East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-05-14
THIS FLY-TRAP WILL
HELP REDUCE PESTS
DURING THE SUMMER
GOVERNMENT ISSUES BULLETIN
DESCRIBING HOW To FIGHT
THE MAGGOT.
Contrivance win Practically Prevent
Breeding Of the House-fly - How
the Trap Is Built Is Described So
That Every Household May Have
One for the summer.


WASHINGTON, May Especially } |
A maggot trap which win practt- |
cally prevent the breeding of the
house-fly is described in a new bull |
letin Of the L. S. department of ag-
riculture, No. 200, "A Maggot Trap
in Practical Use; An Experiment in
House-fly Control" The investiga-
tors who carried on this experiment
at the Maryland agricultural college
declare that during August and Sep
tember at least sS per cent of the
larvae breeding in the manure were
destroyed, and although the trap was
not so efficient when the weather be-
came colder, even then it greatly re-
duced the number of flies.
The principle of the trap is sim
pie, it is easy to construct AMI the
expense is said to be probably less in
the long run than the investment
which many farmers now make in
screens for their dwellings, and
sprays for their livestock. In its
toughest outlines the trap consists
of a concrete basin with a lattlced
wooden platform erected upon it to.
hold the manure. The basin is con-
nected by a drain pipe with small
concrete cistern. The bottom Of the
basin is filled with water, into which
the maggots breeding in the manure
drop, as they are about to turn in
the pupa or chrysalis stage, and are
drowned AT frequent intervals the
water is run off into the cistern and
is then pumped back on the manure
pile. In this way all the liquid ma
nure is saved.
The successful operation Of this
trap rests upon several facts cornect-
ed with the habits of the housefly
which have been thoroughly establish
ed by observation. The adult fly lays
its eggs in fresh manure. There they
remain until the larva stage is al
most over and the insects are about
to enter the pupa or chrysalis stage
At that time pronounced tendency
to migrate is evident In conse-
quence if the manure is placed upon
a platform with latticework bottom
the larvae, while migrating. will fall
through the openings into the water
in the basin below. In the case of
the experiments at the Maryland ag-
ricultural college a careful count
showed that between July and Octo-
Der l about 112, 1000 larvae were kill
ed in this way. This, however, does
not include the number that were
picked up from the basin by sparrows
or poultry. Altogether it is estimated
that during the warm weather the
efficiency of the trap was probably
SO per cent. Later, when the temper
ature was lower the traps success
was not so marked. This was ac-
counted for by the fact that when
the air is much colder than the ma
nure the larvae will not attempt to
leave the heap and therefore will not
fall into the basin.
Another difficulty experienced arose
from mosquitoes using the water IN
the basin in the cistern to breed in.
This was overcome by cleaning out
the basin at regular intervals ard by
sprinkling a little oil over the sur
face of the water in the cisterr.
Properly constructed, such a trap
offers no obstacles to the convenient
and economical handling of manure.
1t is essential, however, that each
days addition to the heap should be
sprinkled with sufficient water to
keep the manure moist but not enough
to cause teaching. The details of The
construction of the trap are contained
in the bulletin already mentioned.
This particular trap designed to hold
the manure produced by three horses
for three months, but there is no rea-
son why larger quantities should not
be treated in the same way by build
ing larger traps or by building several
of smaller size.