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Show H LICE AND MITES. H Under the head of "Insect Pests, ' H Farmers' Bulletin 287, United Stated H Department of Agriculture, entitle 1 H "Poultry Management," sayS: H Two cLnsscs of external parasite?, H popularly- known as lice and mitcj. H' will be considered here. There arc H several varieties of lice which attack H ppultry. They subsist mainly on the H font hers and perhaps otx the epidermic H scales. They arc found largely oi tin H head and neck, under the wings and H about the vent, and when present in H large numbers they cause the fowls H much discomfort. Persian insoct(pow- H dcr (pyrcthum), powdered sulphur, H and some of the various preparations H on the market, such as the louse H powders, arc good in combating these H pests. The hens can be dusted' with 1 one of these powders after they have Ht' gone to roost. Have the powder in Hi a box with a pcrfpratel coyer, grasp H the fowl by the legs and shake the powder well among the feathers HjH Dust at least three times mt inter- H vals of .about a week in order to H catch the lice which hatch out after H the first dusting. H The miles subsist on the blood of H the fowls and are not usually found H on the bodies of lha1Uird except when H t roost or on the nest. During the day they inhabit cracks and crevices of the walls, roosts -and nests. Sitting hens are often so annoyed that they arc compelled to leave the nests in order to relieve themselves of these parasites. The free use of kerosene about the nests and perches is useful in fighting mites. The walls of the house may be sprayed with keroscn.. the opciation being repeated every three or four days for two weeks. Insect powders arc of little avail The following method has proved excellent in ridding houses of mites and lice when the weather conditions are such as to permit the birds being kept outside the house for five or six hours. Close all the doors and sec that there arc 116 crocks or any other openings to admit air. Get an iron vessel and set it on the gravel Or fcand near the center of the house; place- a handful of shavings on these, sprinkle sulphur at the rate of one pound to every go to 100 square feet of Hdor space. Instead of using the shavings and kerosene the sulphur can be saturated sat-urated with wood alcohol. When everything else is in readiness ligfyt the material and hastily loove the house. In case any anxiety is felU about fire, a glance through a window win-dow will show whether everything Jh all right. There is very little danger of fire when proper precautious have been taken to have plenty of soil beneath be-neath the vessel. Allow the house to remain closed for three or four hom at the end of which time one can safely safe-ly conclude that there arc no living beings inside. Now throw all the doors and windows wide open so as to drive out the sulphur fumes thoroughly, thor-oughly, and then the fowls may be mllowud to enter. Let thenu in one by one, and as uach enters catch It and dust it well with insect powder which will destroy the lice on the birds. Tobacco dust is also good to use instead of insect powder. The birds and house have now been freed from vermin for the present, but th: eggs of the insects linvc not been destroyed, de-stroyed, and in a week another swarm will be hatched out. Therefoic, it will be necessary to repeat the opcr- ation once or twice before the pests are exterminated. After this, care should be used to see that no strange fowl be admitted to the house or yard without having been thoroughly rid of lice, for one lousy hen will contaminate all the rest. |