Part 3

Legs--Galvanized-iron channels made as per detailed drawing and secured to top and bottom rings with four rivets, 1/8 inch in diameter, to each leg. First turned and drilled as per drawing.

Bottom cylinder ring--=J= shaped, with bottom edge of cylinder dropped into J--crimped and soldered to secure. Ends of ring riveted to secure.

Cone ring--Galvanized-iron band with 3/16-inch round iron wire rolled into lower edge, as per cross-section drawing of "cone ring."

Wing nuts--Four copper wing bolts and nuts, as per drawing, to hold cone securely in place.

=MANURE-BOX TRAPS=

Manure pits or boxes are desirable for the temporary storage of manure, especially in towns and cities. These have been widely advocated, but the difficulty has been that manure often becomes infested before it is put into them, and flies frequently breed out before the boxes are emptied and often escape through the cracks. To obviate these difficulties a manure box or pit, with a modified tent trap or cone trap attached, is desirable. Arthur Swaim, of Florida, has devised a form of manure trap consisting of a series of screen tents with exit holes along the ridges of these, over which is a screen box. The latter retains the flies as they pass through the holes in the tents. The entire trap is removable.

In order to retain the fertilizing value of manure to the greatest extent, it is advisable to exclude the air from it as much as possible and to protect it from the leaching action of rains. This being the case, there is really no necessity to cover a large portion of the top of the box with a trap, but merely to have holes large enough to attract flies to the light and cover these holes with ordinary conical traps with the legs cut off so the bottom of the trap will fit closely to the box. The same arrangement can be made where manure is kept in a pit. In large bins two or more holes covered with traps should be provided for the escape of the flies.

Manure boxes should be used by all stock owners in towns and cities, and they are also adaptable to farms. The size of the manure bin should be governed by the individual needs, but for use on the farm it is desirable to make it large enough to hold all of the manure produced during the busiest season of the year. A box 14 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 4 feet deep will hold the manure produced by two horses during about five months. About 2 cubic feet of box space should be allowed for each horse per day. The bin should be made of concrete or heavy plank. When the latter is used the cracks should be battened to prevent the escape of flies. The bin should have a concrete floor or it may be set in the ground several inches and the dirt closely banked around the outside. For the admission of the manure a good-sized door should be provided in either end of a large bin. A portion of the top should be made easily removable for convenience in emptying the box, or one entire end of the box may be hinged. On account of the danger of the door being left open through carelessness it is advisable to arrange a lift door which can be opened by placing the foot on a treadle as the manure is shoveled in. The door should be heavy enough to close automatically when the treadle is released.

A concrete pit set on a slope so that the manure may be dumped in from a wheelbarrow is convenient for dairy farms. For large stock farms it may be desirable to have a concrete pit so constructed as to permit of the manure being taken directly into it with a litter carrier and doors provided which are large enough to admit a wagon or manure spreader for the removal of the material.

A manure bin with flytrap attached is shown in Figure 5.

Attention is directed to a maggot trap devised by R. H. Hutchison, as described in Farmers' Bulletin 851 of the Department of Agriculture. Where large quantities of manure are produced on a farm, this method of storing the manure on a platform and trapping the maggots which breed out may be more convenient than the manure bin.

=WINDOW TRAPS=

C. F. Hodge has designed a trap which is really a modified tent trap adapted to use in a window. This trap is constructed so as to catch the flies as they enter or leave through the window. It is adaptable to barns which are fairly free from cracks or other places where flies may enter. It may also be used on windows of buildings where foodstuffs are prepared and where flies endeavor to enter through the windows or escape after having gained entrance through other passageways. All openings not provided with traps should be closely screened, and on large buildings traps may be installed in every third window.

