39 Farmers’ Bulletin 1275. 
than do pupe or adults.1° The storage room should be kept as dry 
as possible and the seeds should be handled in sacks as in ware- 
houses. It is interesting to note that cowpeas held for a season at 
32° to 34° I. were found to lose their germinating power no sooner 
on removal to normal temperatures than cowpeas not thus exposed to 
cold. Seeds removed from cold storage to warm temperatures are 
likely to sweat, and if care is not taken to eliminate this surface 
moisture by drying or proper ventilation moldiness may result. 
There is some doubt as to the real need of incurring the expense of 
cold storage as seeds can be protected more cheaply by fumigation 
under storage conditions thought by the majority of seed owners to 
be better for the seeds. 
LIME OR DUST AS PROTECTION TO SEED. 
In the Southern States, where weevils cause such great injury to 
stored seeds, certain farmers have resorted to mixing.their seed cow- 
peas with dry road dust or air-slaked lime. Tests prove that the 
storage of cowpeas with air-slaked lime at the rate of 1 part by 
weight of lime to 6 to 8 parts of peas is a great help in protecting 
seeds. The dust or lime does not necessarily kill the weevil grubs 
developing in the seeds if these are already in the seeds at harvest 
time, but it prevents adult weevils either from emerging or, if they 
succeed in emerging, from laying their eggs on the seeds for succes- 
sive generations. The dust or lime, in other words, prevents continued 
breeding in storage. Either substance would probably be a nuisance 
if mixed with cowpeas intended for food if the seeds contained 
many emergence holes, as the lime or dust would work into these 
holes and be difficult to remove. If seeds are known to be free from 
weevils and are stored in tight barrels, bins, or other similar con- 
tainers, a top layer of air-slaked lime about 3 to 1 inch thick, if 
maintained, will prevent weevils from gaining access from without 
and starting an infestation. 
COMMUNITY EFFORT TOWARD CONTROL. 
Anyone can protect beans and peas from further weevil injury 
after they are once dried and in storage. If loss occurs in storage, 
owners have only themselves to blame, for weevils can be effectively 
controlled at a cost very slight as compared with the value of the 
seeds protected and the increased value of the seeds after thorough 
treatment. 
But no one person can prevent his beans and peas from becoming 
infested while they are developing in the garden or field unless he 
19 Original data (unpublished) by A. O. Larson and P. Simmons. 
