RELATION TO THE HOUSEHOLD 241 



practice of placing furs and other valuable articles of 

 apparel or drapery in cold storage where, even if already- 

 infested, no development can take place. The ento- 

 mologists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 have determined that a temperature of 40° is low 

 enough to prevent any development, and my own 

 experience in the household is that until a daily average 

 of 60° is reached, little danger is to be apprehended; 

 but this, of course, does not mean that in closets so 

 placed that a higher average temperature is main- 

 tained, breeding would not go on even though the 

 outside temperature was not above 60°. 



To prevent infestation, nothing is better than to 

 brush all the clothing to be protected and then pack it 

 into tight boxes. They need not be heavy nor large 

 boxes, but they must be tight. Pasteboard boxes will 

 answer every purpose if the covers are fastened at the 

 point of junction with gummed strips and such boxes 

 are now obtainable of almost any size, for garments of 

 all kinds. Heavy paper bags answer the same purpose, 

 and these are now sold for that purpose in the larger 

 cities. They can be easily made where they cannot be 

 bought. Even carefully wrapping in newspaper, using 

 plenty of paper and covering joints, will answer, where 

 the garments are packed away in trunks or moderately 

 tight drawers. But there should be no doubt about the 

 freedom of the garments thus put away from "moths" 

 or their eggs. When a fabric is once infested and the 

 insects cannot be reached by beating or brushing, a 

 drenching with gasoline is effective, and when a closet 

 becomes infested, it should be thoroughly sprayed with 

 gasoline so that every crevice is reached and penetrated. 

 Fumigation with sulphur will kill them if properly made, 

 but there must be no metal and no fabrics in the closet 

 when it is done. Formaldehyde vapor is ineffective. 

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