This trap is essentially a screen box closely fitted to the frame of a window. (See fig. 6.) The thickness of the box at A should be about 12 inches. Instead of the screen running straight down over the box on either side, it is folded inward nearly to the center of the frame in =V=-shaped folds running longitudinally across the window. One, two, or even more folds may be made in the screen on either side. The upper side of the fold B should extend toward the center almost at right angles with the side of the trap; that is, parallel with the top and bottom; and the lower side C should slant downward as shown in the drawing. The sides of the frame may be cut out at the proper angle and the pieces D returned after the screen has been tacked along the edges. Along the apex (inner edge) of each fold is punched a series of holes E about one-half inch in diameter and 1 inch apart. The apices of the folds on either side of the window should not be directly opposite. A narrow door F opening downward on hinges should be made on one side of the trap at the bottom for removal of the dead flies. The entire trap is fastened to the window by hooks so that it may be readily taken off. An additional trapping feature may be added by providing a tent trap fitted in the bottom of the box. A narrow slit is left along the base to allow the flies to enter beneath the tent. Bait may be placed under the tent to attract the flies.

It has been found that the use of these window traps will aid in protecting animals in barns from stable flies and mosquitoes, and in some cases horseflies and other noxious species are caught. They tend to exclude the light, however, and are somewhat cumbersome, especially in thin-walled buildings.

=TRAPPING THE SCREW-WORM FLY=

Cochliomyia macellaria Fab.

Recent efforts to reduce the loss to the livestock industry of the Southwest resulting from the ravages of the screw-worm have directed attention to the employment of flytraps in this work.

Mention has been made of the importance of preventing the breeding of flies as a prerequisite to effective control. This is equally true of the screw-worm and other blowflies, which attack animals, and of the house fly. In the case of these blowflies main dependence must be placed on the complete and prompt burning of all carcasses and animal refuse.

Experiments conducted in the range sections of Texas indicate that traps properly baited and set are of material aid in preventing screw-worm injury to livestock. If general trapping is undertaken, at least three or four traps should be maintained on each section of land. These should be located preferably near watering places and where cattle congregate, especially in the so-called hospital pastures or traps, where the screw-worm-infested animals are kept for treatment.

The conical-type traps as described are advised. The traps should be set in broken shade on a board platform about 2 feet square, securely fastened to a tree or on a post where the trap and bait will be the least disturbed by stock or wild animals.

During the latter half of one season over 100 gallons of flies, the vast majority of which were screw-worm flies, were captured in about 25 traps operated on a ranch in west Texas.

The question of the baits best adapted for this species and other points in regard to the operation of the traps are briefly discussed under subsequent headings.

=BAITS FOR TRAPS=

The problem of selecting the best bait for flies is an important one. In choosing a bait it should be remembered that it is largely the fermentation which renders the material attractive, and that baits are most attractive during their most active period of fermentation. As has been indicated, the kind of bait used should be governed by the species of flies the destruction of which is desired. This is most often the house fly.

A mixture of 1 part of a cheap cane molasses (blackstrap or New Orleans) and 3 parts of water is one of the most economical and effective baits for the house fly. Sugar-beet or stock molasses, which is very cheap in regions where produced, when mixed in the foregoing proportions is fairly attractive. Sirup made by dissolving 1 part of ordinary brown sugar in 4 parts of water and allowing the mixture to stand a day or two to induce fermentation is almost equal to molasses and water as a fly bait. If it is desired to use the sirup immediately after making it, a small quantity of vinegar should be added. Honeybees are sometimes caught in large numbers with this bait. When this happens some of the other baits recommended should be used.

On dairy farms probably milk is next choice as a bait to cane-molasses solution, considering its convenience. The addition of ripe bananas or other fruit increases the attractiveness of the milk bait. The curd from milk, with one-half pound of brown sugar added for each pound, and water to make it thoroughly moist, is a very good bait and continues to be attractive for 10 days or longer if Kept moist. A mash consisting of one-half pound of bran, 1 quart of milk, 1 quart of water, 2 tablespoonfuls of brown sugar, and a yeast cake makes an attractive and lasting bait.

The foregoing baits are rendered more attractive by stirring occasionally.