120 MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



h. Should the use of plaster of paris be inconvenient or undesir- 

 able, then, bv means of a hand-atomizer charged with benzine. 

 puff the liquid thoroughly into all the floor cracks and crevices 



about the baseboards. It would be well to leave the carpets off a 

 few days and make the second application of benzine before put- 

 ting them down. 



c. When cleaning house it is best to take up all the carpets at 

 once, and thoroughly clean all the rooms before putting any of the 

 carpets back. The common way of cleaning one room at a time 

 and returning the carpet at once would give the pest a chance to 

 flv or crawl from ono room to another while the work is going on. 



d. It has been recommended to put a strip of tarred roofing 

 paper around the border of the room before the carpet is laid. 

 This would no doubt help to repel the attacks of the beetles and 

 would be desirable if the odor was not objectionable. The odor of 

 napthaline. gasoline and bisulphide of carbon and kerosene make 

 the use of the-e efficient remedies undesirable in the house. A. 

 tight box filled with the vapor of bi-sulphide of carbon from above 

 is used bv naturalists to disinfect museum specimens and it could 

 be used to disinfect carpets out of doors. It is very volatile and 

 hi2hK inflammable. The vapor is very heavy, being two and a 

 half times as heavy as air and settles rapidly. 



PREPAEATIOX AXD CARE OF CARPETS. 



a. In Europe this beetle is not known as a carpet pest because 

 the use of carpets is not common. Rugs which can be taken up 

 and frequently shaken are more in use than in this country. In a 

 badly infected house it would be well, if possible, to discard the 

 use of carpets for a time and use rugs, taking them up frequently 

 and shakmg them. A more extreme measure would be to discard 

 carpets and rugs for the summer season. If carpets are used they 

 should be taken up at least twice a year, thoroughly beaten and 

 lightly sprayed with benzine and left out of doors until the benzine 

 evaporates. Leaving carpets down the whole season and then 

 cleaning them carelessly gives the pest fine chances to increase 

 unmolested. 



h. As the larvte attack the exposed edges of carpets, they are 

 usually found around ihe border of the room. 



If the depredations of the insect are noticed between the times 

 of house cleaning and it is not convenient to take up the carpet 



