68 Circular No. 16. 



house-fly. If all stables could be abolished within city limits it 

 would go a long way toward reducing the trouble experienced 

 in keeping flies from city dwellings. A single stable in the 

 neighborhood is often the source of nine-tenths of the flies found 

 in houses in the vicinity. A sudden reduction in the numbers 

 of flies in a household has more than once been observed follow- 

 ing the removal of a stable from the vicinity. Very often peo- 

 ple rear on their premises most of the flies that appear in their 

 kitchens. The question of getting rid of flies thus often re- 

 solves itself into getting rid of their breeding places. Vegetable 

 litter of any sort in damp places should always be removed 

 either by hauling it away and using it for the improvement of 

 soil, or by burning it, tho this should be avoided if prac- 

 ticable. When it is not possible to remove accumulations as 

 promptly as desirable, they should be treated in such a way as 

 to keep flies from breeding in them. Darkened bins of cement, 

 screened bins, or bins with fly-tight wooden lids, are sometimes 

 used for this purpose, while various substances such as formalin 

 cresol, powdered borax, lime chlorid, a solution of powdered 

 hellebore, and the like, have been recommended for the treat 

 ment of manure to destroy the eggs and maggots. Probably 

 borax, one and a fourth pounds to eight bushels of manure, as 

 recommended by F. C. Cook, is as effective as any of those tried. 

 , Every careful householder should use his influence toward 

 having ordinances enacted providing for systematic inspection 

 of all stables, and a strict enforcement of provisions for the 

 cleansing and disinfecting of all breeding places for flies. 

 With these precautions looked after at all times, the housekeeper 

 will have much less difficulty in controlling the pest within 

 doors. Yet sticky fly paper, wire gauze traps, and screens on 

 doors and windows, cannot be entirely dispensed with during 

 the summer months. 



When flies by some chance have entered a kitchen in large 

 numbers, insect powder can be made to destroy them quickly, 

 the usual procedure being to puff the powder from a bellows 

 into the room in the evening and closing the door. In the morr 

 ing the killed and disabled flies can be swept up and 



