36 Maine: agriculturaIv experime;nt station. 1909. 



has found to be useful in pedigree poultry breeding. This bulle- 

 tin included an account of methods of leg banding newly 

 hatched chicks, of incubating pedigree eggs in such a way as to 

 be absolutely certain of the pedigrees of the chickens when they 

 hatch from the eggs, and of keeping pedigree records in general. 

 Anyone interested in putting their poultry breeding on a strict 

 pedigree basis so that at any time they can tell the ancestry of 

 their birds may obtain this bulletin on application to the 

 Director of the Station. 



LIQUOR CRESOIvIS COMPOSITUS AS A GERMICIDE AND 

 DISINFECTANT. 



There can be no doubt that one absolutely necessary supply 

 about every well conducted poultry plant must be some sort of 

 disinfecting solution. Furthermore, such a disinfectant ought 

 to fulfill satisfactorily several requirements. In the first place, 

 it must be inexpensive. Further, it must be powerful and cer- 

 tain in its action even in dilute solutions. Finally, it must be 

 of such a character as not to injure the birds if it, by accident 

 or design, comes in contact with them. There are a great many 

 commercial disinfectants on the market. Some of the most 

 successful and widely used of these have either a phenol (car- 

 bolic acid) or a cresol base. Many of these preparations are 

 excellent and their excellence is attested by their very wide 

 popularity among poultrymen. There is one objection, however, 

 to all of them. That is, that they are relatively expensive. The 

 farmer or poultryman who uses them pays a good round price 

 for the manufacture of something which he could manufacture 

 himself, the only cost in that event being the cost for the raw 

 materials. With this consideration in mind, it was felt to be 

 desirable to experiment with the making of disinfecting solu- 

 tions at the Station until one could be found which would com- 

 bine the advantages which have been mentioned above together 

 with ease and simplicity of manufacture. A number of such 

 experiments were carried out during the past year. No useful 

 purpose will be served by a detailed description of all these 

 experiments, but we may proceed at once to the final conclusion 

 reached, namely, that, on the whole, the liquor cresoHs compo^ 

 situs of the United States Pharmacopoeia most closely meets 



