58 FLY CONTROL. 
On the University Farm, the past summer, we tested out the 
use of an arsenical spray for killing fly-maggots in manure. This 
spray had been orginally suggested by Mr. M. P. Somes, and was 
taken up by the South Carolina Experiment Station in the summer 
of 1913. They found that a spray prepared as follows: 
Arsenate ot Soda. ya. tA.) Soe 4 pounds 
MolasSeS <a). sate nee nen: che eee 2 quarts 
Water cac,s ic. wan ao pee ieee ante eee Owe aulom 
or, in these proportions for smaller quantities, would kill 98 per 
cent of the fly-maggots when sprayed over the manure so as to 
thoroughly moisten the surface. 
This spray gave excellent results when used on our compost 
heap, but here again we met the same difficulty which we experi- 
enced in the trials with borax. It was difficult on a large heap of 
manure, to cover every fresh addition with the spray promptly and 
thoroughly, so that some maggots escaped destruction and some 
flies emerged from the pile which had to be destroyed by other 
ethods. At smaller stables, where less manure is produced and 
where additions are made only once a day when clearing out the 
stable, spraying can be done more effectively. Arsenite of soda 
is very poisonous and must be kept out of the reach of children and 
of stock. The spray when applied to the manure need cause no 
fear as it does not detract from its value and poultry feeding about 
the pile suffer no harm. 
The same objection may be made to both of the above methods; 
that is, the difficulty which the ordinary individual will find in 
making the applications regularly and with sufficient thorough- 
ness. For this reason, it seems to the writer that the system of 
drawing out the manure daily or at very frequent intervals from 
the stable and spreading it upon the field is the most satisfactory 
one to employ. 
Another suggestion made for the destruction of maggots in 
manure piles is the use of “maggot traps.” These are based upon 
the fact that when the fly maggot is full grown and ready to 
transform to the fly stage, it leaves the warm and moist part of 
the manure pile and seeks the dryer and cooler outer edges and 
especially the soil surrounding and beneath the pile, where it 
passes through the resting stage. It was found that if manure in 
large cages was kept moist, 98 to 99 per cent of the maggots 
contained in it left when ready to pass through the transformation 
stage before becoming flies. Several styles of traps have been 
suggested by different writers. The essential details are to have 
