The House Fly and How to Suppress It

by L. O. Howard; F. C. Bishopp

HEALTH OFFICE REGULATIONS FOR CONTROL OF HOUSE FLIES IN CITIES.

All stalls in which animals are kept shall have the surface of the ground covered with a water-tight floor. Every person occupying a building where domestic animals are kept shall maintain in connection therewith a bin or pit for the reception of manure and, pending the removal from the premises of the manure from the animal or animals, shall place such manure in said bin or pit. This bin shall be so constructed as to exclude rain water and shall in all other respects be water-tight, except as it may be connected with the public sewer. It shall be provided with a suitable cover and constructed so as to prevent the ingress and egress of flies. No person owning a stable shall keep any manure or permit any manure to be kept in or upon any portion of the premises other than the bin or pit described, nor shall he allow any such bin or pit to be overfilled or needlessly uncovered. Horse manure may be kept tightly rammed into well-covered barrels for the purpose of removal in such barrels. Every person keeping manure in the more densely populated parts of the District shall cause all such manure to be removed from the premises at least twice every week between June 1 and October 31, and at least once every week between November 1 and May 31 of the following year. No person shall remove or transport any manure over any public highway in any of the more densely populated parts of the District except in a tight vehicle, which, if not inclosed, must be effectually covered with canvas, so as to prevent the manure from being dropped. No person shall deposit manure removed from the bins or pits within any of the more densely populated parts of the District without a permit from the health officer. Any person violating any of the provisions shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $40 for each offense.

Not only must horse stables be cared for, but chicken yards, piggeries, and garbage receptacles as well. In cities, with better methods of disposal of garbage and with the lessening of the number of horses and horse stables consequent upon electric street railways, bicycles, and automobiles, the time may come, and before very long, when window screens may be discarded.

DISPOSAL OF MANURE IN RURAL AND SUBURBAN DISTRICTS.

The control of flies in rural and suburban districts offers a much more difficult problem. Here it is often out of the question to remove all manure from the premises twice a week, and the problem is to find some method of disposal or storage which will conserve the fertilizing value of the manure and at the same time prevent all flies from breeding, or destroy such as do breed there.

With this idea in mind, it has been recommended that stable manure be collected every morning and hauled out at once and spread rather thinly on the fields. This procedure is advisable from the point of view of getting the maximum fertilizing value from the manure. Immediate spreading on the fields is said largely to prevent the loss of plant food which occurs when manure is allowed to stand in heaps for a long time. This method will be effective in preventing the breeding of flies only if the manure is hauled out promptly every morning and spread thinly so that it will dry, since it is unfavorable for fly development in desiccated condition. The proper scattering of the manure on the fields is best and most easily and quickly accomplished by the use of a manure spreader, and many dairies, and even farms, are practicing the daily distribution of manure in this way. Removal every three or four days will not be sufficient. Observations have shown that if manure becomes flyblown and the maggots attain a fairly good size before the manure is scattered on the fields, they can continue their development and will pupate in the ground.

CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF MANURE TO DESTROY FLY MAGGOTS.

During the summer months, when fly breeding is going on most actively, the farmer is also busy and often can not spare the time to remove manure regularly. The general practice, therefore, has been to keep the manure in heaps located, as a rule, very near the stables. How can fly breeding be prevented in such accumulations? As a result of recent investigations, it is now possible to point out two methods which are practical and effective.