The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-09-20

we realize, saws, DIR. L. O. Howard,
that flies FREQUENT and feed upon the
most filthy substances cit may be the
eXcreta of typhoid or dysentery pa
tients or the discharges of one suffer
ing from tuberculosis} and that they
may subsequently contaminate hu-
man foods tae necessity and inn
portnnce of house fy control is
clear
Preventive and Control Measures.
The use Of screens, fly papers,
etc, Is generally known, Particular
pains should De taken to screen food
supplies. satisfactory poison now
being used extensively consists of a
mixture of formalin and. milk Cor
water. sweetened with little sugar
tone teaspoonfui of commercial for
malin to one teacupful of milk
This mixture should be exposed in
shallow dishes and a piece of bread
or banana put in the center for the
flies to light on The use of fly pa
pers. etc. are at best only tempo
rary measures and the logical method
of combating flies is to eliminate or
treat their breeding places
In the first place, stables should
be kept clean, and this includes
troughs and managers, as flies will
breed in small accommodations OF ma
terial Where it is possible stables
should have water tight floors. as the
maggots migrate from manure to the
soil to continue their growth.
IF horse manure is not removed
and spread in the field every day. it
should be stored in fiy-tieht bins or
pits next to the stable and removed
every three days. or at least twice
week during the summer months
/ II manure is kept In heaps near the
stable. a $ is the general practice, it
should be treated with some chemi-
cal which kills the maggots of the
fly without affecting the fertilizing
value of the manure.
"Of the numerous substances ex-
perimented with by the United States
Department of Agriculture powdered
hellebore and powdered borax seem
to serve this double purpose, and,
of the two, hellebore Is the best
Hellehore can be obtained in two
forms, ground and powdered; the
latter gives better results. Its cost
in large quantities is not more than
ten cents a pound and 1t may he OF
interest to farmers that hellebore
contains per cent of the valuable
fertilizing element nitrogen. To
prepare this mixture one-half OF the
powder is added to every ten gallons
of water. and after stirring it is al
lowed to stand for twenty four hours.
This stock mixture is sprinkled ov ,r
the manure at the rate Of ten gall
Ions to every ten cubic feet (eignt
bushels) of manure. 1t has been es-
timated that the cost OF thus treat
ing horse manure is somewhat over
one cent per two bushels Of manure.
Hellcbore does not injure chickens,
but il may Ioison other farm AM
mails. and for that reason the barre
or tank containing the stock mixture
should be kept tightly covered
Powdered borax is not only an eff
fective maggot destroyer, hut 1t also
prevents the eggs from Matching II
it comes in contact with them. Best
results are obtained when 1t Is APP
piled in solution or when water Is
sprinkled on :tter the borax Is scat
tered evenly over the pile. One
pound to every sixteen cubic feet
kills about 90 per cent Of the mag
gots and larger amounts will kill
from 80 per cent to 30 per cent.
Heavier applications than one pound
to sixteen cubic feet should not be
made. as 1t may injure crops on
soils on which such manure has been
spread. -
breeding material other than
horse manure mnat he attended, IN