12 CIRCULAR 3 7 3, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



view of the possibility of using ethylene oxide as the fumigant 

 for this work, 30 hands of wet green bananas were exposed to 2 

 pounds of ethylene oxide per 1,000 cubic feet of space at 75° F. for 



2 hours. When the fruit was examined 48 hours later it was found 

 that this treatment caused such extensive damage that it would 

 not be advisable to use ethylene oxide as the fumigating material. 



OPERATION OF COMMERCIAL FUMIGATION HOUSES 



A frame building equipped to use carbon disulphide, costing 

 approximately $2,000, was erected on the outskirts of Hammonton, 

 X. J. It is 30 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 10 feet high, has a 

 capacity of 6,000 cubic feet, and can hold iy 2 carloads of berries. 

 The building is double-walled throughout, and its walls and ceiling 

 are lined with matched ceiling boards covered with insulating wall 

 board. They also are lined with a layer of three-ply tarred roofing 

 paper, folded to fit into the corners, and with all joints overlapping 



3 or 4 inches. All cracks, seams, joints, and nail heads are coated 

 with pitch to make the building practically gastight. The floor 

 is made of boards running in one direction over boards running 

 at right angles to them, with tarred roofing paper between. The 

 joint between the floor and the walls is sealed with pitch. 



A door 6 feet high by 5 feet wide, opening outward, was placed 

 at each end of the building to facilitate the loading of the fruit 

 and the ventilation of the building after treatment. The doors 

 operate like refrigerator doors and close tightly against rubber 

 gaskets on the doorframe. 



The house is equipped with a special apparatus consisting of 60 

 feet of %-inch seamless copper tubing coiled in a 16-ounce copper 

 pan 5 inches deep and 6 feet in diameter. The pan is hung a few 

 inches below the ceiling, and the copper tubing is connected with 

 pipes that lead through the side of the building to a hot- water sys- 

 tem driven by an electric motor (figs. 10 and 11). The fumigant 

 is injected into the pan through a pipe in the roof, equipped with a 

 valve that may be closed immediately after the fumigant is poured 

 into the pan (fig. 12). 



There is a fan at each end of the building, one near the ceiling and 

 the other near the floor, to insure circulation of air. The fan shafts 

 pass through the walls to motors outside of the room and are 

 equipped with stuffing boxes. 



There is no heating system in the house to raise the temperature 

 of the room, nor is one necessary if treatments are made when the 

 temperature is 80° F. or higher. Blackberries are fumigated at 

 times when temperatures are usually high. 



This plant was in operation by August 1, 1929, and one fumiga- 

 tion was performed daily for 21 days. In that time a total of 9.980 

 crates of Evergreen (Black Diamond) blackberries were treated. 

 The largest number of crates fumigated at one time was 913. From 

 August 9 to 20 a total of 191 dead adult Japanese beetles were col- 

 lected after treatments. 



In 1932 a commercial fumigation house was erected at New Lisbon, 

 N". J. The construction of this house differs from that of the one 

 described above in that the walls are made of cinder block, covered 

 on the outside with stucco. The interior of the house, with the 



