

^VWH- 



A 



FLY-FREE 



against 

 The 

 Illinois 

 linois Natl 

 versity of Illinois College 



This is 

 rm and ur- 

 uniting be- 

 ganizations de- 

 ll out battle 

 and barn fly. 

 directed by the 

 ation, the II- 

 rvey, the Uni- 

 Agriculture, 



and the state department of public health. 



County Farm Bureaus and farm ad- 

 visers working with city health author- 

 ities will direct the local drives.^,^They 

 will enlist the aid of druggists, 

 dealers, farmers, city hou 

 bers of Commerce, and i 

 munities of flies. 



The drive will start eaTT 

 first step will consist of 

 and cities of fly-breeding 

 include decaying plant and anin 

 ter — manure, garbage, and, 

 straw. 



This clean-up work should be finished 

 before the middle of May in Southern 

 Illinois and before Memorial Day in the 

 Northern area to rob flies of a place to 

 lay their eggs. 



The second step in the state-wide cam- 

 paign will be the farm-by-farm spraying 

 with fly-killing DDT. 



Making a farm fly-free is not a hard 

 job nor an expensive one. George Metz- 

 ger, lAA field secretary, says a farmer 

 can do the job for about $10 worth of 

 spray materials. Any small portable pres- 

 sure spray such as one used for spraying 

 noxious weeds can be used. 



All farmers need to do, Metzger says, 

 is to clean up such places as strawpile 

 butts and manure piles early before flies 

 start to hatch and then two or three times 

 a year spray where flies most often roost 



roughout the month of June ef- 



will be centered on further in- 

 spraying and the complete 



nation, if possible, of all flies 

 sed during the first week in June. 

 Metzger emphasized that the success 

 of the program will depend too on a 

 widespread follow-up drive to hold all 

 gains. This will require sprayings at 

 regular intervals throughout the sum- 

 mer and into the fall. 



01 ILLINOIS mu 



Ceilings, walls, posts, pillars, board 

 fences, sheds, chicken houses, and out- 

 door toilets are good places to spray, 

 Metzger said. In addition, dairy cattle 

 should be treated about every three weeks 

 and beef cattle two or three times during 

 the fly season. 



Whether or not your nearest neighbor 

 sprays, you can still rid your own farm 

 from the pests, Metzger pointed out. 

 Flies do not tra^'el far, and if you do pick 

 up a few from a near neighbor, your own 

 spraying will kill them. 



At present 88 of the 99 county Farm 

 Bureaus are enlisted in the fly-free cam- 

 paign. It looks now as though this mid- 

 summer pest will soon be doomed. 



County meetings for last minute in- 

 struction and kick-off pep talks are 

 expected to be held throughout the 

 state the last two weeks in April. The 

 first two weeks in April, public demon- 

 strations will be held to explain the 

 use and effectiveness of equipment 

 and show what can be accomplished by 

 spraying. 



By October leaders are expected to be 



able to apprSIse the results of the cam- 

 paign to rid the state of flies. Farmers, 

 in particular, will be interested in the 

 results of the drive. They stand to 

 gain much from its success. 



Flies are bred in filth. They live in 

 filth. And transmit filth born disease. 

 They carry more than 20 diseases of hu- 

 mans including typhoid fever, tuberculo- 

 sis, dysentery, and possibly polio. 



Metzger emphasizes also that flies cost 

 the farmer money. Tests have shown 

 that fly-free cows give up to 15 per cent 

 more milk during the three or four sum- 

 mer months. Beef cattle will gain up to 

 a third of a p)Ound a day more if they 

 are not pestered by flies. 



Health and money saved are impor- 

 tant. But think of the comfort! How 

 many times have you been blinded when 

 old bossy — searching out a blood-suck- 

 ing fly — clubbed you in both eye balls 

 with the blunt end of a fast swing tail.' 



APRIL. 1948 



u 



