Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 227, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 September 1919 — Ingenious Farmer Devises Fly Trap to Brush Pests Off Herd of Dairy Cows [ARTICLE]

Ingenious Farmer Devises Fly Trap to Brush Pests Off Herd of Dairy Cows

A fact not fully appreciated even among farmers is the economic loss in milk production caused by mosquitoes and flies. An Ohio dairyman owning 20 cows devised a home-built fly trap, and after it had been in operation a week calculated the difference in milk production. He was obtaining 11 gallons a day more than when the flies were unrestricted in their pernicious activities. In low-lying localities where insects have favorable breeding conditions, the late spring mosquito scourge is sometimes so bad as to destroy the profits in milk production. Some farmers use home-devised traps, as did the Ohio dairyman. Some wash their herds with preparations, manufactured commercially, which effectively reduce the pest. But the great majority of herds continue to go through the fly season protected against flies only by the weappa_witji_ and an inefficient weapon it is, too, s beside what the dairyman can furnish. The cow which spends the entire day fighting flies does not consume the roughage needed for maximum yield at night. The Ohio man built a lean-to, through which the herd passed. Across ft in the middle were flexible curtains fitting closely about the cow which brushed the flies off. The dairyman following closed both doors, leaving the flies to cluster on a window, where they were quickly shot to death with a fly powder. Did the cattle appreciate this device? Indeed they did, to such an extent that they soon learned gothrough it without driving. ~~