INSECTS AFFECTING HOUSEHOLD GOODS 233 



remain in the grain over winter, but in warm seasons a 

 third brood of moths may be developed by early September. 

 This species continues to breed within doors all winter, al- 

 though feeding stops in very cold weather. The number of 

 generations depends entirely upon latitude and weather. 

 In the South there may be as many as eight in a year. 



Corn is frequently attacked, but not until it is ripe and 

 husked, and then but rarely when husked in October and 

 November and stored outdoors in slatted cribs. Seed-corn 

 stored in barns, and in the South in almost any situation, is 

 often badly injured. 



Aside from the loss in weight, grain when badly infested 

 becomes unfit for milling purposes, and will even be refused 

 by cattle and horses, which should not be urged to eat it, 

 though hogs and fowls will readily consume it. 



Grain should be threshed as soon after harvest as pos- 

 sible and placed in tight bins or sacks. Infested grain 

 should be fumigated with carbon bisulphide as soon as 

 threshed. Sacked grain will not heat if infested, and the 

 moths cannot get out and are stifled. If placed in bins, 

 they should be made tight and if the grain heats perceptibly, 

 it should at once be fumigated with carbon bisulphide. 

 Corn should be husked before storing. Barns and store- 

 houses should be cleaned up from scattered grain before 

 April first, and infested grain should be kept tightly 

 covered in the spring so that no moths will spread to the 

 field. 



136. Control of Grain Insects. Cleanliness is pre- 

 requisite to freedom from grain pests. Wherever dust, dirt, 

 rubbish, sweepings of grain and its products, are allowed to 

 accumulate, ideal conditions for the reproduction of grain 

 insects are afforded. It is highly desirable where grain is to 

 be stored on the farm, that a separate building be provided 



