The Bulletin. 33 



just come from feasting on a consumptive's sputum, leaving a trail of tubercu- 

 losis on the lips to be drawn in with the next breath. Watch them swarm 

 over baby's bottle. How do you know but what they have just dined on the 

 sore of a cat or dog, or swarmed over the festering corpse of some animal, 

 or even the exposed human excreta? They may not have been to any germ- 

 bearing material, but as they are flies, you may rest assured that they have 

 been into some filth somewhere. 



"Hitherto the fly has been regarded complacently as a harmless nuisance, 

 and considered to be an annoying creature with great persistence and excessive 

 familiarity. Regarded in the light of recent knowledge, the fly is more danger- 

 ous than the tiger or the cobra. Worse than that, he is, at least in our 

 climate, more to be feared than the mosquito, and he may easily be classed 

 the world over as the most dangerous animal on earth," says Mr. Jackson, 

 who has conducted some investigations on this subject. 



When we realize the danger of the house-fly, then it is up to us to do all 

 we can to exterminate it. Flies breed only in filth, so wherever flies exist 

 there is filth. Flies during the larval life live almost exclusively on horse 

 manure. If you can dispose of this manure so that flies cannot get to it to 

 lay eggs, then the solution of the fly question is easy. The stables should 

 be cleaned twice a week, and air-slaked lime sprinkled around. The manure 

 should either be removed or shut up in a place to which flies cannot obtain 

 access. It isn't always so on the farm that this can be done often enough to be 

 effectual, and so the question which comes to every housekeeper is how to 

 destroy the flies. It is in the home that most care should be exercised, since 

 it is there that disease is contracted by eating infected food. In the first 

 place, there should be as little as possible around the home to attract flies. 

 By this I mean that all slops, etc., should be kept in a covered receptacle, 

 and no dishes of food left uncovered. Then wire doors and windows, espe- 

 cially in the dining-room and kitchen, are a- necessity. Even with these doors 

 and windows, flies are likely to get in, especially if the children open the 

 doors often. Then there are the sticky papers and traps. Personally, I 

 like the "Black Flag" insect powder better than anything we have ever 

 used. The room has to be closed tightly, and all dishes covered to prevent 

 the powder getting on them. Then the powder is sprinkled around the room, 

 and in a short time the flies will have fallen so they can be swept up and 

 burned. Burning them is necessary, as they revive when thrown out in the 

 fresh air. Another destroyer is the "Daisy Fly Killer," advertised in nearly 

 all papers. This is an ornamental, inexpensive little affair, and can be used 

 where the powder cannot, or even where one would not care to put sticky 

 paper. There are other methods of killing flies, for nearly every house- 

 keeper wants to get rid of the pests. 



Now that we know what the fly really is, and its bad record, it becomes 

 more necessary to wage an everlasting fight against our dangerous enemy. 



SAVING STEPS. 



By Mrs. F. L. STEVENS. 



Plan and economy of effort are essentials if the duties which come each day 

 to the farm housewife in a busy home are to be met and dispatched with 

 ease. The excessive fatigue at the close of a long day devoted to housework 

 is very often due to unnecessary steps, unnecessary expenditure of energy 

 which could easily be obviated by a little foresight and plan. 



To simplify the household work as much as Is possible is a woman's first 

 duty. We all know that there are many women doing every day many, many 



October — 3 



