HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
The Agricultural College
VIEW OF WASHINGTON
Seasonable Notes
for Window Plants
WINDOW plants at this time of the
year require a temperature of
about 50 degrees, and !iould be
watered sparingly until an active
growth is resumed, after which a
more liberal application may be giv
en. Any shoots which may be grow
ing too long on the geraniums may
be pinched back to the desired length.
Such plants as primulas, cyclamens,
cinerarias, will soon be in blossom
and every few days it will be well to
look the plants over for aphis and
red spider as these pests will be sure
to make their appearance, especially
on Cinerarias.
A little tobacco powder sprinkled
over the infested plants will soon
eradicate these, or a wine glass full
of kerosene to four gallons of water
applied with a hand syringe Is even
better, but care must be taken to
keep the oil well mixed with the
water, the kerosene floats on the
water and if an excess of the oil is
sprayed on the plants, they soon be
come burnt.
A little air should be admitted on
all favorable occasions, such plants
as palms, aspidistras, arillas, must
not be kept near radiators or red
spider will soon become prevalent.
This pest is caused by a warm and
very dry atmosphere. The foliage of
the plants should be washed once a
week with a soft sponge and with
tepid water; a little soft soap may
be added. Dust collects rapidly on
house plants, even at this time of the
year, and if the glossy green color
can not be maintained the plants
soon lose their beauty.
If worms are in the soil a small
lump of lime dissolved In water and
applied carefully will bring them out.
J. H. Gooding, Instructor In Flori
culture, State College.
How to Prepare a Hotbed.
Collect nnheated manure from the
horse barns and mix with the pure
manure an equal amount of straw
that has been used for bedding. Fork
this over well and pile In a heap and
let stand for about two days. If It
does not start to heat In this time
moisten the entire pile with warm
water.
Prepare a pit for the manure bed.
This should be located on the south
side of buildings with a good expos
ure to the sun. The pit should be
about two feet deep, not over six feet
wide and as long as desired. It Is
preferable to have the long measure
east and west. As soon as tne man
ure has started to heat well, it should
be placed In the pit and carefully
tramped. This Is the best method of
packing the manure evenly in all
parts of the bed. If It seems dry add
enough water to dampen, but do not
apply enough to saturate the bed.
Let the bed stand until it is heating
well throughout, then cover with five
or six iiKhes of good garden loam.
Let this stand for three or four days
and then work down the surface with
a rake and the bed Is ready for seed
ing. A broad frame, 10 or 12 Inches
high on the south and double that
on the north, should be placed about
the bed when the pit is prepared. The
glass sash or cloth covering used
should be placed on as soon as the
manure is packed in.
A bed prepared in this way will
furnish heat about six weeks. The
temperature will run high at the start
and gradually go down.
A page ol Interesting Item rrnm
the Oregon Agricultural CoUege at
Corvallla Kill alternate la the farm
weekly with a pace of newt note
from the Washington State College
at Pullman. Thin will afford an In
terchange of view from the two- big
agricultural colleges of the North
west that should prove of benefit to
the reader, for the Institutions deal
with nunllut problems.
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Bulletins and News Notes
ACRICl'LTl RAL COLLEGE! AT PULLMAN, WASH. ITS SOLE AIM IS TO
Advice on "Smiting the Mite"
BY HELEN DOW WHITAKER.
Head ol Poultry Department, Stale
College. "
471 OME one computed the loss to
Missouri caused by the surplus
male. The slogan went forth
"Swat the Rooster," and the poultry
industry scored a point for Its better
ment. Having swatted the rooster,
why not go a step farther to "Smite
the Mite"? Tremendous as it Is, no
one has computed the damage done
by the mite. While one was com
puting the number, the mites would
have Increased to millions.
The common chicken mite named
Dermanyssus gallinae is not so long
as Its name, measuring less than one-
twentieth of an Inch. It Is plainly
visible to the naked eye; a little ellip
tical, flattened body with eight Blen
der, tapering legs; a pair of short
ieeiers and between them a pair or
needle-like jaws with which it pierces
the flesh of Its victim to suck out
the blood upon which it dines. In
color the hungry mite is pale gray
with darker dots on its back and
sides. The after-dinner mite is red
dened with the blood of its victim.
Incubation of Mite.
