THE HORSE EOT FLY 139 



to a great extent, and, so far at least as the coastal 

 districts are concerned, its numbers have steadily 

 decreased in recent years. 



Prevention is, of course, a wise measure, as great 

 annoyance is thereby saved. Any greasy substance 

 may be applied under the jaws, and about the neck, 

 shoulders, and legs, and will largely prevent egg-laying. 

 As good a plan as any is to fix a piece of cloth under the 

 neck and behind the jaws. The flies are usually more 

 plentiful near water, and about cow sheds; and stabled 

 horses, as a rule, suffer more than those grass-fed, since 

 the former, by rubbing against the feed boxes, introduce 

 the eggs into their food. 



Remedies are numerous. Tansy tea is said by some 

 to be almost an infallible method of expelling the grubs. 

 A simple and clean remedy is as follows: "First 

 prepare the horse a course of bran mashes, and then 

 after a fast give a drench of one or two quarts of new 

 milk, to which half a pint of treacle is added. The Bots 

 seize upon the palatable food with avidity, and gorge 

 themselves ; and, as a consequence, many let go their 

 hold. After an interval of about two hours a purgative 

 can be given, consisting of raw linseed oil and oil of 

 turpentine. The dose shotild, of course, be proportional 

 to the size of the horse. An ordinary hack will require 

 about a pint of raw linseed oil and about two ounces of 

 oil of turpentine. After this treatment most of the 

 grubs will be expelled, and may be destroyed by burning 

 the droppings, always a safe measure in dealing with 

 intestinal parasites." 



It is pleasant to know that, so far as we are aware, the 

 ' Warble-fly n has not been established in Victoria. 

 The one case brought under my notice being that by the 

 late Mr. Pentland, then Chief Inspector of Stock, the 

 trouble having occurred in the case of an imported cow, 

 which was, however, successfully treated in my presence 

 by Mr. Pentland, the said cow having been in the 

 Quarantine Station at Coode Island, on the lower Yarra, 



