54 FLOUK AND GRAIN BEETLES. [1899 



the bags in a raised temperature such as would kill the insects. 

 Baking the bags would do all that is needed on the scale of moderate 

 amount of material ; but on a large scale, or where dry heat may be 

 thought likely to hurt the material, the application of steam, as used 

 to destroy "Flour Moth," may be used for disinfection, as recom- 

 mended by the U.S.A. Department of Agriculture. Obviously the 

 method of application varies with circumstances ; in large scale work- 

 ings a steam-tight chamber, in which bags, machinery, or anything 

 requiring disinfecting might be placed, would be a means of doing 

 excellent work. 



In the details given me of operations in Ontario (Canada), under 

 an Order of Council of the Local Government on appearance of the 

 "Mediterranean Flour Moth " [Ephestia kuhnieUa) in that country in 

 1889, it was mentioned in a report from the " Canadian Steam Mills," 

 especially suffering under the outbreak: — "In compliance with this 

 order, we at once constructed a tight steam box, 6 ft. wide, 6 ft. high, 

 and 12 ft. long, and attached a steam-pipe to it from the boiler." In 

 this box every machine, and even the millstones and iron rollers, were 

 submitted to purification by steam, and the measures taken "resulted 

 in a complete eradication of the pest " from the premises.* 



It is not for me to suppose that I can judge what arrangements are 

 desirable at shipping ports, but it certainly seems that, where steam 

 power is at hand, such a chamber which could be hired by anyone 

 needing its services, would be an excellent adjunct; and very certainly 

 a stricter supervision by owners' representatives, and a little more 

 knowledge of the habits and appearance of the flour and grain pests 

 would be a means of saving enormous losses.! 



Preventive measures are especially desirable in case of flour infesta- 

 tion as re)nedial attempts are costly in any case, and may be injurious 

 to the material. A rise of temperature, for instance, of from 120° to 

 150° F. will (it is stated) kill most insects, but a greater heat will 

 injure the flour, and even this may be prejudicial. 



Sieving removes the beetles and larger maggots (at a cost of so 

 much per stone), but the eggs and small young maggots will probably 

 pass through the meshes in numbers together with the flour. 



• See Bulletin 1 and Appendix to Bulletin 1 on the 'Flour Moth,' issued by 

 the Ontario Dept. of Agriculture, prepared by P. H. Bryce, Sec, quoted in my 

 Thirteenth and Fifteenth Annual Keports, under the heading of "Flour Moth." 



t There is a pamphlet of twenty-four pages entitled ' Some Insects Injurious 

 to Stored Grain,' by F. H. Chittenden, Assistant Entomologist to the Department 

 of Agriculture, Washington, U.S.A. (published by the Department), which cannot 

 be too highly recommended to the notice of all connected with trade in flour or 

 grain, whether on land or sea. It contains short, plain, practical information on 

 about twenty kinds of Hour and grain infestations, with numerous good figures, and 

 likewise working notes of practicable common-sense remedial and preventive 

 measures. 



