The House Fly and How to Suppress It | Page 9

or by a strong stream of water from a hose. The pipe
being again plugged, the floor is again partly filled with water and the
trap is ready for another week's catch. A platform of this size will hold
the manure accumulating from four horses during the period of four
months, or about 20 days' accumulation from 25 horses, if the heap is
well built and made at least 5 feet high.
[Illustration: FIG. 9. A maggot trap for house-fly control. View
showing the concrete basin containing water in which larvæ are
drowned, and the wooden platform on which manure is heaped.
(Hutchison.)]
Experience with this maggot trap clearly indicates that best results can
be secured if the manure is compactly heaped on the platform and kept
thoroughly moistened. It is best to apply a small amount of water each
morning after the stable cleanings have been added to the pile. It should
be borne in mind that in order to make this trap a success the platform
beneath the pile must be kept comparatively free of accumulations of
manure, and moisture applied regularly to drive the maggots out.
COMPACT HEAPING OF MANURE.
Another method of disposing of manure has been recommended by
English writers. The manure is built up in a compact rectangular heap,
the sides of which are beaten hard with shovels. The ground around the
edges of the heap is made smooth and hard and loose straw is placed in
small windrows around the manure pile about 1 foot from the edge.
The exclusion of the air, together with the high temperature and gases
formed by fermentation, tends to make the heap unfavorable for the
development of fly larvæ. Those which do happen to develop in the
surface layers will migrate and pupate in the ring of straw around the
heap, where they are destroyed by burning.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL AND TREATMENT OF MISCELLANEOUS
BREEDING PLACES.
It is just as true under farm conditions as in cities that breeding places
other than horse manure must be attended to. Garbage must be disposed

of, hog and poultry manure must be cared for, and especially on dairy
farms it is extremely important that every precaution be taken to
prevent the contamination of milk by flies.
It is very desirable that all refuse possible, accumulated from cities and
towns, be burned. Incineration has been practiced successfully by a
number of towns and cities with populations of from 10,000 to 15,000
and over. In larger cities provision should be made for burning
carcasses as well as garbage and other refuse. If city and town garbage
is sold to hog feeders the municipal authorities should have control of
the sanitary conditions about the feeding yards, as there is great danger
from fly breeding in such places if not kept clean.
SEWAGE DISPOSAL IN RELATION TO THE PREVENTION OF
FLY-BORNE DISEASES.
In the consideration of these measures we have not touched upon the
remedies for house flies breeding in human excrement. On account of
the danger of the carriage of typhoid fever, the dropping of human
excrement in the open in cities or towns, either in vacant lots or in dark
alleyways, should be made a misdemeanor, and the same care should
be taken by the sanitary authorities to remove or cover up such
depositions as is taken in the removal of the bodies of dead animals.
For modern methods of sewage disposal adapted for farm use one
should consult Department of Agriculture Department Bulletin No. 57.
In the absence of modern methods of sewage disposal, absolutely
sanitary privies are prime necessities, whether in towns or on farms.
Directions for building and caring for such privies will be found in
Farmers' Bulletin 463 and in Yearbook Separate 712, "Sewage
Disposal on the Farm." The box privy is always a nuisance from many
points of view, and is undoubtedly dangerous as a breeder of flies
which may carry the germs of intestinal diseases. The dry-earth
treatment of privies is unsatisfactory. No box privy should be permitted
to exist unless it is thoroughly and regularly treated with some effective
larvicide. Since the fecal matter in such privies is seldom used for
fertilizing purposes it may well be treated liberally with borax. The
powdered borax may be scattered two or three times a week over the

exposed surface so as to whiten it.

WHAT COMMUNITIES CAN DO TO ELIMINATE THE HOUSE
FLY.
Antifly crusades have been very numerous in recent years, and some
have been noteworthy both in methods and in results. However, it will
not be amiss here to emphasize the importance of concerted, organized
effort on the part of whole communities, not only cities, but suburban
and rural neighborhoods as well. By the most painstaking care one may
prevent all fly breeding on his premises, but