Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-03-02
|gWAT THE Fly NOW
BEFORE PEST BREEDS
MIG Winter Has Given This Menace
Chance to Become More
Numerous.
lNSEVER INTERMT EFFORTS
Dnc OF Greatest Mistakes to Make
,4 About Flies Is That of Treating
q Them as Harmless Until They APP.
u pear in SwarIns.

Es%s Them as Harmless Until They Ap.
~ s pear in Swarns.
30 BY GARRETT r.. SERVISS
Get ready to fight flies Begin the
SnSht now. This mild ana snowlcss
~ inter, which is likely TO be follow ed
s9S an early spring. has been very ia
SESorabie Tor the musca domcStica, and
Eanany of the breed have hiberna;cd
fS2Sith comfort in houses, barns and
ssfEarages. They arc already coming
~ IN IN, 10 renew their unceasing efforts
~ world domination. stray individuals
ssare humminE impndenuy about living
GEEasaIoomS and they begin TO assert i'll some
r.Isstaurants their claim to the first SUP.
III, Nhlic other insect enemies of man
Egfnd usually afford some respite. com
Sang in hordcs that are not equally nu-
ssaerous and malignant every year. there
ssa:s no such relaxation in the activity
ts2a mes They never intcrmit their ef
s<SnTts, ana 1T they are more ahundan mt
ESome years than others the difference
ta ,s,. not due TO any natural periodcity
ss:s5mnI tnat aneG,imE locust swarms. but
Esnmstanccs. of which the Varying i'm
Saensity of the human war OF defense
sc%ueeu against them is one Of the most
k3mportant.
M One Of the greatest mistakes to make
t4nout fiicS is that Of treating them as
sssEractically harmless until they appear
E5n swarms: y single fly in the louise.
s1ut of its Hiding place ravemons for
Esne foul nourriturc that it's race pre-
fsrs, but also cage, TO get its unciean
@sct on every freSh-cut loaf or Slice
E5f bread. and into every sugar bow
Ea9d Dish Of meat, IS potentially capable
Ebousc '' ''''''" III ''''
bpANGER or SCATTERING
W; GERMS MuCH GREATER
! " This winter We have had one OF the
EDoni;t ever recorded. Such diseases
Anay Leave their siiluvia in !, closed
sAnd the saprcEenic ny will find the
SEapntaGion in its hiding places. drag it
sxorth, and reawaken its virulcmcc 10y
Ssystem. Kill the first lily YOU see,
Hun, it down and annihiatc ii at any
sEost! From II single batch OF its eggs
go other little winged demons may he
}aliy developed within from eight to
g.; II only half of those l2O arc females.
IN another fortmisht they may have
.And the next generation, less than
S1wo weeks later. may be buzzing about
S91nr food TO the number Of 49,. 600.
mi that from one original disscmbler,
s3xn ,o1 YOU allowed TO 20 undistnrhcd
tand you would not be unhospitablc TO
g. creature who thush unlimited, had
sRassed the winter beneath your roof.
t9he descendants OF only 100 such
fNcekS, number 1890 600,
t9IAJORiTN OF FLIES
81 COME FROM PUPAE
.5zoi course. tho figures just given are
tPfobnbly excessive although that is
Atot so certain, for every ny Laws sew
seral patches Of eggs each avcrasinr
f1Su individually, and the infant NOR
l5aiity amons flies may be great
!nuitiplied at each generation consid-
SSsho'N lower than the estimate, but.
Showever reduced, the figures are sure
St9 remain startlingly large
S@It should also be said that the great
i3najority OF flies which appear in the
fsgring arc not the progeny OF the
ll1 4
sSFlc refuge in warm houses, but they
Mome from the eggs or pupac depos-
tsSn IN refuse heaps the preceding fan,
E&hcre they lie protected from the frost
~ winter as warm as this must be fav-
SoFable TO successful whitening of the
eggs, although in ordinary circume
sS}ahceS, no doubt, lonE-enduring snow
s9pay serve Il blanket agains; the
S2id' But this time the temperature
J)as been SO uniformly high that the
fShow blanket could hardly have been
s%sSuppose that the season should open
Two or three weeks earlier than 1t or
S1}narily does; then the iles whether
.fhose alternating In building or those 7
Jaelt undcveloped in the breeding places.
sHlth, added 10 the dozen or more gene /
Sla,ions which measure the ordinary |
speriod Of annual fly domination This /
f1neahs that. taking the figures he have
ffarriNed NJ above. Llc ultimate number
t er IT y Sms; OF G"fa indyidnal moth
ezra tons with the first warmth Of
2Spring might be 200 times greater
t1han IT. would have been in an orJi-
snary season. So. whether or not we
ltoNc hot weather earlier than usual
stgis year the flies viii still have the
advantage which the extraordinarily
winter has afforded them. The ONLY
.IrihS apparently. which could deprive
CHEM Of that would he very cold, lat.
tSprinS. ana one would rather fight
sHlcs than face that,
S.SoUc people undertake the defense of
JbeS or the ground that They are use
Tui scavcnGcrs. The answer 10 that
% mat !, is easier cheaper and less
lqahScrous TO got rid OF the offensive
sthnSs which flies dcVour Than TO leave
iIe cleaning up TO be done by host
soT disease breeders. which carry about
NeadlN germs and distribute them
broadcast like an ld-fashioncd dust
Taisin. broom. The whole nature of
Ihc ily is revealed by the simple fact