23 



relations that existed a short time a»o between the Pacific coast 

 and the Eastern States. Had we known positively that the moth 

 existed in the United States east of the Jilocky Mountains during 

 this period, we might have been a little hasty in accounting for 

 its presence in California. I am reported as having staled* that 

 the pest was probably introduced into Califoraia on second-hand 

 machinery brought from a Chicago mill which was in communication 

 with the Ontario mills. I had been informed that the ma- 

 chinery in question came direct from Chicago to San Francisco, 

 being stored in the mill where the pest soon afterwards appealed 

 in great numbers, flying in and out of cylinders connected with 

 the apparatus. I have since ascertained that the machinery, al- 

 though purchased in Chicago by a California firm, changed hands 

 several times in San Francisco before it reached the mill where 

 my first observations were made, being in the meantime in a 

 mill — since burned down — where the pest was known to exist. 

 This seems to indicate that the moth was introduced into the 

 former mill from a neighboring one and not from Chicago. 



A prominent miller in San Francisco informs me that his mill 

 was overrun by this peat in the early part of 1889, soon after the 

 introduction of a large quantity of rice from Sicily. He is of the 

 opinion that the moth came to him with this rice. This is not 

 certain, since it was observed about the same time in neighboring 

 mills in which rice was not kept. After interviewing the owners 

 of many larger mills in California, I found that the pest, in all 

 cases, was first noticed during the early months of 1 89. This in- 

 dicates that the introduction must have been a general one, as the 

 outbreak occurred at the same time in widely separated mills. 



The manager of the mill which has been the principal seat of 

 my observations, tells me that he purchased the machinery men- 

 tioned above from an oatmeal company in San Francisco, which 

 has since discontinued business, and transferred them to his 

 premises. They were bought in the spring of 1890, and were 

 stored in the attic of his mill. About three months later he 

 noticed some moths flying in and out of cylinders connected with 

 the apparatus, and fearing they might be the same pest that had 

 appeared in Canada, he took immediate steps for their extermina- 

 tion, closing the end of the cylinders and burning sulphur inside. 

 He says, regarding this outbreak: "This entirely destroyed the 

 moths in the cylinders, but about six months later a more ener- 

 getic fight was required, the mill being then thoroughly swept and 

 fumigated with sulphurous fumes, with good results." 



I have positive proof that the moth is established in mills in 

 the following California localities- San Francisco, Oakland, Sac- 

 ramento, Port Costa, Stockton, and Woodland, It is only a matter 

 of time -unless millers keep the pest in check more effeciually 

 than at present— before every miller in that state will have Ephes- 

 iia kuehniella to combat. 



There is a good deal of uncertainty about the origin of the 

 flour moth in New York State. From what I can ascertain by 

 correspondence, the pest is pretty generally distributed throughout 



* "San Francieco Call," Dec. 6, 1892. 



