26 
PLANTS AND INSECTS 
length one hundred thousand yards of spun thread, tw'enty-four double, 
was prepared for the loom. From this amount of silken thread and 
Warp a yellowish fabric eighteen yards in length and eighteen inches 
in width was woven. It was; placed on exhibition at the Paris Exposi¬ 
tion in 1900. 
Spiders have the habit of devouring their own kind. The mother 
spider very tenderly cares for her young. She carries them about with 
her in a sac until they are old enough to care for themselves. She then 
pushes them out of the nests. Henceforth they are lawful prey for food. 
The mother spider would greedily devour her own children could she 
catch them again. 
When any two spiders meet, there is a mortal combat between them 
until one comes off victorious. Then he greedily devours his opponent. 
This carnivorous element has been the cause of the failure of all 
efforts to raise colonies of spiders for their silky secretions. 
—Sara E. Farmun. 
STORY OF THE FLY 
M OST FLIES live only in the spring and summer months. Some, 
however, find a place where they can hide and obtain warmth 
enough to keep them alive through the winter. They hide in cracks 
and crevices about the house, in out-buildings and stables, Where we 
would not think of looking for them. There they lie dormant, or 
seemingly dead—sleeping the cold winter days away. But when the 
warm days of spring come, the fly feels the warmth. It wakes him, 
and he immediately begins 1 to look about in search of food. 
How Fast Do Flies Multiply? 
As nearly all the flies die before winter begins, it seemis strange that 
the following year we have* as many flies as ever. But each female fly 
lays about 150 eggs, which require only six or eight days to become full- 
grown flies. Then, in turn, the females of these lay their eggs, and 
Within a week another generation id full-grown. So you see flies multi¬ 
ply at an exceedingly rapid rate, especially when there is an abundance 
of filth in which they may breed. The eggs of the common house-fly 
are laid in garbage-cans, barns, hog-pens, and any other place that is 
filthy and unclean. 
