10 



Farmers' Bulletin 73^. 



them rather than to depend on traps on the lids, which necessarily 

 allow odors to escape. A garbage can with a trap attached is illus- 

 trated in figure 5. 



MANURE-BOX TRAPS. 



Manure pits or boxes are desirable for the temporary storage of 

 manure, especially in towns and cities. These have been widely 

 advocated, but the difficulty has been that manure often becomes 

 infested before it is put into them, and flies frequently breed out 

 before the boxes are emptied and often escape through the cracks. 

 To obviate these difficulties a manure box or pit, with a modified tent 

 trap or cone trap attached, is desirable. Mr. Arthur Swaim, of Flor- 

 ida, has devised a form of manure trap consisting of a series of screen 



tents Avith exit holes along 

 the ridges of these, over 

 which is a screen box. The 

 latter retains the flies as 

 they pass through the holes 

 in the tents. The entire 

 trap is removable. 



In order to retain the 

 fertilizing value of manure 

 to the greatest extent it is 

 advisable to exclude the air 

 from it as much as possible 

 and to protect it from the 

 leaching action of rains. 

 This being the case, there 

 is really no necessity to 

 cover a large portion of the 

 top of the box with a trap, 

 but merely to have holes 

 large enough to attract flies 

 to the light, and cover these holes Avith ordinary conical traps, with 

 the legs cut ofi", so the bottom of the trap will fit closely to the box. 

 The same arrangement can be made Avhere manure is kept in a pit. 

 In large bins two or more holes covered Avith traps should be pro- 

 Added for the escape of the flies. 



Manure boxes should be used by all stock oAvners in toAvns and 

 cities, and they are also adaj^table to farms. The size of the manure 

 bin should be governed by the individual needs, but for use on the 

 farm it is desirable to make it large enough to hold all of the manure 

 produced during the busiest season of the year. A box 14 feet long, 

 10 feet wide, and 4 feet deep Avill hold the manure produced bv tAvo 

 horses during about five months. About 2 cubic feet of box space 

 should be alloAved for each horse per day. The bin should be made 

 of concrete or heavy plank. When the latter is used the cracks should 

 be battened to prevent the escape of flies. The bin may liaA'e a floor 

 or it may be set in the ground several inches and the dirt closelj 



