USA > Michigan > Genesee County > Genesee County, Michigan, rural directory, 1919 > Part 28
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Third: Build the granary as nearly vermin-proof as is possible. Cover win- dows with fine wire gauze. See that doors, floors, walls, and ceilings are tight.
As regards aggressive remedies, there is one which is a grand success-carbon bisulphide. This is a colorless liquid which rapidly vaporizes into a heavy gas which works downward. Rightly ap- plied to infested grain or seed, the cost is slight, and no injury results to edible or germinative qualities.
How to use bisulphide: See that the grain receptacle can be tightly closed. Figure out the cubical contents of the receptacle or bin, and apply the bisul- phide at the rate of about one pound for each 1000 cubic feet of interior space. Place the liquid on top of the grain, in shallow pans; about a teacupful in each. Then quickly close the bin for twenty- four hours.
Cautions: The vapor is highly inflam- mable and poisonous. Do not breathe it, nor allow any light near. Thoroughly air the bin or building after fumigation.
Cabbage Worm
This pest is the larva or caterpillar of a white butterfly which appears early in the season and which can be seen flying about cabbage fields until late in the fall.
Remedies : The main secret of success is regular, persistent treatment nearly every week. One treatment alone does little good, owing to the fact that new egg supplies are being placed on the cab- bages by the butterflies all summer. There are many remedies, and below we give some of the safest and best known :
Pyrethrum (also called California buhach and Persian insect powder). This may be diluted with five or six times its bulk of flour, and dusted on the plants in the evening or early morn- ing when wet with dew; or it may be mixed with water-one ounce to four gallons-and sprayed on at any time.
Hot water: Water at a temperature of 130 degrees will kill every worm it touches without injuring the plants.
Kerosene emulsion : An excellent remedy while the plants are young, but may give the heads a bad taste if used too late in the season.
Air-slaked lime: Some growers say that this (or, in fact, fine dry road dust, or any powdery substance) will kill every worm it covers.
Hand-picking: In small gardens, the worms can easily be controlled by pick- ing them off and killing them at regular intervals.
Preventive measures: The practice of leaving cabbage stalks in the field after the main crop is off is a reprehensible one. All remnants should be gathered and destroyed, with the exception of a few left at regular intervals through a field as lures for the females to deposit their eggs. Such stalks, being useless, should be burned later on.
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GENESEE COUNTY
Day Phone 2711-W
Night Phone 3719-W
SQUARE DEAL GARAGE
(Under New Management)
All Work Guaranteed
108 E. Fifteenth St.
FLINT, MICHIGAN
CLARENCE B. SANBORN -BREEDER OF --- Registered Jersey Cattle Valley Tel. 23 F-Otisville Exchange OTISVILLE - - MICHIGAN
OVER NEW ORLEANS
FRUIT HOUSE
OVER NEW ORLEANS
FRUIT HOUSE
IT IS THE DUTY of every woman to dress well and look well, or she meets severe criticism. Now comes our point-the best dressed women in Flint
Wear August Clothes
and they are shrewd women, too. They know where to get absolutely The Greatest Value for what they spend. May We Serve YOU Also ?
M. P. AUGUST "The Biggest Value Giver in Flint " Ladies' Ready =To=Wear Shop 31712 So. Saginaw Street
OVER NEW ORLEANS
FRUIT HOUSE
OVER NEW ORLEANS
FRUIT HOUSE
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6
RURAL DIRECTORY
Cow Ailments and How to Treat Them (From the Biggie Cow Book)
Let sick or maimed animals lie still. Do not torture them by trying to get them up. Rub their limbs every day and keep a soft bed under them. They will get up when they are able.
If a cow look poor and weak, put a blanket on her, keep her in a warm place, and feed her some corn meal and middlings, and some oats. Give her warm drink, and stir a little cheap flour in it. Do not let her run clear down. Look ahead.
If cows are accidentally left out in a rain and seem cold, put them in the stable as soon as possible and rub them well. If they shiver, put blankets on them until they are dry. If there is inflammation or hardness in the udder, bathe it thoroughly for at least half an hour, and rub gently until thoroughly dry.
If this does not effect a cure put a warin flaxseed poultice on the udder, which can be held in place by means of an eight-tailed bandage. This should be changed twice a day until the hardness and soreness are gone. Of course, the cow should be milked out two or three times each day.
If a cow get a foreign body in the mouth turn her head towards the light and remove it.
When chaff or other dirt gets into the eye syringe or sponge the eye fre- quently with clean cold water contain- ing sulphate of zinc one grain to each ounce of water. Keep stable darkened.