The mother deposits her tiny egg
in a crack or crevice of the wood. Her
idea of a cozy cradle for her baby Is
a crack lined with a mussed, soiled
old feather, or a crevice in which is
a little heap of manure or other filth
to furnish dampness and heat. Here
is also an incubator which gives a
100 per cent hatch in about three or
four days. The tiny whitish, b!x
legged baby feeds on the filth It Is
born in. A spoiled egg broken in a
dirty nest will furnish delectable food
for a thousand. In a few days they
shed their skin and crawl forth upon
eight legs like the parents that begot
them. About 10 days elapse between
hatching and maturity. Mites live
upon the fowls only when feeding,
preferably by night. Where they are
numerous they can be found on the
hens by day, or crawling about the
building, but their habit is to eat at
night, then desert the victim for a
dark, dirty crack In which to sleep
by day.
Remedies.
In considering remedies for these
pests, first hold in mind the coudl
tions under which they breed and
thrive. Is there a dropping board In
the henhouse that holds the accurau
latlon of a weekt If there Is you
have a mite Incubator, a million or
two capacity, set for a hatch. In the
cracks and corners have the soiled
old feathers of the molt heaped up?
Each one is an Incubator for
thousand mites. Has the damp and
dirty straw litter been raked out and
the floor beneath scraped clean, or
has new straw been piled upon old
filth, thus making a giant hatchery
for mites? Consider the nests, are
any broken eggs left in their straw to
decompose and feed the pests? Are
there any sitting hens in soiled boxes
to mother them? Any filthy, soured
feed troughs to breed them?
The first remedy for mites Is to
rake up, scrape up, spade up, sweep
up and scrub up. For the raking use
a steel tool with close teeth. For the
scraping of all packed ground and of
all boards use a sharp garden hoe or
narrow spade, applied with plenty of
lubricating oil from the elbow. Do
not be afraid to scrape down through
the filth to fresh soil or clean wood
For the sweeping use a stiff whisk
broom for all nest corners and crev
ices, and a deck broom for floors,
dropping boards, etc. For scrubbing
nothing is better than Pearline and
Dutch Cleanser. At leasMhree times
a week each wet mash trough and box
for feeding sprouted oats and drink
ing dish should be absolutely as clean
as hot water and Dutch Cleanser can
make it. At least two times a year
every nest and roost ahd dropping
board and feed hopper and shelf they
rest upon and board floor and all
walks and overhead braces and raft
Is a Friend to
From the Staff at Pullman.
ers should be thoroughly swept free
from dust. This much done, the
treatment for the mite-Infested house
really begins. The deck has only
been cleared for action, to use a fig-
ture of war.
Using Carbollneum.
If the house is in bad shape and
one really means business, that is, if
one seriously wishes to get rid of
the mites, not Just dabble around a
little and in three weeks have as
many mites a3 when he began if one
really means business, I repeat, use
carbollneum avenarius with which to
paint every quarter inch of the inside
of the house where mites are In evi
dence or might be In hiding. Apply
with an ordinary stiff paint brush.
If heated before using, the carbollne
um will be thinner, spread more even
ly, and penetrate the wood better. It
cannot be diluted with water, but one
can use one-fourth carbollneum to
three-fourths distillate, or, If the
added cost is not considered, ordinary
kerosene may replace the distillate.
Apply the mixture with a spray Dump
having an agitator. Use a nozzle
giving a very fine spray and consid
erable force In applying so that the
liquid Is driven Into every rough sur
face and every check or crack in the
wood. Two gallons of the mixture
should cover thoroughly a 10 by 12
house, at a cost of material not to
exceed $1.
Crude carbolic acid costs about 35c
per quart. One quart with two and a
half gallons of lime should make
whitewash enough to spray a 10 by!
12 building. Neither air-slaked lime
nor whitewash will eradicate mites. !
If whitewash Is put on boiling hot,
the heat may accomplish the result,
but lime alone is not death to mites.
The second spray suggested is not,
therefore, as effective as the first.
Using Zenolenm.
A third Bpray material highly rec
ommended is Zenoleum, which costs
about 40c per quart. Use about one
pint of Zenoleum to two gallons of
water. Since Zlnoleum Is so readily
soluble In water, it Is not as last
ing In effect as the crude creosote or
carbollneum. It Is, however, much
easier to apply. It la perfectly harm
less to the operator and to the feet
or feathers of the fowls coming in
contact with It The carbollneum,
on the other band. Is very Irritating
to the nose, eyes and throat while
spraying, and if It comes In contact
with the plumage of the fowls it dis
colors them, which discoloration will
not be lost until the next molt.
