Brookings register. (Brookings, S.D.) 1890-1894, 1894-08-03

sequCntly | think you know perhaps practical
way how to treat cows to keep the flies off them.
Please bt kind enough and answer either by letter
or through Stock Il Farm
Yours Truly,
OTro C. WINTER.
At this time of the year flies are
very annoying to all kinds of stock
and the milch COWS especially.
There is no way by which we can
exterminate them and get rid of
the pests, so we are compelled to
protect the COWS by keeping them
off. In recent bulletin No. %
issued by the Mississippi Expert
mental Station on the Horn Fly we
find the following recommendation:
"The remedies for the Horn Fly
consist: QsO of various applica-
tions to the animals to keep the flies
off: (2nd) applications to the ami
mails to kill the flies: and (3O ap-
plications to the dung to kill the
larvae. During the past two sea-
sons we have experimental with
many substances which have prov
ed of but little value, as they
evaporate SO readily. The follow
ing, however, have been fairly sat-
isfactorily, as they keep the cattle
free from the flies from a week to
ten days. Crude cotton seed oil
or fish oil and pine tar mixed,
about two parts of the former to
one of the latter. The two mix
readily and are very easily applied
to animals at milking time by
means of a large paint brush. APP
piled in this manner it takes but
half a minute to a COW making the
cost of the application but small
item. We have treated $50 head
at a time with the crude cotton
oil and tar in this way, using but
four gallons of the oil and less than
two gallons of the pine tar. The
cost of the oil is thirty cents per
gallon, and of the tar about fifty
cents, making the total cost of the
application to $50 head about 1920
or about three -fourths of a cent
per head. A preparation known
as "Gnat OIL" which is largely
used in some localities for Buffalo
Gnats, as it's name implies, has
given about the same success as
the above. 1t is made as follows:
Crude carbolic acid l ounce.
Pennyroyal J to l ounce. Sulphur
/ pound. Crude cotton seed oil,
| gallon. This was applied to
animals in the same manner as
was the first preparation, and we
were unable to see any difference
in the animals treated with the
crude cotton seed oil and pine tar
mixture. Cattle preparations keep
ing the animals free from flies from
a week to ten days, depending to
some extent how numerous the
flies were at the time.
The best applications to kill the
flies is kerosene emulsion. In
1892 we experimental quite sue
cessfully in this line. The milk
emulsion was used, made by mixing
thoroughly one part of slightly
sour milk with two parts of kero-
sene and then diluting with twelve
to fifteen parts of water. The
emulsion was applied to animals
at milking time by means of a
knap-sack sprayer, directing the
spray directly upon the flies as
much as possible. After three ap-
plications in as many days the flies
were killed out so that they were
not again numerous until nearly
three weeks later. In 1893 the
emulsion remedy was again tried
but not with as favorable results.
The crude cotton seed oil and tar
mixture being SO cheap and SO
easily applied, we have adopted
this method of treatment as the
best.
Some writer's have recommend
ed the application of lime or plas-
ter to the COW dung in the field to
kill the larvae rs being the best
method of lessening the numbers
of the Horn Flies. The condition
as to the pasturage of the animals
throughout the south, however, is
such that this method of treat
ment is not practicable.
TREATMENT RECOMMENDED-Ap-
plication to the animals of sub
stances to keep the flies off is the
boe+ +roo+p,ap4 For tho HOW Elv