23 
relations that existed a short time aa;o between the Pacific coast 
and. the Eastern States. Had we known positively that the moth 
existed in the United States east of the Eocky Mountains during 
this period, we might have been a little hasty in accounting 101 
its presence in California. I am reported as having stated* that 
the pest was probably introduced into California 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 pest in the early part of 1889, soon &fter the 
introduction of a large quantity of rice from Sicily. He is of t e 
opinion that the moth came to him with this rice. 1 his is not 
certain, since it was observed about the same time m 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 ot 
m y observations, tells me that he purchased the machinery iiien- 
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 cjlinders and burning sulphur inside. 
He’savs, 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 moie effectually 
than at present—before every miller in that state will have Lphes - 
iia kuehniella to combat. . . 
There is a good deal of uncertainty about the origin ot the 
flour moth in New York State. From what I can ascertain by 
correspondence, the pest is pretty generally distributed throughout 
* “San Francisco Call,” Dec. 6,1892. 