For CHOKING, examine throat and neck; if offending object is felt, attempt to force upward into the mouth by pres- sure of hands below the object. Give one pint linseed oil or melted lard. May sometimes reach with hand by holding tongue aside. Do not push a stiff stick or fork handle down the throat; a piece of rubber hose, well greased, is less likely to ruin the cow.
If a cow has BLOAT or HOVEN there will be a drum-like swelling on left side in front of hip, caused by green food, wet or frosted clover, overfeeding, chok- ing. Give one-half teacupful table salt in water, as drencli. Exercise. If not relieved give aromatic spirits of am- monia, two ounces, well diluted, every hour.
Where there is great danger of suf- focation a puncture of the paunch may be made with a knife at a point, equally
distant from the point of hip and last rib, on left side of cow.
IMPACTION OF PAUNCH is caused by overeating, and the symptoms are fail- ing appetite, solid or doughy swell- ing on front of left hip. Give one to two pounds Glauber salts dissolved in water; follow every three hours by drench of mixture of equal parts com- mon salt, nux vomica powdered and capsicum. Dose, one tablespoonful.
In COLIC the symptoms are uneasiness, striking belly with hind legs, lying down and getting up. Cause, change of diet, rapid feeding. Give Glauber salts, one pound in water; warm water enemas. Give every hour one ounce each of laudanum and sulphuric ether, diluted.
CONSTIPATION caused by dry, coarser food and lack of exercise, is treated with green food, linseed meal and exercise ; give pint of raw linseed oil. DIARRHOEA is treated with starch gruel or flour and water and dry food.
SCOURS in calves is caused by over- feeding, bad food or drink, damp stables, dirty surroundings. Remove cause and withhold food the best remedy. Give once daily twenty grains potassium per- manganate in tincup of water; also use same for enema.
Cows are subject to FOUNDER, showing sudden tenderness in two or more feet; feet hot and may crack around top of hoof. This comes from overfeeding. Give Glauber salts one pound, twenty drops tincture aconite every two hours. Keep feet moist by wet pasture or wet cloths.
GARGET Or SWOLLEN UDDER, due to cold, injuries, overfeeding or heating food. Bathe frequently with warm water; dry, and apply warm lard. Milk often. Give internally two-drachm doses salicylic acid and one drachm soda bicarbonate in one pint of milk four times daily.
DISCHARGE OF Mucus from nostrils in- dicates catarrh from exposure, dust, or pollen of plants. Allow animal to breathe steam from water containing - pine tar.
In SORE THROAT there is difficulty in swallowing, food returns through nos- trils. Steam as in catarrh, give tincture belladonna one-half ounce every six hours. Rub throat with equal parts tur- pentine and sweet oil.
In BRONCHITIS there is dry cough first,
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then loose, and discharge from nostrils; rattling sound in windpipe. Steam as in sore throat and give tincture aconite twenty drops every two hours and two drachms muriate ammonia in one pint of water three times daily. For bron- chitis in young stock due to worms in windpipe, which sometimes occur in autumn where they are pastured late, give one ounce turpentine and six ounces sweet oil well mixed three times a week. Take from pasture and feed liberally.
In PNEUMONIA there is loss of appe- tite, animal standing, rapid breathing, pulse frequent, extremities cold. Cause, exposure or neglected bronchitis. Place in a warm, dry, well-ventilated stable, apply to chest equal parts turpentine and alcohol and cover with blanket. In be- ginning give tincture aconite twenty drops every hour. If not better in two days discontinue aconite and give one ounce tr. digitalis every eight hours.
In PLEURISY there is fever with rapid pulse, animal stands, grunts on moving or when chest is struck, has a short painful cough. Treat same as for pneu- monia; give also one drachm iodide of potash twice daily.
SORE TEATS are caused by scratches from briers, bites of insects, dirt expo- sure, also from the contagion of cow pox at milking. Remove cause and use milk tube if necessary; apply to sores after milking small quantity of mixture gly- cerine four ounces and carbolic acid one drachm. In cow pox milk affected cow last and apply to sores mixture glycer- ine four ounces, water eight ounces, chloride of zinc twenty grains.
WARTS on teats or other parts are generally easily removed by sharp scis- sors; dress wound as advised for sore teats.
MANGE causes great itching and gen- erally starts at root of tail or top of neck; cause, a minute parasite. Wash with soap and water and dry, after which apply lard which destroys the parasite.
