The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-04-20
.S|I|.N|||||PL|.. |. I. FLY
TRAP DEVISED
BY EXPERTS
viii Pract icaIIy Prevent Breed
& ing, Says Federal Depart
neutrality-suspicious..

WASHINGTON. April 20.sl
maggot trap which will practically
prevent the breeding of the house
fly Is described in new bulletin OF
the United States department OF
agriculture. No. 200. "a Maggct
Trap in Practical Use; An Expert
ment in the House-fy Control The
investigators who carried on this cx-
pertinent at the Maryland AEricul-
tural College declare that during
august and September at least 9s
per cent OF the 1arvatei breeding III
the manure were destroyed. and al
though the trap was not SO efficient
when the weather became colder.
even then it greatly reduced the
number OF flies.
he principle OF the trap is sim
PIE. it is easy to construct and 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 and fy-nets for their live
stock. In its toughest outlines. the
trap consists Of a concrete basin with
1Elatticed wooden platform erected
upon it ito hofd the manure The ba-
sin is connected by a drain pipe with
a small concrete cistern The bot
tom OF the basin is filed with water
Into which the magEots breeding in
\ the the manure drop. as they are about
TO turn In the pupa or chrysalis
stage. and are drowned. y At frequent
intervals the water is run off into
the cistern and it is then pumped
back on the manure pile. In this
way all the liquid manure is saved.
The successful operation of this
| trap rests upon several facts con
nected with the habits Of the house
Fy, which have been thoroughly estab-
lished by observation. The adult
| fly lays its eggs in fresh manure.
There they remain until the larva
stage is almost over and this insects
are about to enter the pupa or chrys-
ais stage. Ar this time a pronounc-
ed tendency to migrate Is evident.
In consequence if the manure is
placed upon platform with lat
ItfceWork bottom the larvae. while mi
grating, viii fal through these open
ings into the water in the basin be-
low: In the case Of the experiments
at the Maryland Agricultural Col
lege a careful count showed that be-
tween July rs and Octobers1 12 900
larvae were killed in this way. This,
however does not include the num-
Der that were picked up from the
basin by sparrows or poultry. Al
together it is estimated that during
the warm weather the efficiency OF
the trap was probably 90 per cent.
Later, when the temperature was
lower, the traps success was not so
marked. This was accounted for by
the fact that when the air is much
colder than the manure heap 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 wa
ter in the basin ana the cist-Sn to.
breed in. This was overcome by
cleaning out the basin at regular in.
tervals and by sprinkling a little oil
over the surface OF the water in the
cistern.
Properly constructed. such trap
offers no obstacles to the convenient
and economical handling of manure.
It 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 trapswas]
designed to hold the manure pro-
duced by three horses for three
months, but there is no reason why
larger quantities should not be-
treated in the same way byabuild-5
ing larger traps or BY building sew
era1 Of smaller size.
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