The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-07-15
.B0RAx TREATMENT FOR REFUSE
Killing the Larvae is Declared to be the
Way to Dispose of the Pests in the
Easiest Possible Manner-Breeding
Places of Summer Pests,

A safe and effective weapon against
the typhoid or house fly has been
found in powdered hellebore by scien-
fists Of the department.. Flies lay
their eggs chiefly in stable manure.
Powdered hellebore mixed with water
and sprinkled over the manure will de.
stroy the larvae which are Matched
from the eggs. Since powdered helle-
bore is readily obtainable, this puts in
the hands of everyone 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
1t 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 treatment
under some conditions lessened the fer
tilizing value of the manure or actually
injured vegetation. This is not true OF
powdered hellebore. Government ex.
periments have shown that the helle-
bore is entirely decomposed in the
course of the fermentation of the
manure, and that even in excessive
quantities it does no harm except to
the larvae it is intended to destroy.
Chickens picking in manure treated
with it suffer no i'll effects.
Onehalf pound of powdered he1le-
bore mixed with ten gallons of water
is sufficient to kill the larvae in eight
bushels, or ten 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 one
hundred pound lost at a cost of eleven
cents pound. This makes the cost of
the treatment little less than seven
tenths of a cent per bushel of manure.
A liberal estimate of the output of
manure is two bushels day per horse.
The money involved is therefore trif-
ing in comparison with the benefits to
the individual and the community from
the practical elimination of the disease
spreading fly.
Although fresh manure is the favor
tie breeding spot, flies lay their eggs in
other places as WE'LL such as outhouses,
refuse piles, etc. In these places, from
which no manure is taken to spread on
the fields, considerable saving may be
effected through the substitution of
borax for powdered hellebore. Applied
at the rate of 0.62 pounds per eight
bushels of manure, borax is as effective
as powdered hellebore in killing the
larvae, but costs less than half a cent
for each bushel of manure treated In
larger quantities, however, or when the
manure itself is spread at greater
rate than fifteen 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 applying the borax. The use of the
more expensive but safer hellebore is
therefore recommended for the treat
ment Of manure. Borax is recommend
ed for all other refuse in which flies
may lay eggs.
Scientists who have been working
for years to eliminate the fly are con-
WINGED that the use Of one or the other
of these simple measures is a public
duty wherever manure and refuse exist.
Sanitarians, however, strongly advise
the removal Of refuse heaps or other
unnecessary rubbish or breeding places
for flies. In breeding places which can
not be thus disposed of, such as
manure or stables, the daily use of
powdered hellebore will keep the flies
from breeding in these favorite breed
ing grounds. The best results are OBJ
tainable in community where every
one cleans up his premises, traps or
kills the flies, and Systematically treats
the manure and other breeding places
with powdered hellebore.
The fly is not only nuisance to hui
man beings and live stock, it spreads
disease and filth and is a menace to
public health which can not be toler-
ated in the face of a demonstrated
remedy. Details of the experiments
with other information on the subject
are contained in professional paper.
Bulletin 245 of the Department of
Agriculture.