THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



639 



spoonful of bait about the base of each 

 plant after it is transplanted, and when 

 possible it should be scattered over the 

 held a few days before the plants are 

 transplanted. Much of the damage 

 usuallj^ attributed to bandicoots and hares 

 is due to cutworms. In fields that are 

 really badly infested it is said that a 

 change to a millet crop for a season will 

 be of great benefit. 



To keep White Ants 

 from a Buiiding. 



ALL house-owners (says the " Queens- 

 land Agricultural Journal ") both in 

 town aad country know by experience 

 the destruction caused by Termites when 

 once they have affected a lodgment in a 

 building either of stone, brick or wood. 

 It is expeasive work getting rid of them 

 and replacing the damaged timbers ; 

 therefore, the best plan is to biiild in 

 such a way that the pests have no chance 

 of gaining an entrance. Hence, in a 

 wooden building the stumps on which 

 the lower framework rests demand the 

 most careful attention. In the first place, 

 no stump should be used which is the 

 least gone or " dozy " at the heart. 

 Neither should any that have radiating i 

 cracks from the centre to the circumfer- 

 ence be employed. In the next place, 

 every stump should be thoroughly 

 sapped well into the old wood, and 

 stumps should also never exceed 12 inches 

 in diameter of solid wood, neither should 

 they stand out of the ground at any less 

 height than 2 feet or 2 feet 3 inches. 

 Suitable stumps of this kind having been 

 prepared, the next operation is to tar 

 them. Some char them before tarring, 

 but this is worse than useless. The heat 

 causes the timber to crack longitudinally 

 by the expansion of the moisture by heat, 

 and a dozen channels are thus opened for 

 the entrance of the enemy. Stumps | 

 should not be dressed with cold coal tar. 

 It should be thoroughly boiled until 

 every particle of moisture and volatile 

 oils contained in it are driven off. It 

 should then be allowed to cool, and next 

 day it will be almost solid. When all is 

 ready, warm the tar till it becomes fluid ' 

 enough to apply. Give the stumps two I 



heavy coats of this, not forgetting the end 

 which is to be set in the ground. Now 

 pour some crude cold tar into the stump 

 hole and set the stump on this. See that 

 it stands in the same position as it occu- 

 pied in the growing tree, the small end 

 end uppermost. Then slightly damp the 

 soil to be returned with crude tar, and 

 ram it in firmly. The lower end is now 

 quite secure. The upper end should be 

 covered with a 2'4-gauge galvanised iron 

 cap. 



On no account allow a spike to be 

 driven through the cap to hold the 

 ground plates. There is not any need for 

 a spike, as the weight of the building will 

 hold everything firmly in its place. 



The building will not shift ; and if a 

 hurricane comes along, the spike would 

 not hold any more that a wooden peg. 

 Thus both top and bottom of the stump are 

 so far absolutely safe from the white ants. 



But all this will be useless unless great 

 care is taken with the building of the 

 chimney. This shonld have a concrete 

 foundation, and be capped with iron pro- 

 jecting about three inches all round, set 

 lower than the stump caps. Thus the 

 ants can find no means of communication 

 with the building by means of the 

 chimney. 



Finally, verandah steps should be care- 

 fully isolated by setting the sides of the 

 steps on short stumps well clear of the 

 ground, capped and tarred as before 

 directed. The house is now practically 

 safe. But there is still a source of danger, 

 and one that is commonly disregarded. 

 People find the under part of the house a 

 convenient storeroom for old timber, 

 cases and barrels. This lumber is often 

 pushed under the house, touching the 

 joists. The ants are not long in finding 

 this out, and once they do so all the pre- 

 vious precautions will be of no avail. 

 There is a case on record where the Ter- 

 mites entered a building by constructing 

 a tunnel up a piece of stiff grass which 

 grew up just inside a stump, and touched 

 the flooring of the house. Therefore, all 

 weeds, Sida retusa, &c., should be care- 

 fully cleared away, and no lumber be 

 allowed to connect the joists with the 

 ground. By attention to these points 

 there will be no danger of a house being 

 invadtd by this one of the greatest pests 

 of hot climates. 



