Weekly journal-miner., 1915-07-21
TO EXTERMINATE
 PRAIRIE DOGS ON FOREST
(From Thursdays Daily.)

(From Thursdays Daily)
 Donald A. Gilchrist, biological as
 sistant in the Biological Survey,
 United States Department of Agri- culture, has arrived in Prescott for
 the purpose of exterminating prairie
 dogs on the Prescott National For est. Mir. Gilchrist will have a party of three men, team and wagon, sad
 dle horses and camp equipment nec- essary to carry on his work. The wagon will be equipped with tank in which to mix the poisoned oats with which to poison these range pests.
 Mir. Gilchrist's party is fully equip ped and will leave Prescott today for the Williamson valley range. They will, after completing this range, work the Thomas Humphreys, Car ence Stewart, King Brothers, Chino Valley Land and Cattle Company, Reid-Evans Land and Cattle Com pany, J. J. Bishop and Walnut Creek ranges. The schedule of Mir. Gil christ's party has not been fixed thereafter, but he will plan to include all the praisic dog infested areas on the Prescott National Forest. Mr. Gilchrist states that the work will be continued until all the prairie dogs on the Prescott National Forest are exterminated and the party will continue their present work until November, 1915 and will resume operations in the spring of 1916.
 The poisoning of prairie dog oper- ations by this party will be confined, during the present trip, to forest land on the Prescott National Forest on ly, and this work cannot be extended to private or patented land. MT. Gil christ is authorized, however to mix in the tank in his party, poison for such owners of private land who will furnish the material for the mixture. He is also authorized to conduct in some cases practical demonstrations on a small scale of the method of poisoning, for the benefit of the own CTS of private or patented land.
 The plan followed by this biologi cal survey party is to systematically drop into each prairie dog hole pois- oned oats which kills the dogs or any other animal occupant of the prairie dog hole. The poison used in this work is prepared as follows and this formula has been adopted after careful and methodical expert ment by the Bureau of Biological Survey:
 Dissolve one ounce of strychnine (sulphate) in 112 pints of boiling wat CT. Thicken this solution to the con sistency of thin mucilage by stirring in small quantity of gloss starch previously mixed with a little cold water. Dissolve one ounce of bak- ing soda in half cup of hot water and stir into the poisoned starch. Add a scant teaspoonful of sacchar- inc. Mix with 13 quarts of either milo maze or oats. Prepare it from "A to AS hours before using, and stir occasionally until nearly dry.
 To dissolve strychnine (alkaloid) | in the above poison add one-fourth pint of vinegar to every ounce Of used.
 For mixing small quantities an galvanized wash tub is con venient. Larger quantities, as 200 pounds of grain, may be prepared at one time in tight smooth box, by mixing with spade.
 The best results come from dis -ributing the poisoned grain at the time food for prairie dogs is scant. Each quart of the prepared grain is to treat about 40 holes, and if thinly scattered on clean hard places in the proximity of dogs holes his quantity will not endanger stock.
 Donald A. Gilchrist, care of the Forest Supervisor, Prescott, Arizona, will be glad to receive any co-opera- ion in this work or to extend any assistance possible to range men who ire interested in this work of ex- prairie dogs.
 SAVC VAUhDAT