The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-21
A SIMPLE TRAP FOR
 THE HOEe esasEEzE

Washington, April 4AE=~A sugszuassl trap which will practicaAaS prevent the breeding of the house ny is de- scribed in new bulletin of the United Statesc Department Of AgricuEure. No. 200. "A maggot Trap in PraG<4~ cal Use; An Experiment in House Fly Control" The investigators who carried on their experiment at the Maryland Agricultural College declare that during August and September at least SS per cent of the larvae breeding in the manure were de- stroyed, and although the trap was not so efficient when the weather be- came colder. even then it greatly re- duoed the number of flies.
 The principle of the trap is simple, it is easy to construct, and the ex- pense 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 and fly-nets for their live stock. In it's | roundest outlines the trap consists of a concrete basin with a latticed wood eH platform erected upon it to hold
 the manure. The basin is connected 1 by drain pipe with 8 small concrete
 cistern. The bottom of the basin is l filled with water into which the mag
 gots breeding in the manure drop, as
 they are about to turn in the pupa or l chrysa1is stage, and are drowned. At I frequent intervals the water is run ofe into the cistern and then pumped back
 on the manure pile. In this way all 1 the liquid manure Is saved.
 The successful operation of this trap rests upon several facts connec- 1 ted with the habits of the house fly I which have been thoroughly estab- ] lished by observation. The adult fly lays it's eggs in fresh manure. There they remain until the larvae stage is almost over and the insects are about to enter the pupa chrysalis stage. I At this time a pronounced tendency I to migrate is evident Tn consequence if the manure fig is placed upon g. plat sEforn with 8. lattice work bottom the
 larvae, while migrating, will fall througt these openings into the water
 in the basin below. In the case of the Maryland Agricultural College a care
 full count showed that between July ! 25f and October 1 about 112, 900 larvae
 were killed in this way. This, how
 ever, does not include the number
 that were picked up from the basin
 by sparrows or poultry. Altogethel
 it is estimated that during the warn
 weather the efficiency of the trap wal < probably 99 per cent. Later, wheI
 the temperature was lower, the trap'i success was not so marked. This wa accounted for by the fact that whe1 the air is much colder than the ma
 nure heap the larvae will not at
 tempt to leave the heap and there :. fore will not fall into the basin.
 , Anuother difficulty experienced
 arose from mosquitoes using the wate F | in the basin and eistern to breed in ; This was overcome by cleaning ou 3 the basin at regular intervals and b,
 sprink1ing a little oil over the surfac ? of the water in the cistern. SO r ProperlX constructed, such 9 tra, 3 offers no obstacles to the conVenien ? and economical handling of manure
 It is essential, however that each day } addition to the heap should be sprink : led with sufficient water to keep tn ] manuret moist but not enough t t cause teaching. The details Of tn l construction of the trap are coIitaine e in the bulletin already mentioned
 This particular trap was designed [ !. hold the manure produced by thre
 horses for three months, but there
 no reason why larger quantitie
 should not be treated in the same wa.
 by building larger traps or by buiIdin e several of smaller size.