THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE HOUSE FLY

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 25

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE HOUSE FLY

The Secretariat of the League of Bed Cross Societies has issued a statement on the "House Fly," which says:— In rural areas the Eed Cross can do much to abate the fly menace by Han educational campaign.' For, onco the country dweller knows the weak spots in the fly's defence, half'the battle is won. In temperate climates the house fly is a greater peril than any other fly, because it is more common and because its habits are extraordinarily conducive to the spread of diseases It has been stated on the authority of the entomologist, Dr.' noward, that the house fly has1 been convicted of conveying over thirty different disease organisms and parasitic worms to human beings. Little wonder,'therefore,'that another authority has stated that the house fly is no more to bo tolerated inside our dwellings and provision shops', or-upon our meal tables, than a plague-stricken rat; There are many ways of killing the house fly in ' the adult stage. A useful tanglefoot mixture can be made at home by adding five parts of castor

oil to' eight parts of.' powdered resin, and "heating them, together until the resin -is entirely, dissolved;: The mixture need not be brought to: boiling point. While it is still; hot, it is >p: plied as : thinly as possible:: to glazed paper; ordinary iinglazed paper is too absorbent and is practically useless. 'There aTe many ■ useful fly poisons on th'o market) but those which cont tain arsenic should be avoided,; for they are a danger to human beings. A, much safer; poison ■ can be made at homo Tjy adding three teaspoonfuls of commercial formalin to a pint of'milk or water, sweetened with'a little brown sugar. SomeJimewaterJ -should ;: be. added to keep this mixture-alkaline; for rif it'turns acid, as it is apt to do, it ceases to be: attractive, v . ■. The mixture is kept 'in:.a- tini-pro-vided with a perforated: lid: through which a wick passes from the - exterior to the bottom; Provided there; are no other alimentary counter-attractions in the' Toom, (the' hungry; and;:thirsty'jfly is sure to alight on these wicks and to I commit suicide by poisoning itself.