1008. 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
949 
KILLING PRAIRIE ANTS. 
riardly a week passes that some one 
does not ask how to get rid of ant hills. 
These insects ruin lawns, work into houses 
and make themselves a nuisance generally. 
The Kansas Experiment Station gives in 
Bulletin 154 a good account of the mound¬ 
building prairie ant and its habits. While 
this insect is larger and more of a nuisance 
than the ants generally found in the East, 
its habits are much the same. The prairie 
ants live under gravel-covered mounds, 
one of which is shown below. They 
are much attached to their home, and no 
amount of rough handling short of ex¬ 
termination will make them leave it. As 
is shown in the picture, they clear out 
Exterior oe a prairie ant mound. 
the vegetation around the mound, as it 
forms an obstacle to their coming and go¬ 
ing, and makes concealment for their 
enemies. The mound is covered to a depth 
of half to one inch with a lot of coarse 
pebbles or particles picked up from the 
surrounding ground. Near the railways 
they will use cinders or bits of coal for 
this purpose. It is said that near Wal¬ 
lace, Kan., they use bits of glass, mortar 
and in some cases rusted iron. Beneath 
this gravel coaling there is a rainproof 
roof firmly cemented together with soil 
taken from down in the ground. An in¬ 
terior of a mound is shown below. 
As will be seen, it is honeycombed with 
chambers and galleries, which go down in 
some cases 10 feet or more below the sur¬ 
face. The chambers vary from one to 
three inches in diameter, while the galler¬ 
ies which protect them are about three- 
eighths of an inch wide and of varying 
length. The store houses are filled with 
seeds and rooms are reserved for the young 
ants as well as for the adults. There are 
three classes of individuals in the mound; 
the queens, males and workers. In a 
mound of average size there are said to be 
at least .10,000 worker ants. These ants 
are not quarrelsome, and fight only in 
self defence, but then they will attack the 
largest enemy. Their worst injury is done 
in Alfalfa, where these mounds obstruct 
the work of the mowing machines. To at¬ 
tempt to mow through one of these mounds 
frequently chokes the machine or ruins the 
cutting edge of the sickle. It is said to 
be most unwise for a driver who drives 
into a mound to stop and try and adjust 
INTERIOR OF AN ANT MOUND. 
the machinery, for any such disturbance 
will send the ants out in angry storm and 
they quickly attack the invader. If they 
succeed in getting on man or beast, they 
will seize clothing, hair or skin and deliver 
a thrust quite as painful as the result 
of a bumble bee or a yellow jacket. In 
the mound the ants have one or two open¬ 
ings or gateways, through which they all 
come and go. One of them is shown in 
the cut. At night or at the approach of 
a rainstorm the ants crowd' into the 
mound, and the openings are closed with 
material much like that which covers the 
mound. These gateways are closed shortly 
before sunset, and open again between 
eight and nine in the morning. As for 
remedies, the following suggestions are 
taken from the bulletin: 
(arbon bisulphid is evaporated under 
a practically air-tight vessel over one or 
more of the opened gateways of the mound. 
T he vapor formed, being heavier than air, 
sinks downward through the burrows into 
the lowest parts of the nest and finally 
comes to fill every chamber and passage¬ 
way. Thus all the ants that are at home 
are suffocated. Many nests so treated 
were carefully opened to the lowest cham¬ 
bers and all the occupants found dead be¬ 
yond possibility of doubt. Some nests 
were not opened until the next day after 
the fumigation, and then not a living ant 
could be found. The following method of 
using carbon bisulphid has proven the 
easiest and most efficient tried: Start 
fumigation when gateways are open; take 
a vessel, such as a galvanized-iron wash- 
tub, and place it bottom side up in such 
a manner as to cover the openings and as 
much of the mound as possible; if there 
are more openings than the tub will cover 
they should be closed by throwing some of 
the surrounding soil over them; place 
under the' tub, in a shallow pan or dish, 
near the opening one to three ounces of 
carbon bisulphid, depending on the size of 
the nest; quickly pack soil around the edge 
of the tub, making it as nearly air-tight 
as possible; allow to stand thus for about 
five hours. The experiments show that 
breaking open the mound before setting the 
fumigation is of no advantage, nor did the 
practice of pouring the fluid into the 
broken-up mound give any better results 
than that of evaporating it from a shallow 
pan. The objections to this, the best 
method we know for destroying the ant 
colony, are mainly three. First, the 
method requires too much time; second, 
workers absent from the nest when it is 
fumigated will escape destruction; third, 
many of the mounds are too large to be 
covered by a tub. The enterprising farmer 
will find no difficulty in arranging his 
work so that he can fumigate six colonies 
per day with a very small expenditure of 
time. Two tubs may be used and the first 
fumigation set as soon as the ants open 
their gateways, the tubs removed and re¬ 
set over other mounds on the way to his 
afternoon work, and again changed as he 
comes in from work in the evening. Each 
change requires only a few minutes. In 
answer to the second objection, it may 
be urged that it is only necessary to kill 
the fertile females, and that they are in 
the nests at all times. If the scheme 
just suggested be followed, except on dull 
cloudy days, all the ants would be at home 
when each fumigation is started. 