For LICE and TICKS apply daily a tea made by adding one pound quassia chips to three gallons of boiling water. Or- dinary sheep dip is also effective. Car- bolic acid is one of the most effective agents against parasites. It should have a dilution of about one hundred times its bulk of water. Kerosene emulsion is good for lice on cattle, killing both adults and eggs. To make, dissolve one- half pound hard soap in one gallon hot water and while still near the boiling
point add two gallons kesosene oil. Churn or agitate until emulsified. Use one part of this emulsion to eight or ten parts of water and use as a spray, wash or dip.
In RINGWORM there are circular spots of baldness covered by gray or yellow crust; caused also by a parasite. Wash with strong soap and water and apply pure creolin once daily for a week.
FOUL CLAW or HOOF DISTEMPER causes lameness in one or more feet, swelling and heat around top of hoof, and bad smelling discharge around edge of hoof and between the claws. Cause, dirty stables, standing in stagnant water or mud. Trim off all loose horn, clean by wiping with dry rags, wet sores twice daily with mixture chloride of zinc one ounce, water one pint.
OVERGROWTH OF HOOF from standing in stable should be filed off with rasp.
SPRAINS (generally below knee or hock), causing heat and lameness with tenderness at point of injury, should be bathed with warm water or with lauda- num three parts, lead water one part.
WOUNDS, if bleeding much, fill or cover the wound with clean cotton dipped in cold or quite warm water, and secure firmly with bandage; examine for foreign bodies, as splinters, nails and dirt. Do not fill wound with cobwebs to stop bleeding. Remove the bandage be- fore swelling takes place; one applica- tion of bandage usually enough. Keep animal quiet first day, then allow exer- cise. Keep wound clear and apply car- bolic acid water 5 per cent. or creolin and water 1 to 10. Do not apply grease to wounds. If proud flesh forms apply daily enough powdered burnt alum to cover.
For an ABSCESS or cavity containing pus caused by bruises, etc., open freely and syringe with 10 per cent. creolin solution.
LOCKJAW, a constant muscular spasm involving more or less the entire body, is caused by the entrance of tetanus germs through a wound. There is stiff- ness of whole or part of body, more fre- quently the jaws. making eating difficult or impossible. If animal can drink give one-half ounce doses bromide potash five times daily; dissolve and place on food or gruel or in water given to drink. Do not drench, and keep quiet.
.
INVERSION OF VAGINA most frequent in springers, caused most frequently by stalls too low behind. Treat displaced parts with warm water and replace them.
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RURAL DIRECTORY
Place cow in stall eight inches higher be- hind than in front until after calving.
INVERSION OF WOMB occurs after calv- ing, same cause as above and treatment the same; get womb placed well for- ward.
STERILITY in bull is sometimes caused by high feeding and lack of exercise. Give nux vomica one drachm and cap- sicum one-half drachm once daily. In cow may be temporary, following abor- tion; if from other cause, seldom re- cover. Try same remedy as for bull.
ABORTION is a frequent and trouble- some malady, occurring generally at about seventh or eighth month. Cause may be due to injuries or to contagion. Separate at once when suspected; after calf is born syringe the womb with one gallon of warm water containing one ounce creolin. Repeat daily as long as any discharge is seen. Afterbirth should be removed about third day after calv- ing. Disinfect stables thoroughly. Do not let cow take bull for at least two months after aborting.
RETAINED AFTERBIRTH is generally due to premature birth; should be removed on third or fourth day. Blanketing, warm stable, warm drinks may help. If necessary to remove by hand, should only be attempted by qualified person, otherwise it is advisable to allow it to remain.
INFLAMMATION OF THE WOMB is indi- cated by fever, loss of appetite, strain- ing. Caused by injuries in calving or to attempts at removal of afterbirth, and is generally fatal. Give two drachms salicylate of soda every four hours and syringe womb with warm water and two ounces creolin to the gallon.
MILK FEVER or PARTURIENT APOPLEXY is usually treated by inflation of the udder with air. Doubtless a regular "milk fever outfit," costing about $3. is best to use, as it precludes the possibility of in- fecting the sensitive interior of the udder. But in emergency, or in case the outfit is not procurable, the udder may be in- flated by using a bicycle or automobile air pump, taking pains to be sure the air used is pure. If in a stable, venti- late it well.
Attach a milking tube to the tubing of the pump, first dipping it in a carbolic solution (carbolic acid three teaspoons, water one pint). Wash each teat care- fully with this antiseptic, before inflat- ing it, so as to prevent infection. In- sert the milking tube carefully. Work slowly.
