88 MILLS. [1899 



not a complete remedy) to lessen the evil to a very serviceable 



amount.* 



Consequently on our English experiments, and after much consul- 

 tation of the entomological authorities in the province of Ontario, 

 Canada, on the first appearance of K. knhnielia there in 1889, careful 

 measures of purification by steaming, &c., were set on foot in the 

 steam mills where this mill scourge had establislied itself, which were 

 detailed as follows f : — 



"We took down our machinery, and subjected it to steaming. 

 Every part was thoroughly steamed. The mill was swept down, and 

 subjected to sulphur fumes. The walls, ceilings, &c., were cleaned, 

 and elevator- spouts and loose wooden work burnt up. Paper bags and 

 hundreds of dollars worth of goods were burnt in the furnace, while 

 the other bags, elevator-belts and cups were boiled for hours in a 

 cauldron of water. The machines and all parts that were not de- 

 stroyed were then burnt by means of a kerosene torch, which flamed 

 and smoked through and around every part of them, until we con- 

 sidered we had everything clean and ready for putting together 

 again." 



These measures of purification, however, effective as they appear, 

 were not considered to be sufficient, and an Order in Council on the 

 subject was passed on Sept. 19th (1889), approved of by His Honour 

 the Lieutenant-Governor, and an order was given to the steam millers 

 that, before placing the machinery in position, it should be subjected 

 " to a thorough disinfecting process in a strong room so arranged that 

 steam under pressure might be drawn or driven into it." 



"In compliance with this order," the millers reported, "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 we 

 put every machine, and even our mill-stones and iron rollers. This 

 process was very expensive, and took up considerable time, as we were 

 over a week at the process, and were delayed in the placing of our 

 machinery. 



" The Board of Health visited us in a body during the time the 

 process was going on, and pronounced it a success. This was all 

 done, not only in our own interests, . . . but in the interests of the 

 public health and commerce of the country. 



" Having now got to the position which enables us to go to work 

 again, ... we have arranged for remedial measures to prevent the 

 re-appearance, or for the destruction of the pest should we ever be 

 again attacked. We have erected a steam stand-pipe, with hose or 



• See my Annual Report for 1888, p. 70. 



t See ' Bulletin 1, Provincial Board of Health of Ontario ' : " The Flour Moth, 

 Ephestia kuhnielln." Issued by tlie Ontario Department of Agriculture. 



