THE TOBACCO BEETLE. 



15 



instances are in close proximity to tobacco wareliouses where beetles 

 are present in large numbers, A comparatively small number of 

 beetles in rooms in which cigars are made, or in rooms where the 

 cigars or other classes of manufactured tobacco are packed, is suffi- 

 cient to infest the stock seriously by depositing eggs in it. The 

 protection of the finished product before it is packed is generally of 

 more importance than the condition of the raw material, as with 

 most classes of manufactured tobacco the process of manufacture 

 frees it from different stages of the beetle present in the raw material. 



COLD STORAGE. 



The modern cold-storage plants now found in most cities furnish 

 a convenient, inexpensive, and effective means of sterilizing infested 

 tobacco. The method has been used to a considerable extent, but 

 the temperatures more commonly used have the effect of suspending 

 insect activity instead of causing death. Cold storage at temper- 

 atures between 32° and 65° F. prevents further damage as long as 

 the material is held in storage. The different stages of the beetle 

 are not killed, however, and activity is resumed when the tobacco 

 is removed from storage. When lower temperatures are available 

 a more satisfactory and effective method is to subject the tobacco 

 for a week or more to the lowest temperature that can be obtained. 

 A long series of experiments with infested tobacco in cold storage 

 at low temperatures has shown this method to be thoroughly effective. 



The cold-storage room should be as dry as possible, and the cigars 

 or manufactured tobacco should be removed from storage when the air 

 outside is dry, to prevent sweating. Some system of dry cold storage 



