The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-07-26

that the treatment of manure with
hellebore will usually be found more
| advantageous. Ten gallons of the
solution already described, composed
of u pound of powdered hellebore to
J 10 gallons of water and allowed to
stand "a hours, will be sufficient for
the treatment of 8 bushels or 10 cubic
feet of manure. A weaker solution
| than this is not so effective. The
hellebOre does not alter the compost
ton of the manure in any way and
does not cause any injury to crops
on which the latter is placed. In fact,
the only possible way in which it can
do any injury upon the farm is in case
the barrel or tank in which the solu-
ton is stored is left uncovered in
place where some of the farm animals
may drink from it. The most ordinary
care, however, is sufficient to prevent
such an accident. The cost of the
treatment, with hellebOre selling from
1
Il to 16 cents a pound and in large
lots for 10 cents or less, it is estimated
at little over cent for every bush
| els.
| Borax is perhaps more effective in
| the killing of larvae than hellebore,
| but borax has the disadvantage of
| eXerting in large quantities an in
furious effect upon plants. 1t is pos
sible that manure treated with suffi-
cient bOrax to destroy the larvae and
then applied to plants at a greater
rate than - tons per acre may work
harm to certain crops. Where borax
is used for the prevention of flies,
| therefore mo more than l pound
should be employed for every 16 cubic
feet of manure and this mnaure should
not be used at a greater rate than 10
tons to the acre.
This objection to bOraX, Of course,
does not apply to its use on the ground
of stables with soil floors, in privies
and refuse piles, and on other accum-
ulations of decaying material in which
flies may lay their eggs.
While the use of maggot traps and
the treatment of manure with helle-
bore or borax are most effective in
reducing the number of flies, it is not
likely that they will actually extermi-
nate the pests in any neighborhood.
The precautiOn of screening windows
and doors and in particular the pro
tecting of all articles of food with fly
proof screens is, therefore, urgently
recommended by the Department Of
Agriculture. Screening, of course, has
no effect upon the number of flies, but
it does minimize the danger of infec-
ton. Comparatively few people real
ize how admirably adapted from It's
structure and habits the fly is to carr
disease. The body of the house fly
and especially the legs, are thic ky
covered with hairs and bristles. AS
the fly crawls about over the decaying
organic matter on which it likes to
feed, these hairs readily pick up dis
ease germs and carry them to the hui
man foods which the fly subsequently
visits. The fly is continually passing
from piles of refuse and filth to kitch-
ems and dining rooms and in each one
of these journeys it can with the
greatest ease bring with it the germs
of an intestinal disease, typhoid Ash
attic cholera, dysentery. and infantile
diarrhOea are among the diseases
which are known to be transmitted
in this way and there is very strong
evidence that tuberculosis, anthrax,
ophthalmia, smallpox and other dis
eases are carried through the same
medium. 1t has also been demonstrate
ed that not only are disease germs
carried in this mechanical way upon
the legs and body of the fly but that
these germs flourish abundantly with
in the fly itself and that they can be
deposited by the fly upon the human
beings or upon human food.
The danger from the fly is greatly
increased by the extraordinary rapid
ty with which the insect multiplies |
The common house fly includes per-
haps SO or 80 per cent of all the flies
ordinarily found in and around dwell |
ings. A single female lays eggs at |
least two, and possibly four, times in |
the course of its life and averages
probably 12O eggs on each occasion. |
These eggs usually hatch in less than |
"a hours. Indeed, under favorable |
conditions, maggots may issue from |
them in 8 hours. These magogts grow |
rapidly, Noting for the first time |
within day after they are Matched. |
A day later they mott second time,
and two or three dayS afterwards on