ENTOMOLOGY

INSECTS IN RELATION TO PACKING HOUSES 455to what they actually consume, which is necessarily a small amount, butto losses of portions of food ,vhich are contaminated and renderednauseous. The presence of roaches leaves a fetid odor which is persistentand foods so tainted are almost beyond redemption. This odor comeschiefly from a dark-colored fluid excreted through the mouth of the insectand perhaps also from the scent glands occurring between certain segmentson the bodies of both sexes, from which an oily liquid of a disagreeableodor is secreted. Favorable conditions for the existence of cockroachesare found with{n all packing houses, namely, abundant food suppliesof all kinds, good protection in the winter, and many good breedingplaces.Skipper larvae and hide beetles are often found by the millions in thebone storage houses, especially in stores of bones collected at large in thecountry, where pieces of dried muscular tissue and skin are attached.These insects are not so often found in the department of edible suppliesof the packing plants, as the packers are well aware of the damage doneby them, especially in cured and dried products, and a constant watch iskept to prevent their appearance or to quickly exterminate them when'they do appear in such departments.INSECT-BREEDING PLACES AND THEIR TREATMENTThe importance of proper construction and arrangement of abattoirsand packing plants with a view to eliminating insect breeding places andprotecting the food products from insect contamination can not be overestimated.In plants already in operation many bad fly-breeding placescan be permanently eliminated by construction work. For instance muchfuture trouble can be avoided by constructing concrete catch basins, pavingdocks, loading tracks, and stock pens, providing adequate driers forbones, fertilizers, etc., and ample dry storage facilities for inedibleproducts. Excellent breeding media of both vegetable and animal matterare almost constantly present and are often found in hnge quantitiesin various places on the premises of establishments or on "dumps" nearthe plants. Too often thes(' large accumulations arc neglected for somecause or other, and insects, especially flies, have ample time to developand emerge by the millions, and many such places, especially those notunder government supervision, are constant producers of myriads offlies throughout the warmer seasons of the year.The undigested food of cattle, called paunch manure, and the contentsof hog stomachs, together with the horse manure and stable cleaningsfrom the horse barns, partly blood-saturated sawdust from the meatcoolers and sediment from catch basins saturated with bloody water, areusually hauled to a general dumping ground. These dumps are thusV