84 MILLS. [1899 



Entomologist and Director of the Experimental Farm Stations, and 

 the exceedingly stringent measures advised being enforced by an Order 

 in Council, approved by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, the 

 pest was stamped out {pro tevi.), and remedial measures arranged to be 

 brought to bear should re-appearance be threatened. But the loss 

 from this attack, and requisite treatment, amounted, as stated in a 

 letter to myself, written on Sept. 21st, 1889, from the owners of the 

 infested steam mills, to about £1000.* 



The notes given at p. 79, preceding, by one of my enquirers work- 

 ing some large steam mills, describes the too frequent state of affairs 

 thoroughly : " We had a thorough examination of our mill, and found 

 everyone of the spouts, conveyers, elevators, and machines simply 

 alive and grown up with maggots and moths, samples of which we 

 send you"; these, as before mentioned, proved to be of this widely- 

 distributed flour-mill scourge, Ephestia kuhniella. 



With regard to the food of the Ephestia caterpillars. — In this country, 

 as we know to our cost, it frequents flour, and although (from extra- 

 British records) there is no doubt that on occasion it attacks grain, I 

 have not, in the twelve years during which enquiries have been sent 

 me, had a single note of it as a grain pest with us. 



It is technically described by Mons. Danysz as " the parasite of 

 corn, flour, and biscuits "; in the United States it is officially recorded 

 by Mr. F. H. Chittenden that " although the larva prefers flour and 

 meal, it will attack grain when the former are not available, and it 

 flourishes also on bran, prepared cereal foods, including Buckwheat 

 grits, and crackers." 



The injury to biscuits has not been reported with us; but in the 

 monograph on this attack by Mons. Danysz (previously referred to) 

 this injury is recorded as occurring on a very large scale in France in 

 connection with the army supplies, and amounting at times to as 

 much as half or the whole of the store. The details and statistics of 

 this, and the preventive measures requisite, are entered on with very 

 serviceable clearness at pp. 23-26 of the work (previously cited). 



In the case of what is considered to be the first recorded observa- 

 tion of the presence of the attack in this country in 1887, the moths 

 were bred from " Eice-cones," which shows their capacity of at least 

 infesting rice products.! 



The geographical distribution of the infestation has spread so steadily 

 since 1887, before which date it was little observed, that now it is 

 certainly widely distributed in Europe and in North America. We 



* See Bulletin referred to in note preceding, p. 83. 



t I am not personally aware of the nature of " Kiee-cones," but am informed, 

 on enquiry at a baker's, that this is a name given to a form of ground Rice used 

 for rubbing the inside of troughs to prevent the dough adhering. 