Crude creosote at about 30c per
gallon, mixed with one gallon of dis
tillate at about 12c per gallon makes
a very cheap and effective spray.
To clean up a badly mlte-lnfested
building 10 by 12, proceed as fol
lows: Sweep and dust thoroughly,
first removing everything removable.
Scrub with pearline and water; paint
the roosts and supports for the roosts
with heated Carbolineum, cost not to
exceed 25c. Next, spray the nests
and every other bit of woodwork that
harbors vermin or might do so, with
crude creosote and distillate, one gal
lon of each to the mixture, cost about
40c. If there were no mites on the
walls, or on the floors, and one was
sure of this, whitewash would make
a good spray for them.
Government Whitewash.
The recipe for Government white
wash, which Is the most permanent
that can be made, is reprinted here
One-balf bushel of unslaked lime
slaked with warm water. Cover dur
ing the process to keep In the steam.
Strain the liquid through a fine sieve.
Add a peck of salt previously well-
dissolved In warm 'water; three
pounds of ground rice boiled to
thin paste; and finally stir in boiling
hot, one-half pound of powdered
Spanish whiting (this is plaster of
Paris) and one-pound of glue which
has been previously dissolved over a
slow fire. Now add five gallons of
the Farmer
AID AGRICULTURISTS.
Operating Plan of Cow
Testing Association
A GROUP of dairy farmers, usually
not over 26 in number, get to
gether, elect bfficers and organize for
the purpose of Improving their herds
by means of weighing and testing the
milk from each cow, keeping feed and
production records in a systematic
way and working co-operatively to
improve the dairy Interests of (heir
locality.
They employ a tester, recommend
ed by an agricultural college, whose
duty is to visit each herd one day a
month. He usually arrives in the
afternoon, weighs the hay and grain
fed that night or estimates the value
of the pasture or feed used, weighs
the milk from each cow night and
morning and tests it for butter fat.
All records are carefully kept and
profits and loss on each cow every
month thus arrived at, so that by
the end of the year or possibly soon
er, the records will show w hether a
cow Is profitable or not, whether she
should be kept as a producer and
breeder or sold to the bulcber.
The cost of operating suih associa
tions usually Is from $1 to 91.50
per cow annually, with a minimum
charge of f 10 a herd where the herd
is small. This money Is paid to the
treasurer of the association in semi
annual or quarterly instilments in ad
vance, and is used to pay the tester's
salary and any incidental expenses.
Each member also agrees to furnish
board and lodging for the tester one
day a month and to convey blm to his
next place of work. The tester also
has his board and lodging over Sun
day at the place where he works Sat
urday.
From 350 to 450 cows are neces
sary to profitably carry on such an
association, and each member pays
his share of the cost as determined
by the number of cows set opposite
his name when he signs the agree
ment. a. J. Lashbrook, Dairy Field
Agent, United States Department of
Agriculture and Washington State
College.
hot water to this mixture, stir well
and let stand for a few days, then
put it on hot. To this mixture mav
be added two pints of carbolic acid.
wnicn win mane it a better disin
fectant. One pint of the mixture will
cover one square yard If properly ap
plied.
Thoroughness.
If the mixture Is not thorouehlv
stirred as you use It, it will get thick
er and thicker and it will be neces
sary to thin it by adding more milk.
Carbolic acid or any other disinfect
ant can be added. It may be colored
drab by the addition of a little lamp
black, or a dull green by adding
ochre and a small quantity of Prus
sian blue. Six hours after applying,
this paint will be dry. It is quite
lasting even in bad weather for out
side work.
In conclusion it might be pointed
out that for the extermination of
both lice and mites there is a va
riety of methods. The vital thing
is thoroughness and care In the ap
plication of the material used and the
repetition of the process at such In
tervals as will kill the newly hatched
pests before the mature and repro
duce their kind. With birds and
premises once free from vermin, the
methods should be preventive, and
the cheapest of these Is every-day
cleanliness.
During the past two years forest
officers have killed nearly 9000 pred
atory animals, more than three
fourths of which were coyotes.
Absolutely Free
A beautiful 42-plece net of "dishes,
given to our direct cream xhippers this
year. Write for particulars.
T. S. TOWNSEND CREAMERY CO.
P. O. Box 23.1, Portland, Or.
Creamery li. Seventh and liverett Sta,