THE HOUSE FLY

Evening Star, Issue 23817, 22 February 1941, Page 18

THE HOUSE FLY

For those fortunate enough to have gauze-wire do6rs and windows on their homes, tlio problem of (banishing the house fly does not present much difficulty. A good fly spray is usually sufficient to settle accounts with those that do manage lo get in by riding in on a person's back when the doors are opened. To those not so happy as to live in gauzed-in houses, the house fly cun be an exasperating nuisance. Spraying is quite ineffective, because the flies keep coming into the house. A poison bait of proved worth can bo cheaply and quickly made at homo. The recipe is as follows:—Formalin (40 per cent.), two tablespoonfuls; sugar, one heaped tablespoonful; clear limewater. half a pint; water to make up one pint. The best, way to expose the bait is in wide-mouthed bottles with wicks. A clean cloth is tied over the mouth, and through a hole in the cloth another doth is drawn in such a way that it hangs an the liquid and exposes a wetsurface for flies to feed on. The wide and liquid can he renewed when it appears unattractive through old age. Of course, this bait has the disadvantage that the flies die in awkward places: but, when the flies are so numerous and troublesome that they almost assume plague proportions at certain times of the year, this bait will be welcomed by many who have week-enders, are camping' out, or living in ungauzed homes. The above recipe makes enough to fill several bottles; if carefully placed out of reach of children and animals, it will bo silently and steadily waging war against the pest and destroying them in large numbers.