52 



nDr- Bryce, speaking of destroying the flour moth in Canada, 

 says: "This can be done by closing the windows, doors, or other 

 apertures of the building, and, night after night, until all evi- 

 dences of moths have disappeared, burning sulphur by placing it in 

 shallow pans, upon a number of heated stoves, say, small coal-oil 

 stoves, in different parts of the building and putting a match 

 to it." 



The following method is also given by Dr. Bryce: 



*'To prepare sulphur fumes: Place a metallic dish containing 

 liot ashes on some support in a pan of water, or place in an old 

 pan or other vessel a bed of ashes at least 6 inches deep, and 

 about 15 inches in diameter, and place the sulphur and saltpetre 

 in a slight depression in the centre and ignite. The proper pro- 

 jDortions are 3 lbs. of sulphur and 3 oz. of saltpetre per 1,000 cubic 

 feet of air space. All doors, windows, and other openings should 

 be tightly closed before the sulphur and saltpetre are ignited." 



There are certain necessary precautions to be carefully ob- 

 S3rved in burning sulphur in mills, which may be given briefly 

 as follows: (1) Remove all gcain, flour, or other manufactured 

 products from the mill; (2) see that all external openings are 

 closed before the sulphur is ignited; (3) have the vessels con- 

 taining sulphur so arranged and situated, that there will be no 

 danger of fire from that source; and (4) thoroughly air and clean 

 the mill again before resuming work. Particular attention should 

 be given to the cleansing of the machines, especially those used 

 for manufacturing flour and other farinaceous foods, as the sul- 

 phur compounds will continue to act on the manufactured products 

 some days after disinfection unless this caution is heeded. 



Steam. — Steam has been used in mills for the suppression of 

 insect pests with considerable success. Miss Ormerod suggested 

 the possibility of destroying the larvse of the flour moth by turn- 

 ing "on steam from the boiler — a plan which had ber^n entirely 

 successful in clearing a cheese factory of maggots which had 

 spread to every nook and corner. This method was tried by an 

 English miller at Miss Ormerod's suggestion, and he outlines his 

 method of procedure as follows: "The way I applied the steam 

 was by carrying about forty yards of half-inch piping into the 

 mill from the boilers, and attaching an india-rubber hose to it 

 for the men to work about on the walls, floors, spouts, and ma- 

 chines, blowing the steam into all the crevices and holes. I stopped 

 the mill for a week while this was being done. It has rusted all 

 the shafting, etc., but this is quite a secondary matter as it can 

 soon be cleaned again. After blowing the steam, which took two 

 or three days, I set the men to work to wash the walls (and every 

 other surface that they could without fear of affecting the flour) 

 with parafline [kerosene]. The inside of the machines I had 

 washed with a strong solution of boiling water and soda." 



In Canada the Local Government compelled the miller, on whose 

 premises the pest was first found, to take down all the machinery 



