How to Catch Flies

c. 1393

“If you have a room or a floor in your dwelling infested with flies, take little sprigs of fern, tie them together with threads like tassels, hang them up, and all the flies will settle on them in the evening. Then take down the tassels and throw them outside… otherwise, tie a linen stocking to the bottom of a pierced pot and set the pot in the place where the flies gather and smear the inside with honey, or apples, or pears. When it is full of flies, place a platter over the opening, then shake it.”

Le Ménagier de Paris

Tired of unsightly flypaper? For a more ornamental approach to pest control, try fern tassels and colander stockings.

How to Kill Fleas, 1688, here.