“Kerosene and gasoline were poured 
freely upon the mounds, some of which 
had been torn open, and the ants were 
killed to a depth of from six to 10 inches. 
This method merely crippled the colony 
and was in no case sufficient to drive the 
ants away. In some cases the mounds 
were opened and wet down with a liberal 
abount of carbon bisulphid, then covered 
with wet woolen blankets. In from 10 to 
15 minutes the blankets were lifted and a 
torch applied. The explosion which fol¬ 
lowed did not, as was expected, blow the 
vapor far down into the chambers. This 
method is both useless and dangerous. In 
a number of cases cans of one to two 
pints capacity were sunk into the mound 
until their open ends were on a level with 
the surface. They were then filled about 
one-third full of kerosene and the ants 
stirred up to the highest pitch of fury. 
They readily plunged into the kerosene. 
With the single exception of fumigation 
with carbon bisulphid, more ants were 
killed by this method than any other, the 
extreme total in one case reaching 1800. 
This, however, left about 400 still in the 
nest, and among them the reproducing fe¬ 
males, so it, too, is an ineffective method.’’ 
TALKS WITH A LAWYER. 
Division of Estate. 
A man dies intestate, leaving a son, a 
step-son and a brother. IIow is his prop¬ 
erty distributed. newton. 
New Jersey. 
The property is divided equally between 
the son and step-son. A brother is entitled 
to no share if there is a child living. 
Loan on Trust Deed. 
Is it a safe practice to loan money on a 
trust deed secured by notes and coupons ne¬ 
gotiated through a trust company? I have 
to pay them a bonus in addition. 
Illinois. 
The safety depends on the loan in view, 
the security given, the reliability of the bor¬ 
rower and the standing of the trust com¬ 
pany. A great volume of money is placed 
this way. But you or your attorney should 
look into the whole matter very cautiously. 
Do not depend on the statements of the in¬ 
terested parties. Consult your banker as to 
the * r ust company. If there is anything 
doubtful, avoid it. Often these companies 
will guarantee a loan, but in no case pay a 
bonus to loan money; the borrower has to 
pay that. In case the company fails your 
money would be delayed, but usually the 
stockholders would make good. Much de¬ 
pends on the contract you make. 
Note Against Purchased Machine. 
I bought a binder at auction, and now 
learn that the former owner gave a machine 
note for it, hut did not place it on file. 
Does this affect my title to it? 
New York. p. c. 
You have a good title, as there was noth¬ 
ing on record against it, nor did you know 
of any claim. The binder company may 
proceed against the seller for fraud in sell¬ 
ing mortgaged goods, but that does not con¬ 
cern you. A mortgagee should put his pa¬ 
pers on record, which is notice to the world ; 
if he does not, he cannot claim the goods 
when they go into the hands of third parties. 
Life Estate as Secutity. 
Can I borrow money, giving security on a 
life estate I have in a place? a. o. 
Pennsylvania. 
We do not think that a careful investor 
would loan on this security. But much will 
depend on the circumstances, age, habits, 
business ability, value of the place, life in¬ 
surance and your past records. The word 
of honor of some poor men is taken readily 
by those having faith in them. If you can 
convince a lender that there are no chances 
you will secure it. 
A Poor Property Trade. 
My husband is very old and mentally 
weak. He was Inveigled into an exchange 
of property, to our great loss. Can any¬ 
thing be done ? a. q. 
Connecticut. 
It is not necessary for the wife to join 
in the deed in Connecticut, so he has given 
a good title. If his mental weakness is such 
as to be patent, or if it is clear that he was 
imposed on, or if fraud was used, you may 
be able to set aside the sale. You should 
consult an attorney and act at once before 
the place is sold again. The law protects 
the weak, but you must demand redress. 
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WITH 
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WHEEL 
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Coblesklll, 
N. r. 
Box 11 
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Saves repair-money and time 
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Gives you longer roof-protec¬ 
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Mineral or smooth surface. Insist 
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Write for free Book 10 and samples. 
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PAVING COMPANY 
Largest producers of 
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AWARD¬ 
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Weight, 
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Agents VVanted. 
Write for catalogue. 
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Mfrs., York, I’a. 
HADIS ALSO WITH DISC 
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24 STONE STREET, NEW YORK CITY 
