The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-22
METHODS OF EKTER-
 MINATING COCKROACHES
Successful Traps Are Described as Substitutes for Disagree able Insect Powders
 and Dangerous
 POisonS.

approach of warm spring weather. cockroaches multiply rapidly and leave their winter hiding p1acesA If cockroaches are troublesome in the house the following simple remedy recommended by one of the Depart ment of AgricuIture's scientists will unquestionab1y destroy great quanti- ties of the pest and keep them in insect powders and dangerous pol sons:
 Mix one part Of plaster of Paris and three or four parts of Hour Place this dry mixture in a saucer or on fiat piece of wood or tin where roacnes are numerous Nearby place another flat plate containing pure water Supply few incIines of wood or cardboard from the floor to the edge of the plate or saucer to give easy access. Float one or two thin pieces Of wood on the water so that they will touch the edge of the dish The insects readily eat the plaster mixture, become thirsty and drink. The water makes the plas- ter set in the intestines and kills the roach. Such traps may be placed in pantries, and bakeries in particular,
 Another simple trap which has been successfully used is the follow ing: A deep vessel or jar is par tiaIly filled with stale beer, for which reaches seem to have special fond ness. 4 number of flat strips of rough wood are placed at an incline against the vessel and bent over so that they project into the interior a few inch es. The reaches climb up the 1nclin- ed sticks to get the beer and slip off into the vessel
 This trap proves more attractive to certain species of reaches than to others The so-ca11ed Oriental cock roach is-more readily attracted by this trap than the tCroton bug" The latter received it's name because it the completion of the Croton system of waterwogks in New York city. The extension of this system gave it means of entering into residences and greatly encouraged its spread. Damp ness of water pipes is favorable to it, and it may be carried by the pressure of the water long distances through the pipes without injury. This roach has so multiplied in the eastern Unit ed States that it has now become the commonest and best known of the domestic species.
 A French trap that has been used with success is the following: Some attractive bait such as stale beer or flour or sliced raw potato is placed in. a box, the cover of which is re- placed by four glass plates inclined downward funnel-1ike and closely joined except at the bottom. The reaches fall from these pieces of glass into the box and are unable to escape.
 There are various po1sons which it is asserted are fairly effective as rem edies against reaches. The only one of these that seems to give satisfac- tory results is phosphorous paste. sold in the form of pills. It consists of sweetened four paste containing to 2 per cent. of phosphorous, and is spread on bits of paper or cardboard and placed in the runways of the reaches, This mixture has been used very successfully fn the Department to free desks from Croton bugs, num- bers of the dead insects being found in the drawers every day during the time the poison was kept about As phosphorous is poisonous to human beings and domestic animals besides, being highly inhammable, it should be used very carefully.
 Considerable relief may be gained by a liberal use of pyrethrum powder. It is not a perfect remedy, however, and is at best but 8 temporary expe- dient, while 1t soils sh elves and other objects oyer which it is dusted. It should be used fresh and IberalIy applied. Reaches are often para1yz- ed by it swhen not killed outright, and the morning after an application the infested premises should be gone over and all dead or partially paraIyzed reaches swept up and burned
 Pyrethrum may also be burned in an Infested apartment. The smoke and vapors generated by the burn ing of this insecticide are often more effective in destroying reaches than the application of the substance in the ordinary way as a powder There is no attendant danger of explosion, and the only precaution necessary is to see that the room is kept tightly closed for from six to twelve hours.
 That this pest has long been known in this country is evident from the following description written in 1748 in Caterby's Natural History of Car olina:
 The ockroach-These are very troublesome and destructive vern1fn, and are numerous and voracfous that it is impossible to keep victuals of any kind from being devoured by them without close covering They are fiat, and so thin that few chests or boxes can exclude them. They |seat not only leather, parchment, and woolen, but linen and paper. They