to lgal 



...do 



Do. 











1 "Available chlorine." 



2 Whale-oil soap at the rate of 4 pounds to 100 gallons of water added. 



