INSECTS IN RELATION TO PACKING HOUSES 455 



to what they actually consume, which is necessarily a small amount, but 

 to losses of portions of food which are contaminated and rendered 

 nauseous. The presence of roaches leaves a fetid odor which is persistent 

 and foods so tainted are almost beyond redemption. Tliis odor comes 

 chiefly from a dark-colored fluid excreted through the mouth of the insect 

 and perhaps also from the scent glands occurring between certain seg- 

 ments on the bodies of both sexes, from which an oily liquid of a disagree- 

 able odor is secreted. Favorable conditions for the existence of cock- 

 roaches are found within all packing houses, namely, abundant food sup- 

 plies of all kinds, good protection in the winter, and many good breeding 

 places. 



Skipper larvae and hide beetles are often found by the millions in the 

 bone storage houses, especially in stores of bones collected at large in the 

 country, where pieces of dried muscular tissue and skin are attached. 

 These insects are not so often found in the department of edible supplies 

 of the packing plants, as the packers are well aware of the damage done 

 by them, especially in cured and dried products, and a constant watch is 

 kept to prevent their appearance or to quickly exterminate them when* 

 they do appear in such departments. 



INSECT-BREEDING PLACES AND THEIR TREATMENT 



The importance of proper construction and arrangement of abattoirs 

 and packing plants with a view to eliminating insect breeding places and 

 protecting the food products from insect contamination can not be over- 

 estimated. In plants already in operation many bad fly-breeding places 

 can be permanently eliminated by construction work. For instance much 

 future trouble can be avoided by constructing concrete catch basins, pav- 

 ing docks, loading tracks, and stock pens, providing adequate driers for 

 bones, fertilizers, etc., and ample dry storage facilities for inedible 

 products. Excellent breeding media of both vegetable and animal matter 

 are almost constantly present and arc often found in huge quantities 

 in various places on the premises of establishments or on "dumps" near 

 the plants. Too often tliesc large accumulations are neglected for some 

 cause or other, and insects, especially flies, have ample time to develop 

 and emerge by tiie millions, and many such places, especially those not 

 under government supervision, are constant producers of myriads of 

 flics throughout the warmer seasons of the year. 



Tlie undigested food of cattle, called pauncli manure, and the con- 

 tents of hog stomachs, together with the horse manure and stable clean- 

 ings from the horse barns, partly blood-saturated sawdust from the meat 

 coolers and sediment from catch basins saturated with bloody water, are 

 usually hauled to a general dumping ground. These dumps are thus 



