Household Pests

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 11, 14 January 1933, Page 7

Household Pests

■ 'There are always odds and ends of things which cause worry ana annoyance, no home being without them. There are the household pests which are hard to get rid of, the little troubles which-' daily crop up, and are a bother to the housewife, and little LT^ es- \ s.eem t0 be *"art ana Parcel of the routine. Thero are ants in the safe, the butter will oil, and the soap will melt away without having properly done its job, and perhaps the clothes line has broken and lot down part of the just hung-out wash. These are some of the items which have to be faced each day. And just now every housekeeper who is near to the bread line is having a hard time indeed to cover her modest requirements, states a Sydney writer. "So far as ants are concerned, there are many remedies suggested for their banishment, but sometimes they are particularly dogged, and refuse to be dislodged. After trying one or 'two things I experimented with this, and found it quite successful. Mix one cupful of sugar with' half a cupful of water, and add. twp tablespoons of borax. Put over the fire and-boil for about.2o minutes, until a thick syrup-is the result. Colour, slightly with cochineal, and put into small bottles for future use. For present use place - a little in saucers or lids of tins wherever the ants abound,. and they will disappear after a short time. "Silverfish often cause annoyance. I have seen tho fronts of pictures partially eaton away, .while books have suffered considerably. To my mind there is nothing better than, the use of turpentine. Now and again the books should be taken down . and well dusted, and the shelves wiped down with a ?ag well, moistened with turpentine. If you use this liquid often it is wonderful how free you can keep your house from • pests. A small bottleful should always accompany every hemmed duster. It is no use trying to dust 'dry,' because you are merely moving the dust from one place to the other. But if you just sprinkle a little turpentine on to tho rag, it will not only pick up every particle,, but it will also act as a polish, keep the house clean and fresh, and help to banish the minor pests. "If the .housewife took*a little trouble thero should not be a fly in'the house. Instead of hanging up unsightly sticky papers, it is best to use the fly fan. Have, at least two in different parts«of the house, and whenever you see a fly give it no quarter, but kill it at oneo. If you find they are fairly numerous, use ono of the good sprays on the market, but do not lot one live. I feel sure that if there was a fly campaign, and every housewife worked with tho object of banishment, that they would disappear, at least from private homes. Some people suggest using something tho smell of which the' flics object to. But this means that they^ are merely, driven out of doors, waiting to return at a favourable moment. The main thing is to destroy them so that there is no return."