The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-18

or zinc Tn gallons Of boiling water pour (2) into (1). then add gallons of skim milk and mix thoroughly. White
 wash is spread lightly over the surface with a broad brush
 Poultry ca be raised successfully on any well-drained soil. A light loam which will grow good grass Is well adapted for this purpose, while a very light sandy soil, through which the water teaches freely. will stand more
 intensive poultry conditions. but most of the green food for the fowls kep' on such a soil will have to be pur- | chased. A heavy clay or adobe soil is not as well adapted to poultry raising as such land does not drain readily, l and it is much more difficult to keep the stock healthy. Long stationary houses, or the intensive system, saves steps but it Is easier to keep the birds healthy and to reproduce the stock under the colony system, where ths birds are allowed free range. Breeding stock. and especially growing chickens should have an abundance of range. while hens used solely for the produc-
 tion of market eggs may be kept on
 a very small area, according to spe- cialists of the United States depart ment of agriculture.
 The best kind of floor depends upon the soil and the use of the poultry | house. On light, sandy, well-drained soils dirt floor is satisfactory, espe-
 ciaily for small or colony henhouses. Such floors should be from to 6 inches higher than the outside ground l surface, and it is advisable to renew 1 them each year by removing the con taminated surface down to clean soil, and to refill with fresh sand or fine gravel and earth, A board floor is gen erally used where the level of the floor 1 in the house is from 1 to feet above the ground surface and in portable houses on land which is not we'll drained. Board floors harbor rats and rot quickly, and should be raised some distance off the ground, so that cats or dogs can get under them, which also allows a free circulation of air to pre- vent the wood from rotting. Cement floors are adapted to long permanent buildings, brooder houses, incubator
 cellars and to all permanent houses where an artificial floor is required and ! can be built on the ground level. These floors are easy to clean, very sanitary.
 ratproof. and comparatively inexpen- sive, if one has a cheap supply of gravel or sharp sand.
 The poultry house drinking fountains
 and feed troughs must be washed every week with boiling water or other dis infectant, and If any lice or mites are
 fouad on the birds or In the house the
 roosts and adjoining parts of the walls should be painted with a mixture of kerosene, i quart and crude carbolic
 acid or crude creosol, 1 teacupful, ad- wise specialists of the United States department of agriculture The house may be whitewashe with freshly
 slalked lime or sprayed with gerosene
 emulsion. Tn ease of an actual out
 break of a virulent disease it is we'll to add to each gallon of the whitewash 6 ounces of crude carbolic acid Good disinfectants destroy the germs of con tagious diseases, the external parasites, such as lice and mites. and in some cases the eggs of parasitic worms, and should be used frequently in and about the poultry house.
 As all poultry is susceptible to many diseases, some of which are highly in
 fectious and resist al efforts of treat
 ment, it is suggested by specialists of the United States department of agri-
 culture that when birds become SICK it is often the best plan to kill them. The greater the number of birds kept upon any farm or plot of ground and the more they are crowded together.
 the more important are the measures for excluding, eradicating and prevent ing the development of the causes of
 disease.