HOUSEHOLD PESTS

Evening Star, Issue 21316, 21 January 1933, Page 21

HOUSEHOLD PESTS

There are always odds and ends of things which cause worry and 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 prickles which seem to be part and parcel of the routine. There 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 let down part of the just hung-out wash. These are some of the items which have to bo 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. 11 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 two tablespoons of borax. Put over the fire and boil for about twenty 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.

“ Silvcrflsh often cause annoyance. 1 have seen the fronts of pictures partially oaten 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 rag well moistened with turpentine. If you use this liquid often it is wonderful how free you can keep your house from posts, 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 dean and fresh, and help to banish the minor pests. “If the housewife took a _ little trouble there 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 tho house, and whenever you see a fly give it no quarter, but kill it at once. If you And they aro fairly numerous, use one of tho good sprays on the market, but do not let 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 homos. Some people suggest using something the smell of which the flies object to. But this moans that they aro merely driven out of doors, waiting to return at a favourable moment. Tho main thing is to destroy them so that there is no return.”