72 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
All Sorts 
Carpet Beetles 
I would like hi formation on buffalo 
motlis. Wliat are they? What are all 
their stages, if any? Wliat helps to bring 
them, and, above, all, what will control 
them? I have found what T eall buffalo 
moth in every closet and other clothes 
places in my house. They 1 ,'c made 
holes in a few things, but ha done lit¬ 
tle damage. T have thoroughly shaken 
and washed all things possible, and 
cleaned places with creosote solution and 
sprayed with gasoline. I was told that 
would kill anything, but have found that 
it does not. MBS. L. 
Now York. 
There are two species of beetles in the 
United States that have come to be 
known as carpet beetles. Both are small 
insects, not familiar to most housekeep¬ 
ers. The larvae, or grubs, of these 
beetles really do the mischief, and with 
these many housekeepers- arc only too 
well acquainted. The larva of one ol 
t hese carpet beetles lias come to la* known 
at the “buffalo hug,” or the “buffalo 
moth.” and it is the commoner and the 
better known of the two. The other 
species is known simply as the black car¬ 
pet beetle. 
The “Buffalo Bug” ob “Buffalo 
Moth.” —The names “buffalo bug” and 
“buffalo moth” are misnomers, because 
the insect is neither a bug nor a moth. 
• )u tlie contrary, it is a small beetle (I ig. 
or,) about three-sixteenths of an inch in 
The “Buffalo Moth ” lieetlc. 1 ig. 2~> 
length, with a general background ot 
black, spotted and speckled with white, 
and with a red line down^the. middle of 
its back. The curiously wrinkled, whit¬ 
ish eggs are laid by the mother beetle 
among the fibers of the doth on which 
1.1 n 1 larvae will feed. Here, under favor¬ 
able circumstances, the eggs hatch in two 
or three weeks, and the larva* eat vora¬ 
ciously and grow rather rapidly if food 
is available. The larva of buffalo bug is 
about one-quarter of an inch ;n length 
and is covered with long brown hairs 
fFig. 2(>). After the larva reaches full 
growth it transforms, within its last skin, 
into the pupa. Eventually the pupa trans- 
Thc Larva, or "Buffalo Moth." that JJOes 
the Injury. Fig. 26 
forms to the adult beetle, which often 
finds its way to window panes in search 
of an exit to its outdoor food plants. In 
this latitude there is one generation, pos¬ 
sibly two, each year. 
The Black Carpet Beetle. —In the 
♦•ase of this insect we have a pest with 
a varied menu. It has a liking for 
specimens in tin* museum and for cereal 
products. Moreover, it is a frequent 
pest in feathers, sometimes causing what 
is known as “felting in pillows.” Its 
main claim to notoriety, however, is as a 
pest to carpets. It has apparently be¬ 
come more numerous in some houses than 
the “buffalo moth.” As in the case of 
:he “buffalo moth.” it is not the adults 
that commit the injury, hut the larva.*. 
The larva is long and slender, and tapers 
The Larva of the lltnc-lc Carpet Beetle 
' Fig. 27 
toward the posterior end. It is reddish 
brown in color, rather active, and clothed 
with hairs; the posterior end of the body 
terminates in a pencil of long hairs (Fig. 
27 i. It is easily distinguishable from 
the “buffalo moth,” and the illustrations 
should enable anyone to fell the two 
apart. The adult is a entail blackish 
beetle about one-sixteenth of an inch in 
length (Fig. 28). It is almost twice 
its long as it is wide, and rather flattened. 
Tt is sober in coloring, and can readily 
be distinguished front the more gavly- 
eolored "buffalo moth” beetle. The life 
history of this insect is not well known. 
Ps eggs are white and of a broad *>val 
s v anc. and are probably deposited about 
the edges of the carpets or on the woolens 
i,r other materials on which it may be 
feeding. In studies of the life history of 
this pest it, 1 is been fouud that two 
years were required in sonic instances, at 
Toast.' for its * development from egg to 
Tin Black Carpet Beetle. Fig. 28 
beetle. Tlie larvae of tin* black carpet 
beetle are certainly active throughout the 
Winter in well-heated houses. 
