Arizona republican., 1904-05-09

| therefore, by "herding." During the few days between the time the me.ons came up and the appearance of the
 second leaf he had the boundaries ol
 the ranch patroled by men with shot guns,. who would frighten the birds away when they came in that vicinity
 by an occasional discharge of their
 weapons. The quail is a tim:d bird anyway, and will not come very close
 to a man even when he shows no s. position to shoot. It is, therefore an easy bird to herd.
 | Below is given an extract f. om
 Timely Hints. No 8, issued by the Ariozna experiment station, and PIe pared by w. w. Skinner, on the same subject, showing his experiments with strychnine and also his treatment or the ant pest with carbon bisulphide: The best of the poisons tried proved finally to be strychnine. The first few attempts with it, however, were not at all satisfactory. The partial failure was decided to be due to two causes the inability to administer the poison in a sufficiently concentrated form, and the extreme bitterness of the -strych- nine. which prevented the animals talk
  quantity. The habits of the animals must be considered if the results are to be satisfactory. The gophers are great providers fer the future. They probably eat at the time only very small portion of the grain, roots, etc, which they collect. It follows, there fore. that in order to accomplish the desired result, it Is necessary to have the poisoned grain sufficiently satur- ated with the death dealing agent, so that a very small portion will be ef fective. ez-
 Strychnine is only very slightly sol uble even in hot water only about thirty grains dissolving in one gallon. It is readily soluble, however in ac:du- lated water. The acid most easily within the reach of the farmer or gardener Is acetic acid In the form of vinegar. One pint of strong vinegar, when heated to boiling, will readily dis solve one and one-Ealf ounces Of strychnine. The masking Of the bit terness, which as has been said, is highly desira ble, may be partially ac- complished by the use of sugar syrup and a small amount of oil of anise, the latter from it's spicy odor, being very attractive to mice, rats, squirrels, etc.
 The mathod, or formula, that we have worked out Is as follows: Ons- half ounce of strychnine is added to one pint of hot vineEar-more if the vinegar is of poor grade-and after the strychnine has all dissolved tha vin- eSar solution is mixed with three quarts of water. In this solution ten pounds of wheat are soaked for eighteen or twenty hours, by which time the so- lution will be entirely absorbed by the grain. The wheat is then spread in the sun to dry. Frequent and vigor- ous stirring is necessary While the wheat is soaking in order that the grain may be uniformly saturated with the poison. If properly prepared according to this formula. each kernel of grain will contain a fatal dose for one goph- CT.
 Next dissolve three pounds of sugar in one gallon of water and boil down tc one-half gallon. This gives good, thick syrup. When cold. stir in one teaspoonful of oil of anise. When the poisoned wheat is dry, or nearly so. the syrup is poured over it and thor
 
 wheat is more or less covered with a coating of the syrup. It Is then tho-- oughly dried. We now have a highly poisoned, sugar coated, and from it's agreeable odor, a very attractive pro- duct for the animals we wish to kill A few grains, one-fourth to one-ha!f teaspoonful, are buried near each bur row, and in a day or TWO the buZzards which will collect to dispose of the dead, will be witnesses to the effect.
 A word of caution, however, Is prob- ably necessary. Wheat so poisoned is a dangerous preparation and should be kept out of the reach of fowls and ani- mals. It should be labeled poison and put in some place where there is no possible danger of it's being used for any other purpose than that for which it is intended. When using it, it is advisable to bury it to prevent the de- struction of useful birds.
 Another pest which is frequently very if not so destructive as the gopher and his cousins, is the ant.
 The species of large red and back ants which burrow into the ground and whose, well known characteristic mounds of loose earth, surrounded by husks of dried grass seed, may be seen dotting the mesas of southern Arizona, may be killed comparatively easily by