The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-07

I i've. Left to select their own bath, hens usually pick 8 slightly moist dust in- stead of the dry stuff most dust baths afford. This slightly moist dust. if we may term 1t dust, has the effect of | cleaning all scurf and dirt from the base of the feathers. leaving the skin of the fowl as if it were washed.
 The larger louse, known as the head louse, attack young chicks about the
 head, frequently causing death. Hen matched chicks are usually the greatest sufferers Greasing the top of each chicks head with a little lard mixed with a few drops of creolin will be found effective The lard should be 1 melted and the creoln added while it Is liquid Then use when cold as a grease.
 Mites are smaller than lice, usually red in color. though this color comes
 chiefly from sucking the blood of the fowls. Their habit Is to live in the cracks of the house during the day and
 attack the flock on the roost at night
 They lay their eggs in the cracks about
 the roosts and nests of the house and multiply much faster than lice.
 Effective Gas for FumigatiOn i; When the quarters are badly infested with lice or mites 1t is best to clean out all litter and burn it. All paper Things should then be torn off and burned. and every corner cleaned thor oughly. After this the house should be tightly closed and fumigated
 For this purpose chloride of lime and
 formaldehyde make one of the most ef-
 fective disinfectives. Place g. pound of
 chloride of lime in a 16-quart bucket and
 pour a pint of formaldehyde over it, leav-
 ing the house at once These ingredients
 act on each other at once, making pow
 erful gas. The amount mentioned is suf-
 ficient for a thousand cubic feet of air
 space, that is a house l2 feet square by
 seven feet high
 Where the house Is of such size as to
 require several pounds of the material
 1t is best to use several containers placed in different parts of the house so as to spread the fumes. The amount of ma terial given will require 16-quart bucket to prevent it from boiling over. The gas | should be allowed to remain in the house for six or eight hours. The fumes are deadly and will overcome a person, so due care should be taken
 After the gas has been used, all roosts nests and cracks should be painted witt some coal tar disinfectant, and ther the entire interior of the house should be sprayed until the solution drips. For maldehyde. carbolic acid or any coal tal disinfectant mixed with water is good A plIll Ol dlly or these IndLerldlS tt three gallons of water will be stropl enough, " Bedbugs in the POultryhouse The common bedbug sometimes infests the poultry house. It is not knowI whether they bother the fowls or simply live on the filth about the house. From observation. I do not believe they attacl the birds. Nevertheless. they are ex ceedingly undesirable and must be eradi' cated. It Is well known that they carry l disease. Creolin and formaldehyde sprayI | have never proved effective against thi pest Formaldehyde gas Is only partly of ! fective, since it never seems to complete l ly exterminate them.
 l The very best thing to fight this pes
 Is sulphur gas. made by burning flower of sulphur in pans. For every 1000 cubi feet of air space three pounds of sulphu
 should be used. Place the sulphur in pan and pour a little wood alcohol 0 gasoline over it and then light it. Onl. l enough fluid to start the fire is neces sary. The sulphur makes a very dens
 smoke. The operation should be repeate,
 at least once within few weeks.
 The above methods are intended fo use where the pests have gotten the up per hand. Under ordinary condition
 this would not be necessary. As a pre-
 ventive measure 1t Is well to clean al
 houses at least once a month. supplyin
 new nesting and floor material. At thi