426 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



would. Add water if necessary, that there may be loo 

 gallons of the solution. After the nicotine solution has 

 been added, do not raise its temperature higher than no 

 degrees F., because of the volatile nature of the nicotine 

 when thus heated. 



The tobacco and sulphur dip is, all things considered, 

 one of the most satisfactory. It is not very costly and in 

 some instances the farmer can grow his own tobacco. It 

 is very effective, as two of the best destroyers of para- 

 sites that infest the wool of sheep, viz., nicotine and sul- 

 phur, are used together. The sulphur remains for a time 

 in the wool, and thus far guards against reinfection. It 

 does not affect the wool injuriously, save by a slight 

 discoloration temporarily. But to its use there are the 

 following drawbacks: (i) It spoils rapidly, hence when 

 made it must be promptly used ; (2) it occasionally sick- 

 ens the sheep and may also thus affect those engaged in 

 dipping, especially when non-smokers ; (3) the amount of 

 nicotine in the tobacco varies, hence unless this is known 

 the dip may not be exactly of the desired strength. The 

 solution should contain 0.05 of one per cent of nicotine. 

 Because of the variations in the amount of nicotine in 

 tobacco, it may be better in many instances to purchase 

 a proprietary tobacco dip, which has been approved by 

 the Bureau of Animal Industry. 



The lime and sulphur dip is one of the cheapest and 

 also one of the most effective dips that have been used 

 in treating sheep for scab. A somewhat heated and pro- 

 longed controversy with reference to the place that 

 should be assigned to it among dips has arisen and pre- 

 vailed during recent years. The parties to this contro- 

 versy were the bureau of animal industry on the one 

 hand and certain agricultural papers on the other, who 

 may have had some pecuniary interest in the outcome of 

 the discussion. 



The objections made to the use of this dip include 

 the following: (i) That it injures the staple of the wool; 



