5G 
ance. This can be overcome by adding a handful of common 
salt and about half a teacupful of lard to each gallon of the wash 
which should then be thoroughly stirred before being applied' 
o7 ae ion~ my Callf °™} a correspondents, in a letter dated August 
i 7° • sa y. s: When making the whitewash I put in all the 
sulphuric acid that can be used without burning the pipe through 
which the wash is sprayed on the walls. I believe this acid is a 
good thing.” 
Sulphuric Acid. A strong solution of sulphuric acid has been 
used to wash machinery, elevators, and spouts with good results 
the acid being afterwards washed off with water. 
Tobacco. The burning of tobacco in mills is not effective on a 
large scale, but has given fairly good results in small, tight rooms 
and bins, iobacco infusion has also been used for washing and 
cleansing apparatus, but, on the whole, it is not a satisfactory 
substance for general use. J 
Flour Paste. The value of this material is summed up in the 
following letter from one of my California correspondents* “In 
answer to your question, ‘What led you to try the flour paste ex¬ 
periment? I would state that we use flour paste for putting up 
packages of small goods. This paste is made, as needed, by one 
our w °rkmen, and is composed of flour, water, and vinegar 
and is boiled by steam. I pay particular attention, in a general 
way, to all the work going on in the mill, visiting it every morn¬ 
ing and going through every department. On one or two morn¬ 
ings I noticed that during the night the moths had seemed to 
congregate about this paste, many of them having fallen into it, 
and as it is of a tenacious nature they could not get away, and 
had perished. This seemed to be a curious kind of a thing to 
me and I made some investigation—had some of the paste put 
out in shallow pans, and I discovered that it had an attraction 
for the moth. I found, however, that it must be in a certain 
stage of fermentaaon in order to be of any value as an extermi¬ 
nator. I then commenced a series of experiments on a large 
scale, and in a short time had so reduced the number of moths 
in the mill that I was. very much delighted with the result. At 
the same time I carried on experiments with other materials, 
the cost of the paste being a considerable item, since it had to 
be renewed every few days in order to be of any service.” 
Vinegar and iVater .—This experiment was suggested by the 
one immediately preceding, and is outlined by the same miller in 
a letter dated August 23, 1895, which I quote in full: “I have 
tried numerous ways of getting rid of the pest, and, if I remem¬ 
ber rightly, when I saw you last I was experimenting with flour 
paste. My experiments in that direction gave some promise of 
success, but I eventually abandoned the flour paste for a mixture 
of vinegar and water about one fourth vinegar to three fourths 
water. This seemed to attract, them as much as the paste did, 
and was not nearly so inconvenient, for the pans did not need to 
