The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-03-31
Preventive Measures

PTeVenG1Ve
The department of health advises
that "the fly in the house should be
reIentlessly pursued and destroyed.
The house which is carefully screened
and protected from flies is infinitely
safer than the one not so protected. In
the spring of the year the house fly
begins to take on life Eggs which
were laid the previous fall begin TO
hatch At first the fly is only a little
worm wiggling in some pile of filth.
The eggs are usually laid and the grub
developed in a manure pile or some
mass of garbage or other filth. Before
the grub develops into the fly it is
easily destroyed. If everything in and
about the house were kept serupulous-
" clean. and if every manure pile
were kept carefully screened or COW
cred so as to protect it from flies,
there would be no difficulty in pre-
venting the fly nuisance. The most
effective way to prevent the fly nuis-
ance is to destroy the breeding places.
The Importance of this may be seen
when it is considered that one fly pro-
duces one hundred and twenty-five
millions or more of its kind in one sea-
son.
terial in which the fly lays her eggs
All stables should be kept scrupulous-
~ clean. No manure should be allowed
to accumulate where it will be expos
ed to flies for, even few minutes I'm
mediately after it is dropped by an an
fmal, it should be removed and covered.
Manure may be treated with consider
able quantities of lime without inter-
fering with its fertilizing value, and
in this way the developing of the eggs
laid in it by the flies can be practically
prevented. The floors of stables should
be thoroughly flushed with water at
least once in every twenty-four hours
Human excrement also afrords an ex-
cellent breeding place for flies. In
army camps the latrines are the points
from which much infection is trans
mitted to troops, and thousands of the
men have lost their lives contracting
typhoid fever transmitted in this man.
ner. During the summer time all
open vaults and dry closets should be
treated continuously w4tn lime, crude
creolin or crude carbolic acid, and
they should be carefully cleaned out at
frequent intervals.
AS a medium for the development of
flies, garbage may be considered next
in Importance to excreta. The eggs of
the fly hatch in about twenty-four
hours, and garbage which is retained
in the kitchen for that length of time
may contain flies in the grub stage. To
prevent this development, all garbage
should be covered and pals should be
emptied as often as possible. In coun-
try districts garbage should be burned
in the kitchen or buried in the garden
at frequent intervals, twenty-four
hours being the maximum time it
should be retained.
Vacant lots contain appreciable
quantities of organic matter in a state
of decomposition, affording favorable
breeding places for flies These vacant
areas should be maintained in state
of scrupulous cleanliness.
In oruer to prevent contamination of
foodstuffs, all foods that are eaten in
the raw state and all foods that are
exposed for sale after having been
cooked should be carefully protected
from contact with flies, by screens or
covers.
Precautions to be Observed
Keep the house free from flies. Ev-
cry fly should be considered possible
ed.
Keep the windows of the house, es-
pecially the kitchen windows, carefully
screened during the spring, summer
and autumn
Protect children from exposure to
flies, particularly children that are III,
and do not allow nursing bottles to be
exposed to flies.
Protect milk and other foodstuffs
from contact with flies.
Keep the garbage outside the house
carefully covered.
Abolish open drains near dwelling
places.
Stable manure should be frequently
sprinkled with fine, and kept covered.
Earth closets and prfvy vaults
should be treated with. lime. crude creo-
lin or crude carbolic acid at frequent
intervals
Earth closets and privy vaults should
be cleaned frequently in order to pre-
vent excrement aecumulating to an un-
due extent
To XIII Flies
Dissolve one dram Of bIcnromate OF
potash in two ounces of water. add q
little sugar to this solution and put
some of it in shallow dishes and place
about the house. Sticky fly paper and
fly traps may also be used.
To clear the room where there are
many flies, burn pyrethum powdel
I1Persian insect powder). This stupe.
fies the flies. and in this condition the.
may be swept up and burned.