The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-07-18
The Farm and the Farmer
BY William r. Sanborn

| Feed was valued as follows: Corn
SOC per bu., linseed oil cake $50 nor
ton, alfalfa hay SIS per ton, and corn
silage 81 per ton.
Men who have studied the subiect
tell US that more than forty kinds OF
pests infest the various kinds Of poul-
try and pigeon f1ocks. He further
encouragingly states that all may be
killed by an inexpensive treatment
Inc professor goes on to state OF
these pests seven species are mos,
commonly found on chickens; on
DUCKS and geese, two or three each;
on turkeys three, and several each
on pigeons, guinea fowls and pea
fowls Poultry is subject to attack
also by mites and to some extent by
ticks and fleas, though the latter are
Of slight importance.
Poultry lice stay on the fowls
practically all the time, therefore the
only effective treatments are those
which are applied directly to the
birds. Up to the present time sodium
fluoride, a white powder which can
be purchased at drug stores, lis the
cheapest and most effective remedy
for all kinds of poultry lice. In using
it, small quantities of powder, held be-
tween the thumb and forefinger are
busted among the feathers next to
the skin on the head, neck. back,
breast. under the wings and at the
base of the tail One pound Of sodium
fiuor1de is sufficient to treat one hun
dred fowls.
Mites infest poultry only at night,
and hide during the day in cracks and
crevices around the roosts and nests.
They can best be controlled by keep
ing the poultry houses and roosts
clean and by spraying the roosts,
nests, etc. thoroughly with crude oil.
kerosene or some heavy coal tar prep.
aration."
Feed.FarmIng Industry
Owing to the importance of the
feedfarming industry, the Department
of agriculture has established a pro-
ject which deals with 1t exclusively.
1t furnishes information to prospect
i've breeders, as well as to those al
ready engaged in the industry, which
helps them to overcome obstacles and
avoid pitfalls.
Revised grades for white potatoes,
prepared by the United States depart
ment of agriculture, provide for the
elimination from No. l grade of miss
hapen potatoes and potatoes affected
by hollow heart, and the addition of
a grade known as No. small
Warning of Poisonous Weed
County Agent Thorne of Miami
county recently called the attention
of Purdue to a weed which he said
is doing considerable damage in Mi
ami county. The plant. turned out to
be securing rush, sometimes called
field horsetail.
According to A. A. Hansen, botan-
list of the agricultural extension de-
partment, the securing rush is pois-
onous to horses, causing a disease
known as Equisetosis. Sheep seem
to be slightly susceptible, the plant
causing loss of condition, while cattle
seem to be able to eat the weed with
out i'll effects.
Horses, particularly young ones, de-
Yelop an abnormal appetite for the
plant and death will result unless the
animals are placed on a diet free of
the securing rush. In Vermont, where
a great deal of trouble has been ex-
perienced from this cause. 1t has
been estimated that the plant causes
an animal loss of several thousand
dollars. The greatest damage seems
to result from eating dried plants,
particularly when fed in hay. Wheth-
er or not Equisetosis exists generally
in Indiana is not known, but the dis
ease should be guarded against in re
gions where the pest is plentiful.
The securing rush is perennial. re-
from creeping roots in a
similar manner to Canada Thistle.
There are two stages of growth, the
spring stage, consisting of upright,
stems each bearing sin
gle cone at the summit that is full of
tiny yellow spores or seeds; and the
summer stage, each plant of which
resembles miniature pine tree. Gull
tivation with gopher blades will de-
stroy the weed