Of course the udder must not be in- flated unreasonably. After inflation, re- move the tube and leave the udder full ` of air for five to eight hours. Then the air may be worked out gently, and, if necessary, the inflation may be re- peated.
Cows so treated usually show marked signs of improvement within two hours.
ACTINOMYCOSIS (LUMP JAW) is a con- tagious disease due to a germ known as "Ray fungus." There are well-defined swellings about the jaw, head and throat, or may be on the tongue or in the lungs. These soften and open after a time and discharge matter; appetite good until well advanced. The treatment is, re- move by surgical means; late experi- ments indicate iodide of potash two to three drachms daily to be a cure. Ad- vanced cases should be killed at once. The meat should never be used for food.
MILK SICKNESS (TREMBLES) is a dis- ease of cattle communicable to man and other animals by use of meat or milk ; dry cattle most commonly and far more severely affected. Milch cows may trans- mit this disease through the use of their milk and yet show no trace of the dis- ease themselves. The symptoms are trembling upon least exertion as walk ing, great prostration and delirium. Treatment is only prevention; do not use pastures known to produce this dis- ease: unbroken land of certain districts unsafe.
RHEUMATISM is shown by hot, painful swellings at the joints, generally the hocks, stiffness in walking or may be unable to rise. Bathe joints with cam- phor and alcohol and give internally two drachms salicylate of soda every three hours until four ounces have been given ; keep warm and dry and give laxative food.
TEXAS FEVER, a disease of Southern cattle which, when transmitted to North- ern cattle, is generally fatal in a few days. The spread of the disease is gen- erally due to ticks; those from dis- eased animals contain the germs of the disease and by their bites transmit it. The indications are a high fever, stag- gering gait, urine of reddish brown to black, great prostration, unconsciousness. death. Most common in summer months; unknown in the north after heavy frost. Prevention, avoidance of cattle from Southern fever districts ; dipping of Southern cattle to destroy the ticks.
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GENESEE COUNTY
RES. PHONE 2643-W
OFFICE PHONE 1034-R
THOMAS BRINKER
PLUMBING & HEATING
32112 So. SAGINAW ST. SECOND FLOOR
FLINT -
-
MICHIGAN
JOS. JELLIS J. LEON JELLIS
FARMERS! Use WHITE MOUNTAIN FLOUR HENKEL'S BREAD FLOUR
.
Store your wheat with us and get your flour as you want it. Our brands are guaranteed to give satisfaction.
COAL
We have the best grades of hard and soft coal. Prices right. We will grind your feed grist in a hurry and grind it fine.
J. JELLIS & CO. Phone 174 Cor. W. 2nd & Ann Arbor Sts. FLINT, MICH.
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RURAL DIRECTORY
Hotbeds
There is one easy, sure way to make a hotbed, and here it is :
A hotbed is nothing more than a board-edged pit, in which there is fer- menting horse manure covered with sev- eral inches of soil. The top of the hot- bed is roofed with one or more sashes, which usually measure about 3 x 6 feet each. At night a straw or other mat is laid over the glass to keep out the cold.
Hotbeds are usually made of one-inch boards. If the boards on the back of the frame are twelve inches above ground, those in front should be several inches lower, thus giving a slant to the sashes, enabling water to run off quickly.
Throw the manure into the hotbed pit in successive layers, continuously tramp- ing. Fill the pit to within four or five inches of the top of the frame on the front side. The manure will settle sev- eral inches before time for sowing the seed. Place sashes on the frame imme- diately after filling.
Tree-Pruning Hints
Spring is a good time to prune trees, unless you prefer to wait until June. The rule is that spring pruning induces wood growth and June pruning induces fruit growth. Of course, on young trees you should want only wood growth until they are good-sized and fully able to endure the strain of fruit bearing. Some growers do part of their pruning in March and part in June.
Don't prune mature trees too severely. A tree must have some place upon which to produce its fruit; otherwise it will produce water-sprouts instead of fruit.
Don't prune off a single branch unless you know just why you are removing it and why you are removing that particu- lar branch in preference to some other.
Don't neglect to paint all large wounds. Painting will improve the ap- pearance, prevent decay, prevent evapo- ration of the tree's supply of moisture, and facilitate healing.
Above all, don't allow any man to prune your trees if his chief recom- mendation is his ability to handle an ax and a saw.
Don't prune your trees because some one else thinks they need pruning. He may not know any more about them than you do.
