Evening star., 1918-07-21
WASHES AND SPRAYS
FOR POULTRY HOUSE
Keep Pests Away and Make Quar-
tiers for Hens Bright, Sanitary
and Comfortable.

Nothing detracts SO much from the
appearance Of poultry house as
dark. filthy walls covered with cob
webs and dust The place is uninvit-
ing to ourselves and to the fowls
that make 1t their home. Since much
OF the grain fed poultry is scattered
in the litter on the floor Of the poul-
try house, we have another reason
why the inside Of the house should be
bright and sanitary. The fowls will
waste grain thrown in the litter of
a dark house. A coat Of whitewash
on the walls will quickly change this
dark house into an attractive home
for the inmates.
let US first catch all tho fowls and
confine them in coops, boxes or bar
rels, where we can quickly handle
them later. Then clean the drop
board. remove the litter. dig up the
floor and level 1t again. and take out
down the walls. If there are many
crevices and cracks between the
boards near the roosting quarters. !
would recommend covering this por-
tion with good heavy building paper.
prefer an unsized paper to roofing
paper, because the latter cannot De
satisfactorily whitewashed.
An Excellent whitewash.
I have tried many different ways OF
mixing whitewash, and have found
the following scheme the most salts
factory: Slack two pecks Of lime with
boiling water. adding the hot water
slowly and stirring constantly until
thin paste results. Then work into
the lime paste gallon of salt until
the mixture is smooth. Now add
water to bring the salted paste to
the desired consistency. Just before
applying the wash. add a handful of
Portland cement and teaspoonful OF
blueing to each pail of the wash. NIX
well The cement makes the wash
stick to wood. stone, brick or con-
crete and not rub of, while the blue
ing counteracts the gray color and
This whitewash is excellent for
either indoor or outdoor use. 1t sticks
on, wears well, and 1T can be applied
either by q sprayer or brush. some
years ago 1 tried mixing a little
crude carbolic acid with the wash TO
increase its insecticidai QUALITIES. III, dne
acid made yellow streaks on the wall
and, while better results might be oo-
tanned by adding small percentage
Of some coal-tar or other insecticide.
can see no object in doing this.
Get After the Mites.
Tho little, blood-thirsty red mite is
the only parasite that lives In the
poultry house. He makes his home IN
q crevice in the roost. in the space Pc
tween the end Of the roost and the
roost support. and in the nest ana
nesting material Whitewash does not
kill this parasite. The most popular
liquid used against him Is common
kerosene or coal oil. All through the
south you can see colored women with
rag and kerosene washing the roosts
and adjoining places. where red mites
reside. The kerosene can be greatly
improved by adding half pint OF
crude carbolic acid or cresol to each
gallon of oil. This mixture will Kill
every red mite and their eggs.
A less expensive mixture that viii
tion Of cresol. or any of the CONNER
cial liquid lice killers, in water. Buy
O quart or larger can from your drug
Rist or seed house, and also hand
sprayer. The latter costs from 90
cents to 81. and it is excellent Tor
four-gallon knapsack sprayer with an
extra whitewash nozzle and use it for
spraying the cresol mixture and Tor
whitewashing. would not be with
out 1t, and while the cost ID greater
than the small hand sprayer. 1t Is
much more convenient and satisfac-
tory. One pumping Of air into the
tank will give good spray Tor fifteen
II you have some one to help you
and can carry on the whitewashing
and the mite eradication at the same
time, then I would advise confining
the fowls that occupy the house in
coops, boxes or barrels until this
work is over. If the whitewashing
and spraying is thoroughly done there
will be no parasites in the house.
Tha Best Iouse Killer.