Foods and home making

If you can, find the colonies in which the ants live and destroy the ants with boiling water. Prevent ants from collecting in the house by keeping foods, especially sirups, cakes, and pies, in covered containers. Food which cannot be covered may be placed on a support and the legs of the support placed in pans of water. Destroy ants by 1. Saturating sponges with sugar and water solution, placing the sponges’ where the ants will collect, then dropping the sponges into boiling water. 2. Filling small dishes with a solution of sugar, borax, and boiling water , and placing the dishes where the ants will congregate. 1 Adapted from Household Insects and Their Control, New York State College ot Agriculture at Cornell University. 5Qi 592 Appendix ROACHES Roaches collect in moist, dark places. Keep such places as cupboards and draining boards as dry as possible. Destroy roaches by 1. Dusting a fine powder called sodium fluoride over tables, cupboards, and places where the insects collect. Sodium fluoride may be used alone or mixed with an equal quantity of flour. Spread the powder by sprinkling or blow it into crevices with a pair of bellows. Keep this chemical away from food, children, and pets; it is poisonous. 2. Sprinkling borax over places where the insects collect. BED BUGS Bed bugs are sometimes brought into a home on traveling bags. These pests may travel from one apartment or house to another. They are more likely to collect in wooden beds than in metal ones. Destroy bed bugs by 1. Taking down the bed and pouring gasoline or kerosene into the crevices and joints. Of course, gasoline or kerosene should not be used in the same room with an open flame. Gasoline may be poured into the crevices between the woodwork and wall of a room without harming the wall paper. Apply this remedy every three or four days until the bugs disappear completely. 2. Pouring boiling water into the crevices and joints of a bed. This is not a suitable method to use on a finely finished wooden bed. MOTHS Prevent moths from getting into clothes, furs, upholstering, and carpets by 1. Killing moths that fly about in the house. The moths lay eggs which hatch and produce larvae. These eat materials, especially wool, mohair, and fur. 2. Keeping woolen garments and furs clean, aired, and sunned often. A soiled garment should never be stored. Destroying Household Pests 593 3. Storing garments, free from eggs or larvae, in paper bags. After the garment is placed in the bag, the latter should be sealed so that moths can- not enter. Small garments may be wrapped in newspapers. Several wrap- pings should be used so there are no crevices through which moths may enter. Clothes may be sealed in paper suit boxes. 4. Storing garments in a cedar chest. The vapor from red cedar may destroy young larvae. It will not kill moths or eggs, but the insects are repelled by the vapor and do not enter a cedar chest. 5. Spraying garments with carbon tetrachloride or similar substances which vaporize readily. Carbon tetrachloride may be purchased at a drug store. It is not inflammable or explosive. PUPILS’ REFERENCES MEAL PLANNING AND THE SCHOOL LUNCH 1. Rose, Feeding the Family, third edition, The Macmillan Company.