Don't prune your trees unless you can tell the difference between a dead and a living branch, between a bearing and a non-bearing branch, between a fruit-spur and a water-sprout, and between a fruit- bud and a leaf-bud.
Don't prune off the large limbs when equally good results can be had by re- moving a few of the smaller limbs. The large ones form the framework of the tree and are needed to support the bear- ing branches.
It is sometimes stated that the fruit- growers of the Pacific slope, who pro- duce some of the finest fruit in the world, prune away "nearly half of the tops of their trees" every year. They do nothing of the kind. They remove from one-quarter to two-thirds of the annual terminal growth of the previous season. But they give their trees cul- ture that causes the trees to make a terminal growth of from two to three, and often four, feet. The average east- ern farmer gives his trees only enough care to permit the growth of four or five inches of terminal growth; and so his tree tops do not need the same treat- ment that a larger growth would require.
Trim fruit trees a little every year, rather than much in any one year. Peach trees require more pruning than most trees; at least one-half of the length of the new growth should be re- moved each season. Cherry trees re- quire the least pruning; merely cut out dead, broken or "crossed" limbs. Other trees need a judicious thinning-out and, sometimes, cutting-back. Avoid cutting so as to leave "stubs"; make neat cuts close to union.
The harder you prune the more suck- ers you will have; don't overdo a good thing.
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GENESEE COUNTY
Troublesome Pests-Rats
At one time our premises were so over-run with rats that we sustained quite a loss from their devastation. A plan for their destruction was devised, as follows: Filling an iron kettle three- fourths full of barn sweepings, corn- cobs and a little mixed grain, we set it in an empty stall in the horse stable where the rats seemed to predominate most, and left it this way for some time, keeping plenty of grain in with the rub- bish as an enticement for the rats. We laid several boards sloping from the kettle to the floor, so that the rats could easily run up and down and into the kettle.
At the end of about two weeks, or when we thought a great number of rats had become accustomed to frequent the kettle, we emptied the kettle of its rubbish contents and filled it three- fourths full of water and covered the water about an inch or more with light chaff, leaving no water exposed. (If water remains entirely undisturbed the chaff will not sink over night.) On the chaff we scattered a little light grain. There was something going on, that night ! The rats had a party or some- thing; at any rate, the next morning when we went to fishing we scooped out about a half bushel of rats, big and little. The next morning our haul was not quite so large, but we got quite a number; and so on until the rats either got wise or there were no more rats. If we did not get all, we at least got a large majority of them.
At another time when rats were get- ting altogether too plentiful, we caught a rat in a box trap. This rat we let run into- a grain bag and there we caught it by the nape of its neck, guarding care- fully against being bitten; then we let all but the head and neck come out of the bag and painted all of the exposed parts of the rat thoroughly with tar, and let the rodent go. We had heard that doing this to one rat and letting it go would clean the premises of all other rats, as they object to the smell of tar, or are frightened at the strange appear- ance of one of their party. It seemed
to work in our case, and work well. We had no trouble with rats for several years after that. Lonesome, heart- broken, or what, I don't know; but one morning shortly after we had tarred this rat we caught the same fellow again in the same trap we had caught it in before. However, this time we did not let it go.
It seems that in no other place are rats so hard to catch as in the cellar. Located there they seem to be able to evade all traps and trapping. But I found a way to get Mr. Rat in the cellar. I set a steel trap and put it in a shallow, discarded bread-pan, and covered the trap completely with wheat bran; the bran being light, did not spring the trap nor hinder the working of it. Over and about the trap on the bran I scattered a few bread-crumbs or meat scraps. This method has never failed me in getting rats in the cellar; although it has when tried in other places. The bran and the foregoing baits differed so much from the edibles the rats in the cellar were accustomed to diet on, that they jumped for the chance of a change, and conse- quently were easily caught in this manner.
I have found that rats often gain en- trance to a cellar through the cellar drain, and for this reason the outlet to the drain should be screened so that no rats can enter.
Chloride of lime, if generously sprinkled over the runways of rats, will also clear the premises of the pests. It gets into their nostrils and burns their feet. Rather than brave many repeti- tions of it, they leave the premises.
Prevention is sometimes better than cure. Where possible to do it, use con- crete for floors, foundations, etc. The additional cost of thus making buildings rat-proof is slight as compared to the advantages. With cement even an old cellar may be made proof against these pests.
Rats are expensive, they are destroy- ers of property. They are a menace to health, carrying in their fur disease germs ; they are transmitters of plagues, a general nuisance-biff the rat!
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RURAL DIRECTORY
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