Methods of Control. —The carpet 
lM*etles will always be diflieult to control 
in houses having floors completely cov¬ 
ered with carpets that are-tightly tacked 
about the edges. A carpet placed per¬ 
manently on the floor anil allowed to re¬ 
main* there undisturbed for a year fur¬ 
nishes ideal conditions for these pests to 
thrive and increase. It is urged that a 
change from carpets to rugs be made if 
possible. Where bare floors, partially 
covered with rugs, are maintained the 
carpet beetles will not flml lxidiug-plaees 
suited to their development. Where the 
insects have become well-established in a 
house nothing but heroic measures and 
long-continued efforts will avail. House- 
cleaning should certainly occur twice a 
year instead of once, and should he very 
thoroughly done, at least so far as the 
carpets are concerned. They should be 
removed, thoroughly dusted and beaten, 
sprayed with gasoline, and hung in the 
air and sunlight as long as possible. 
The floors should be thoroughly washed 
and scrubbed with soap and water, 
especially along tlie baseboards and the 
cracks of the floors. It would be of 
advantage to spray tlie cracks beneath 
the baseboards with benzine or gasoline, 
m dean out all the dirt possible from the 
cracks in the floor, and to pour in ben¬ 
zine or kerosene oil. Before the carpet 
is replaced on old floors the cracks should 
be filled with a crack-filler, and thus the 
favorite hiding-places for the larvae might 
be eliminated. In badly infested houses 
tarred building-paper may be placed be¬ 
neath the carpets, but the odor from such 
paper is not always pleasant. 
The carpet may lie loosely tacked about 
the edges, thus affording the owner an 
opportunity to examine it so as to see 
whether tlie pests have returned. The 
following is a good account of the man¬ 
ner in which one housekeeper finally got 
rid of these posts: “My own experience 
with them began last year. Wo. moved 
in our present abode in April, and it was 
not until every carpet had been put down 
and (lie house settled that I was aware 
that we had such unwelcome guests. I 
was not long in observing their habit of 
running into any crack and crevice that 
presented itself, aud also running along 
the joints of the floors, and our warfare 
against them was directed toward these 
joints. In the closets we stopped up 
every nook on the walls; every crevice 
under the baseboards, and filled up the 
joints of the floors. I used benzine plen¬ 
tifully all the Summer, saturating the 
borders of the carpets every two weeks 
and killing all 1 saw in the meantime. 
Last Spring we varnished the cracks of 
the floors, and in some cases, when* they 
were open, covered them with strips of 
rhm muslin stuck down with the varnish : 
we again put paper under tin* carpets, as 
we had found it such protection tin* pre¬ 
vious year. I have found the various in- 
sect powders of no use whatever when 
the insect is in the larval state; whether 
or not it has any effect on the beetle I 
cannot say. but this I can state, that our 
unceasing warfare has not been in vain, 
for I have, during the past Summer, seen 
only single ones where last year I found 
scores.” 
1 [yi>ro( tank ACID Fas.— This gas is 
ipiiie as effectual for the carpet beetle as 
it is for tin* bedbug, but it L a task to 
fumigate a dwelling-house. 
Sulp.hur.— The fumes of sulphur are 
also effective if enough of the sulphur is 
burned at one time. Not less than two 
pounds of sulphur to a thousand cubit 
feet of space should be used. The room 
should be tightly calked and closed. We 
would call attention to the injury that 
may result from sulphur fumes to metals, 
wallpaper and similar furnishings. 
Corrosive Sum. im ate and Alcohol.-— 
As we have pointed out, the larva* con¬ 
gregate mostly about the edges of the 
if-arpets. It is said that a solution of 00 
grains of corrosive sublimate, dissolved 
in a pint of alcohol and applied to the 
edges and undersides of the carpet around 
tlie borders, will poison the larvae when 
they begin to eat. the fabric. The alcohol 
quickly evaporates and leaves the cor¬ 
rosive sublimate among the fibers of the 
carpet, where it will remain for a long 
time. Since corrosive sublimate is such 
a virulent poison, great care must be 
exercised when children are likely to 
play about the room, lest they get hold 
of some of the material and become poi¬ 
soned. GLENN W. HERRICK. 
