THE HOUSE ELY. 



fit over unsprayed to pay for a first class 

 outfit to spray with. 



Spraying both years gave satisfactory 

 yield of good quality. 



Unsprayed rows were immature and 



of poor quality, similar to those found 

 in many parts of New York State, On- 

 tario, Ireland and other countries. 



Alf. Brown. 

 Picton. 



THE HOUSE FLY. 



THINK now is the time of year 

 when the old saying, "an ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of 

 cure," is very applicable, for whilst 

 one cannot entirely rid oneself of those 

 worrying pest flies, one can do quite a 

 lot to decrease their numbers So a 

 few words as to how, when and where 

 they breed, and how they may be 

 destroyed, will, I hope, be useful to 

 many people to whom the incessant 

 buzz and worrying bite of the fly helps 

 to make summer heat unbearable. The 

 house fly (Musca Domestica) belongs to 

 the family (Muscidae) in the order Dip- 

 tera, and it is marvellous to find how 

 numerous are their progeny, and how 

 rapid their increase, amounting to 

 2 080,320 from one fly in one season. 

 We naturally ask ourselves where and 

 when do they breed. They breed chief- 

 ly in horse manure durmg the summer, 

 also in refuse and ash heaps. Have 

 you never noticed when turning over 

 manure in the summer, the numer- 

 ous small brown grains like grains of 



rice, they are the pupae. The eggs 

 hatch after being laid, in 24 to 30 hours, 

 becoming a perfect insect in from 7 to 

 9 days. It is ready now to lay eggs, 

 which in turn hatch, and this is the 

 source of so great a number. But now 

 how to destroy them ; — cast all refuse, 

 manure and decaying matter far from the 

 house and barn, or if that cannot be done, 

 turn the manure over to allow the hens to 

 scratch and devour the eggs, which they 

 eat with rapidity. And I cannot be too 

 emphatic in pressing upon every one to 

 move the manure, for in it lies the 

 greatest breeding ground of the house 

 fly. Nature has given us certainly some 

 help in afflicting the fly with a fungus 

 disease called " Sporendonema Muscae," 

 (a spray pump isn't in it), spreading 

 through the entire body, covering it 

 with a powdery fluff, saping its life until 

 it finally succumbs, generally bursting 

 from swelling. 



Nigel Keep. 



Grimsby. 



How TO Measure Corn ix a Crib, 

 Hay in a Mow, etc — This rule will 

 apply to a crib of any size or kind. Two 

 cubic feet of good, sound dry corn in 

 the ear will make a bushel of shelled 

 corn. To get, then, the quantity of shel- 

 led corn in a crib of corn in the ear, 

 measure the length, breadth and height 

 of the crib, inside of the rail ; multiply 

 the length by the breadth and the pro- 

 duct by the height, then divide the pro- 



duct by two, and you have the number 

 of bushels of shelled corn in the crib. 



To find the number of bushels of ap- 

 ples, potatoes, etc., in a bin, multiply 

 the length, breadth and thickness to- 

 gether, and this product by 8, and point 

 off one figure in the product for deci- 

 mals. 



To find the amount of hay in a mow, 

 allow 5 1 2 cubic feet for a ton, and it will 

 come out very generally correct. 



235 



