Usually strewing powdered borax in the runs of cockroaches either destroys or drives them away. There may be situations where this may not be convenient to apply, when the following from the Gardeners' Magazine may be useful :

" Having suffered severely from the mischief done by cockroaches, and seeing from the inquiries in the Gardeners' Magazine that these pests are very troublesome elsewhere, I will briefly describe the simple remedy that I have found most effectual in getting rid of them. Cockroaches seem to be particularly fond of dry crusts of bread, and with a few of these and a biscuit tin I have been able to get rid of them. I place a piece of dry bread in a biscuit tin, which is perfectly smooth inside, and about 4 inches deep. I place the tin with one side against a wall, where they are the most abundant, or plunge to the upper edge. 1 am, in fact, disposed to accommodate them as far as possible, and make a ladder with a few strips of wood, which will enable them to reach the upper edge of the side of the tin. It is not a matter of much consequence which course is taken, as they will, in endeavoring to reach the crust, tumble in, when, of course, they can be readily destroyed by being dropped in hot water.

I have tried to poison these pests, and also to catch them with the aid of a patent beetle trap; but have not found either so effectual as catching them with crusts of bread and biscuit tins".