The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1912-09-05
DON'T swat"
BUT CLEAN UP
The Best Way to Get Rid Of the
HOusetIy.
NO FILTH AND NC DISEASE.

baCNto tHoe0 Vo8tS IN tUoF OToouin9
Places, Says Government Expert. and
the Result Will Be More Apparent.
Some Precautions.
Something like 1000. 5000 flies
were killed In the campaign Of 1911.
100000 in Washington alone. This
certainly Is prodigious slaughter. and
the figures are impressive until we
consider the number that escaped the
executioners. DR.. Howard Of the bu-
reau OF entomology has taken his pen
Gil In hand. In the luxuriant climate
Of the national capital twelve genera
tons Of flies are Matched I'm n single
summer. A single Overwhelming moth
er will start-say about April l5-with
an average brood of 100. If all these
eggs should hatch and in their turn re-
produce In the like ratio the end Of the
fly season would see the progeny of
that n mother fly making up n tidy
genealogical tree Of some l.096,1S1,-
249,3l1, 100, 200, 900 100000 branches,
twigs and budlets, and, rs each female
usually lays four patches of eggs, their
unchecked development through twelve
generations would make a mass of flies
measuring 2GS,7 IT'S, 165 SCI cubic miles,
or considerably moro than the total
size OF the earth. Fortunately there
are many things destructive to eggs.
larvae and adult flies. so the number
nf Tho lotfnr 10 knnf 1nun IN n nnSGi-
BILE figure.
Various communities are paying for
dead flies-so much for a quart meas
ure Of them, 30 much for a gill C.OO0
to the glib. Ii n could conceive all
of the flies In existence being caught
and paid for. and the hunters given a
living wage. every treasury on earth
would go insolvent. One must con-
Guide. then. that the only way to get
rid Of files is to get rid Of the filth
and the refuse which are their natural
environment and pabulum
The fly Is q natural scavenger, and
scavengers have a reason for exist
ence. Let her be killed by oil means,
but before relying on this 1ione we
should follow her up to her breeding
place, which Is seldom beyond 300 to
800 feet away, and then make that
place decent and sanitary. One should
not rest content with killing the fly.
but should get rid Of the places where
she lays her ~eggs-the insanitary clos
cts, the manure heap. the uncovered
garbage can. the putrescent dead dog
and horse on the public highway.
All refuse and decaying material
and all vegetable and table waste
should be removed and be burned or
covered with lime or kerosene oil. All
garbage cans must be covered or
screened or their contents sprinkled
with kerosene or lime. The sewage
system must be In good order. up to
date. not leaking. not exposed. Kero-
sene should be poured into drains.
Manure should be put into tight pits
or vaults, with an outer door from
which 1t can be shoveled away. A
barrel Of chloride Of lime Is to be con-
stantly ut hand, from which each de-
posit of manure should be s%prinkled.
Shallow dishes should be placed
about the house. one In each room, con
tanning each two ~teaspoonfuls of for
maldehyde to a pint two tumblefuls) OF
water or q ~teaspoonful Of bichromate
Of potassium in a quarter tumblerful
Of water and sweetened with plenty
Of sugar. Pyrethrum powder burned
I'm q room stupefes the flies so that they
fall to the floor. whence they can be
gathered up and burned or sold II the
market rates make 1t worth the while.
All food and drink must be screened
or covered In some way. All windows
in dining room and kitchen doors must
be screened. Groceries, fruit stores,
meat and fish stores must have their
wares screened, and, above all things
else. flies must not get near the milk.
The American people are much i'm
pressed by slogans. Swat the fly" Is
disgusting and suggestive Of cruelty In
the mind Of the boy already so dis
posed. a better n is mo filth, no
fies'' and no disease.-Medical Record