12 farmers' bulletin 891, 



"When adult fleas are very numerous it is advisable to kill them 

 before proceeding to destroy the young. Experiments of a practical 

 nature prove that very striking results may be accomplished by the 

 spraying of an infested area, whether in a basement, chicken house, 

 barn, or feed lot, with creosote oil. A light spraying kills the adult 

 fleas almost instantly and apparently has some destructive effect on 

 the immature stages. 



Creosote oil is derived from coal tar and is used as a wood pre- 

 servative. It is comparatively cheap, retailing at about 50 cents per 

 gallon. Unfortunately it is not generally available at present and it 

 is somewhat variable in composition, especiall}' in regard to the 

 amount of tar acids present. The best results are secured with a 

 product containing from 12 to 20 per cent tar acids. Where there is 

 grass or shrubbery to be considered, kerosene emulsion should be 

 substituted for the creosote oil, which will kill vegetation. Care 

 should also be taken not to strike animals directly with the material, 

 as it is rather caustic. In houses the use of flaked naphthalene as de- 

 scribed in a later paragraph will permit the work of cleaning to pro- 

 ceed without annoyance from adult fleas. 



In household infestations usually it is found that the breeding 

 takes place in the cracks of floors or beneath carpets or in rooms 

 which are not frequently swept, but which may be visited by pet dogs 

 and cats. The carpets and rugs should be removed, the floors thor- 

 ouglily swept, and all of the dust thus obtained burned, as it con- 

 tains many of the eggs and maggots of the fleas. Then the floor 

 should be scrubbed with strong soapsuds or sprinkled with gasoline, 

 care being taken to avoid having fires about during the procedure. 

 After the floor coverings are thoroughly aired and beaten they may 

 be returned, but it is desirable before putting them down to sprinkle 

 the floor with naphthalene crystals or pyrethrum powder. 



In flea-infested regions it is advisable to avoid the use of mat- 

 tings and carpets. These may be supplanted by rugs or oiled floors, 

 which facilitate frequent sweeping and make the destruction of the 

 immature stages easier if an infestation becomes established. 



Among other methods for destroying the fleas in houses the fol- 

 lowing have been tried and recommended : Scatter 5 pounds of flake 

 naphthalene over the floor of an infested room and close the doors and 

 windows tightly for 24 hours. After this period the naphthalene may 

 be swept into another room, and so on, thus making the treatment in- 

 expensive. The free use of alum, both in the powdered form sprin- 

 Ided OA'er carpets and rugs and by dipping papers in an alum solu- 

 tion and placing them under the rugs, is said to give satisfactory 

 results. The fumigation of houses with sulphur fumes or hydro- 

 cyanic-acid gas kills all fleas present and in addition destroys the rats 



