82 Circular No. 15. 



if employed before the insects become very numerous. If only 

 a few have by some chance been introduced, the ordinary insect 

 powder (pyrethrum) of drug stores can be used to advantage 

 about shelves and in crevices of pantries and storerooms. This 

 is a non-poisonous powder, so can be strewn about very freely 

 where food is exposed, tho it is desirable to cover the latter 

 before the powder is employed. A powder gun can be used to 

 advantage in scattering the powder. Applications should be 

 made in the evening, and in the morning the dead and disabled 

 insects can be swept up and burned. Insect powder does not 

 retain its killing properties long after it is exposed to the air, 

 hence it must be used frequently. Borax dusted freely and per- 

 sistently about baseboards and on shelves is claimed to be as 

 good as anything known. 



Poisons are in common use that generally contain a small 

 per cent, of phosphorous and are sold as "roach paste," with 

 instructions for use. In drawers and storerooms where not 

 likely to be secured by children or pets, they can often be made 

 to answer even better than the insect powder. A package be- 

 fore me bears this inscription: 



"To Kill Cockroaches and Waterings. Apply the paste 

 on pieces of paper and place in and about sinks, waterpipes, 

 stationary wash-basins, etc. In the morning carefully burn 

 these pieces of paper and dead roaches. Repeat every night 

 until entirely rid of these pests." 



Traps. Ingeniously constructed traps have been devised 

 for capturing roaches, and have in the hands of some people 

 proved useful. A box with four pieces of glass inclined to a 

 small opening at the center is said to be used successfully in 

 France, a bit of cheese or other bait being placed in the bottom 

 to attract the roaches. A glass ring surrounding an opening 

 in the lid of a box similarly baited is said to serve the same 

 purpose in England. Simply inclining sticks from a shelf to 

 the top of a deep glass jar in the bottom of which is a bait, has 

 been found to be effective for the purpose. 



Fumigation. When everything else fails people are some- 

 times driven to fumigating a whole house, or at least the 



