250 PESTS AND NUISANCES 



Control. 



The house-fly nuisance can be abated most easily by the elimination 

 of possible breeding-places. The great majority of the flies found in 

 houses breed in piles of horse manure about near-by stables. Breeding 

 in such places may be easily prevented by storing the manure, pending 

 its removal, in a dark, fly-proof bin. This receptacle may be built as a 

 lean-to attached to the stable with which it is connected by a small 

 screen door. A larger door outside provides for the removal of the 

 contents. The manure should be carted away at least once a week, 

 and spread out on the land, where by drying it soon becomes unfit for 

 breeding purposes. Whenever it is necessary to store such material 

 in piles in the open, they should be located as far as possible from the 

 nearest dwelling or milk-house. Flies do not usually travel more than 

 one-fourth mile from the place in which they breed. 



When only two or three horses are kept in a town, the manure can 

 be handled in regular garbage-cans, in the same way as the kitchen 

 refuse or ashes. 



It is rather difficult to treat manure piles with any substance to 

 prevent breeding: chloride of lime, kerosene, and iron sulfate have 

 been tried, but when used in economical quantities are not effective. 



Kitchen refuse and similar garbage should be kept in tight cans and 

 removed at frequent intervals. Flies should be rigidly excluded from 

 all places where food is exposed to contamination, including kitchens, 

 dining-rooms, stores, etc. Especial care should be taken to protect 

 milk and milk utensils, since milk furnishes an excellent medium for 

 the growth of typhoid bacteria and is a common source of infection. 



Flies may be driven from rooms by leaving one door open and darken- 

 ing all the rest. Then evaporate a spoonful of carbolic acid over a 

 lamp, or burn some pyrethrum insect-powder. They may be caught 

 on sticky sheets, or poisoned with a sweetened 5 per cent solution of 

 commerical formaldehyde. 



On isolated farms each owner has it in his power by proper measures 

 in the disposal of manure to reduce the fly nuisance to a minimum. In 

 towns the case is different ; there cooperation is necessary. 



In attempting to reduce the numbers of house-flies in the District of 

 Columbia, the health department has formulated a series of rules which 

 L. O. Howard has summarized as follows : 



