Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1924-05-29
SCREENS SHOULD GO
UP EARLY IN SPRING
Housekeeper viii Guard
Against Flies.

prepared by the United States Department
of Agriculture.)
There are three general measures to
be observed in combating flies in the
home: Keeping them out entirely, by
means Of screens; using fly paper,
traps, and poison to destroy any that
manage to get in; getting rid of all
nearby breeding places, through per.
sonal or community effort.
The bureau of entomology of the
United States Department of Agricul-
ture has explained many times over
exactly why the common house fly Is
such a dangerous visitor. Every
school child understands that this in
sect breeds in manure and decaying
garbage, that the adult may alight on
animal or human excreta and then fly
directly to the food on the table, car
rying filth and dangerous disease
germs, and that well-screened house,
promptly closed doors, and good fly
swatter are aids in protecting the fam
ily from contamination and possible
sickness.
1t is the part of the good house
keeper to have the screen doors and
window screens in place early in the
season before the flies get into the
house, and to trap, or otherwise kill,
as many of the early-season flies as
possible, before they have had an OPP
portunity to multiply. An individual
female fly will lay from 12O to $50 eggs
at one time and will usually lay from
two to four such patches during sea-
son. These eggs will hatch, under IA
vorable conditions, in less than q
hours. The larva, or worm, stage
usually lasts, in summer. from four
to seven days and the pupal, or sleep
ing stage from three to six days.
"A few flies usually manage to get
in any house during the warm wealth
err, either when doors are opened and
shut, or through mnoticed cracks or
spaces around screens, broken window
panes, or other entrances. ALI foods
should be kept covered or screened
so that stray flies cannot light on them.
Putting sticky fly paper and poison
preparations about helps to rid the
house of those which accidentally get
in A very effective fly poison is made
by adding three teaspoonfuls of COM
mercial formalin to pint of milk or
water sweetened with a little brown
sugar.
It is perfectly obvious, from all that
is known and has been written about
the life habits of the house fly, that
screens, fytraps, fly paper, and fly
poisons would be unnecessary if all
substances in which flies lay their
eggs and breed were properly attended
to. These include horse, chicken, hog,
and COW manure, fermenting garbage,
human excrement, and great variety
of fermenting and decaying vegetable
and animal materials. All accumula-
lions Of these substances should be
eliminated, or, If this is not possible,
tightly covered or screened SO that
flies cannot reach them. In the coun-
try the main source Of flies is the
necessary manure heap. Farmers
Bulletin 851 tells how to care for ma
nure so as to reduce this difficulty to
minimum. The proper disposal of
sewage in rural districts is also of the
greatest Importance because Of the
likelihood Of the spread Of fy-borne
diseases from human excrement
Other bulletins Of the department
make valuable suggestions for mod
ern methods of sewage disposal for
the farm home.