"SWAT THE FLY"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2907, 20 October 1916, Page 6

"SWAT THE FLY"

THE CAMPAIGN IN THE CAMPS. The fly is not merely under suspicion .in the military camps; he is regarded as a convicted criminal, responsible for disease and death, and tho fight against him is conducted relentlessly. Some information regarding the methods adopted by the military authorities in_ earring against tho fly ie given in a pamphlet, entitled "Fly Control in Military Camps," witten hy Professor H. B. Kirk, and 1 published by the Defence. Department. The campaign is a great deal moro scientific and extensive than most people imagine. Plies are killed by spraying, poisoning, and trapping. Light oil is used for sprajing'. Poison mixtures are made "with arsenic, formalin, and other chemicals, and sticky preparations of resin, honey, and sugar, with poison added sometimes, are spread upon wires, sticks,. and cords. These aro simple devices, but ingenuity is required to deal effectively with tho fly. and.plenty of.it lias been applied. The ordinary garbage tin has an irresistible attraction for the unpleaeant insects that frequent so many larders, and investigate so many sugar-bowls and milk-jugs.' It seems -scarcely possible to keep flies out of garbage tins under camp conditions. So . the military method is to have a loose-fitting lid on the garbage tin, allowing tho fly easy acccss under the sides. In tho centre of the lid is_ a hole, and attached above tho hole is a trap. AVhen tho fly has eaten its fill in the tin, it flies upwards towards tho light, and is trapped. Breeding places for flies.aro not allowed to exist in the camps, where the precautions taken in this connection are very extensive. But flies may enter a camp from outside, and when this is found to occur a line of boll tents may be thrown across tho advance to act as traps. "Condemned tents aro good ! enough for tho purpose," says Profos- ' sor Kirk. "Tho tents can lie baited f with sacks of fresh horse-manure, with fish, or with any other suitablo suli- ' stance. Cloths or branches soaked in ' a weak swootenod solution of arsenic ' can be placed in tho tents. If this is i dono flios poison themselves in great numbers during the day. At night flies r crowd into tho tents for shelter, and all these can bo killed with a spray, 3 When this moans of chocking advancc " was first tried, it was found that from 5 6000 to 12,000 flies wore thus killed s niohtly in a single tent of the lino, in B addition to tho great number poisoned B throughout tlio day." i