Evening star., 1915-06-01
ALL URGED TO WAGE
WAR AGAINST THE FLY
Board of Health of Michigan Issues
Bulletin on the
Subject.
Figures Are Given Showing How
Fast the Pests Increase When
Once Started.

Our interest in the war in Europe
should not lead us to overlook the
fact that the season is once more at
hand when every man. woman and
child should war assiduously against
the fy,' asserts the state board of
health of Michigan in a recent bulletin.
.'Musca domestica is once more
emerging from his-or her-winter
haunts. With her emergence COM
/ mences that prodigious multiplication
table which aStonishes the unscientific
and appalls those who know how inti~
mately associated the house fly is with
The spread Of disease and death.
"a few figures will impress the prop
osition indelibly on the average mind.
In ten days from the time the fly de-
posits her eggs $50 additional flies are
hatched. AS is we'll known, the per-
centage of females is much higher in
the insect world than it is among
mammals. Even. however, if we con-
cede that half the newly hatched flies
are females, the seventy-five females
will deposit each 80 eggs, which
within ten days will produce 1880
flies additional. Half of these, 5,62o.
are, We concede. females; within ten
days more they have added St3.150 to
the fly population. Half of this num-
Der, 421,S75, will, ten days later pro-
duce the huge number of 6S.2S1.250
flies, ma aking a total of 64,136,i0 flies
produced within forty-one days from
the time the first fly emerged.
Figures May Be Larger.
of course. these calculations are
based upon the assumption that halt
the flies are males-which is scientific
All n q
masculine proportion. Hence the to-
tai figure at the end of forty-one days
is apt to be much larger than the suf-
ficiently large figure that results from
the calculation. And. allowing for the
ravages of fly swatters and fly cpl
denies and starvation Through people
keeping themselves and their premises
too clean) the total will assuredly ap-
proximate these tremendous figures
unless the vigorous campaign conduct
ed in recent years is repeated and am
plified in 1915.
Every man. woman and child is in
terested m this proposition. Every
merchant is interested-and it is .
proposition that particularly interests
and affects the merchant who deals ir
foodstuffs. be he general dealer, gro
Ger. druggist or confectioner
Fly-Ravaged Store Stunned.
'In the first place. the hy-ravaged
store is Stunned by particular people;
the fly- y-ravaged stock of groceries dis
gusts the modern housewife. The mer-
chant who wants to sell foodstuffs
must keep his place of business clean.
To do this he must fight the fly him
self from the very drop of the hat.
Fighting the fly means carefully kill
ing each individual fly as it appears
providing screens 10 prevent the In
gress of flies which other people have
neglected to kill and keeping his store
premises clear of any sort of filth or
debris calculated to attract the fly. All
stable refuse in the vicinity should be
thoroughly moved every week. as well
as garbage; and, in addition. refuse
and garbage ought to be thoroughly
saturated with chloride of lime or
crude petroleum, which will effectively
prevent the eggs from incuba ting
Furthermor the merchant should see
that his fellow merchants get busy
along the same lines. for concerted
campaign is easier for all and more
likely to succeed.
This is the portion of the f1y-fight-
ing campaign which brings the mer-
chant only indirect returns. His direct
returns are from the retailing of fly
fighting materials. These include in
the hardware stock. screen doors and
screen windows for keeping out the
fy and swatters for killing him: in the
drug stock chemicals for disinfecting,
in the drug and grocery stock. fly pads
and f1y papers for bringing his exist
ence to a prompt and painless close"