666 Reading-Course for Farmers' Wives. 



if left exposed, may thus furnish an abundance of flies for an entire 

 neighborhood. Enough adult flies hibernate to start the breeding of 

 the summer hordes; they are snugly tucked away in sheltered cracks 

 in houses and elsewhere, often a few coming from their hiding places on 

 warm winter days. As it has been demonstrated that house-flies may 

 carry on their feet or mouth-parts the germs of typhoid fever, which 

 they could easily leave on food, a constant and strenuous warfare should 

 be waged against them. 



By the use of screens on doors and windows large numbers of flies 

 can be prevented from entering houses. Many of those that do get in 

 can be caught with sticky fly-papers. This may seem like a murder- 

 ous method, yet it is sure and catches possible disease germs, which 

 the flies may carry. Insect-powders and poisoned baits are usually 

 not as effective or satisfactory as the sticky papers. Considerable can 

 be done to abate the house-fly nuisance even in agricultural communi- 

 ties, by properly treating or caring for horse manure. It is practical 

 to put the fresh manure into a closed compartment, built in or at the 

 side of the stable with windows that are well screened, and having 

 doors opening into the stable and out doors. At least once a week 

 the accumulation of manure should be removed from this compart- 

 ment and scattered in the fields where it is needed. Horse manure 

 can also be effectively treated with chlorid of lime, at the rate of one 

 pound of lime to eight pounds of manure, but the frequent treatment 

 of a large manure pile to kill the house-fly maggots with this substance 

 would be too expensive to be practical. 



VIII. Ants. 



There are several kinds of ants which come into houses and have 

 a very annoying faculty of " getting into " sweet foods of various kinds. 

 When access is once gained to sweets, the news of the discovery is con- 

 veyed to the home colony, and often in a very short time the house may 

 be swarming with these unwelcome visitors. Ants are social insects, 

 and their habits and life history present many complex and interesting 

 phases. The forms usually seen in houses are the neuters or workers 

 (d in Fig. 20). At their home will be found the larger wingless females 

 or queen mothers (a in Fig, 20) who lay the minute eggs {g in Fig. 20). 

 During the summer winged males and females (c and b in Fig. 20) are 

 produced in the nests; they soon take their nuptial flight and the males 

 soon perish, leaving the females to tear off their own wings and establish 



