20 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



the great desirability of protection from these filth- 

 carrying and quite possibly disease-carrying insects. 



METHODS OF PREVENTION 



The ideal method of fighting house-flies would be to 

 destroy the eggs and maggots, just as we fight mosqui- 

 toes, but the problem is a difficult one, especially in 

 the country, where open closets exist and horse and cow 

 stables are always present. The opportunities for flies 

 to breed are really very great, and waste material in the 

 form of decaying animal and vegetable matter is an in- 

 variable accompaniment of life. There is much that can 

 be done, however, to lessen the dangers from this insect. 



Treatment of manure piles. — Domestic animals are 

 absolutely necessary, but it is not necessary to throw the 

 manure from horse and cow stables and from pig-pen and 

 poultry house out into piles in the open yard to lie there 

 for weeks and become ideal breeding grounds for flies. 



The treatment of manure piles with a substance to kill 

 the maggots has been tried by Howard, Forbes, Herms, 

 and others. Howard found that chloride of lime was an 

 effective maggot-killer and that one pound of it mixed 

 with eight quarts of horse manure killed 90 per cent of 

 the maggots in less than twenty-four hours. Unfortu- 

 nately, chloride of lime costs at least three and one-half 

 cents a pound and, in addition, the chlorin fumes from 

 treated manure piles act as an irritant to the eyes of live 

 stock. If the manure is piled away from the stable and 

 one does not mind the expense, chloride of lime may prove 

 satisfactory. Otherwise it is probably impracticable. 



Howard's experiments with kerosene seem to indicate 



