Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1915-07-22
'BABY-BYE, HERE'S A FLY;
LEI Us SWAT HIM, YOU AND !

When the modern mother sings
"Baby-bye, here's a fly" to her infant,
she changes the second line of the
old nursery song to read LET us swat
him, you and T." The common house
fly is no longer an object of tolerant
interest, but has become an object of
hatred and distrust, He is known to
be the principal factor in the distri-
button Of the germs of typhoid.
Especially is he regarded as the
enemy of the baby, as there is reason
to believe that he carries about the
germs of summer diarrhea and leaves
them behind him with other filth,
when he lights on the nipple of the
feeding bottle, or craWls over the sau-
Ger of cereal, or falls in the milk.
Thus he is real danger, not only to
the baby but to the whole family, and
every effort should be made to do
away with him.
Flies may be kept out of the house
to a considerable extent by using
screens at the doors and windows, and
those that get inside may be trapped,
poisoned, or swatted. But better than
any of these methods is to destroy
the flies in the larval stage, and thus
prevent them from Matching. The
following information is furnished by
the Department of Agriculture:
"A safe and effective weapon against
the typhoid or house-fly has been
found in powdered hellebore by scien-
lists of the Department of Agriculture.
Flies lay their eggs chiefly in stable
manure. Powdered hellebore mixed
with water and sprinkled over the
manure, will destroy the larvae which
are Matched from the eggs. Since
powdered hellebore is readily obtain
able, this puts in the hands Of every
one a remedy for one of the pests that
has been found dangerous as well as
troublesome. Powdered hellebore,
however, will not kill adult flies,
which must be swatted or trapped.
"It has long been known that flies
breed in manure but previous methods
of destroying the larvae there by the
use of strong chemicals have been
open to the objection that the treat
ment under some conditions lessened
the fertilizing value of the manure
or actually injured Vegetation. This
is not true of powdered hellebore.
Government experiments have shown
that the hellebore is entirely decom-
posed in the course of the fermenta-
ton of the manure and that even in
excessive quantities it does no harm
except to the lavae it is intended to
destroy. Chickens picking in manure
treated with it suffer no i'll effects.
"One-half pound of powdered helle-
bore mixed with 10 gallons Of water
is sufficient to kill the larvae in
bushels, or 10 cubic feet, of manure.
The mixture should be sprinkled care
fully over the pile, especial attention
being paid to the outer edges. In most
places hellebore is obtainable in 100
pound lots at a cost of IL cents a
pound. This makes the cost of the
treatment little less than seven
tenths of cent per bushel Of manure.
A liberal estimate Of the output of
manure is two bushels a day per
horse. The money involved is, there
fore, trifling in comparison with the
benefits to the individual and the COM
munity from the practical elimination
of the disease-spreading fly.
although fresh manure is the IA
vorite breeding spot, flies lay their
eggs in other places as well, such as
outhouses, refuse piles, etc. In these
places, from which no manure is TAX
en- to spread on the fields. consider
able saving may be effected through
the substitution of borax for powder
ed hellebore. Applied at the rate of
0.62 pounds per bushels Of manure,
borax is as effective as powdered
hellebore in killing the lavae, but
costs less than half cent for each
bushel of manure treated. In larger
quantities. However. or when the ma
nure itself Is spread at a greater rate
than Is tons to the acre, some damage |
to crops may result. Large quantities |
Of manure are often used by market |
gardeners and others, and there is
always danger Of carelessness in APP
plying the borax. The use Of the more |
expensive but safer hellebore is there.
tore recommended for the treatment |
Of manure. Borax is recommended for
all other refuse in which flies may lay
Eggs.
Scientists who have been working !
For years to eliminate the fly are con-
vinced that the use of one Of the other
of these simple measures is a public