Mixing the Dry Mash 
The mixing of a dry mash for laying 
liens need not require any particularly 
different feeds from, those used on the 
farm, if provision is made for keeping a 
stock of ground grain on band, either for 
pigs or cows. Our laying mash this Win¬ 
ter consists of six parts oornmeal. six 
parts tankage and four parts ground oats. 
These ingredients are figured by weight 
and the three are mixed together either on 
a tight floor or put in a feeder and mixed 
there. A satisfactory way, however, is to 
mix the mash on a regular mixing floor 
where the feeds for cattle <>r pigs arc 
made up. 
We use tankage instead of meat scrap, 
because we always have a good supply of 
tankage -on baud for pig feeding, and 
there is no particular difference between 
either of these products for egg produc¬ 
tion, we think. Tankage is a high-pro¬ 
tein product, made, of course, from ani¬ 
mal matter, which is necessary to secure 
economy in egg production. Cornmeul is 
straight ground corn that i.s often used in 
making up dairy ration, and, of course, 
ground oats are used for this purpose, 
too. We use ground oats in our poultry 
ration because they are cheaper than 
bran. Oats may be bought now for 
.$1.75 per 100 lbs., and allowing even 25c 
a bushel for grinding and hauling, brings 
this product, to $2 per 100 lbs. This is 
still cheaper than bran and it has more 
feeding value for poultry than bran. We 
place this mash in self-feeders that feed 
from both sides, the feeders being mount¬ 
ed on a pedestal about a foot above the 
litter. Around the bottom of each feeder 
is a perching rail, so that the fowls may 
fly upon this and eat from the bottom of 
the feeder. The bottom of the feeder is 
enclosed so (In* fowls cannot get into the 
mash and hence being perched on a light 
railing they are not able to scratch part 
of the litter into the feed, but may secure 
all the mash that they like. We have six 
self-feeders in a poultry house sheltering 
500 fowls. 
Since every inducement is given for 
fowls to eat plenty of the mash, we be¬ 
lieve that the feeding space of self-feed¬ 
ers should he large enough to leave one- 
fourth of the flock to feed at any one 
time. C. 31. LAKER. 
Wayne Co., O. 
Country-wide Produce Situation 
SHIPMENTS NOT AS HEAVY AS THE CROPS 
—PRICES SHOW SOME GAIN SINCE 
END OF THE TEAR 
A peculiar feature of this season of 
abundant crops is that carlot shipments 
have not been large in proportion. Many 
lines of fruits aud vegetables have been 
coming lighter than last season, and IfilO 
was a poor year for production. All 
leading produce lines together. 20 or so 
in number, have shown a gain of about 
10 per cent in shipments, but the increase 
was mostly in the early part of the sea- 
•Ta unary 15, .1021 
sou. when prices were higher and freights 
lower than at present. 
Low prices :m*i high costs seem to be 
tlm main I'ea.sun for the slow movement. 
Perhaps there was never a time when 
average prices obtained fell so far below 
cost of producing and marketing. Farm¬ 
ers still- hold great amounts of onions, 
potatoes and various root crops. They 
hesitate to accept tin* loss involved in 
selling at the c-light improvement in prices 
since the holidays. Shipments for many 
weeks have been less than last season. 
Holders are -till waiting. What, is the 
situation? The potato crop was 70.000.000 
bushels larger this season, while ship¬ 
ments of the Northern crop actually 
have been less, as a total and from many 
of the leading States. The cabbage crop 
was more than twice that of last sea- * 
son. but most Northern States have 
shipped less, the only large gains being 
for New York and Wisconsin. The union 
crop is three-fourths larger this year, but 
shipments from Northern States have 
been only one-eighth larger than for the 
preceding season to date. The commer¬ 
cial apple crop is about. 10.000,000 bushels 
larger this season and shipments about 
1.500.000 barrels larger. 
By no means all of the surplus indi¬ 
cated could be shipped under any condi¬ 
tion. Much of it already has been used 
or sold iu small lots locally or saved for 
seed or lost by rot and shrinkage, yet the 
figures show a larger proportion of the 
crop than usual and a larger amount than 
usual still in producing sections. Will 
the markets advance? Possibly, when¬ 
ever shipments ai*c light, as recently hap¬ 
pened. but such recoveries seem likely to 
be temporary if a fair proportion of the 
large reserve stock is to be offered at all. 
AY ill a new tariff law help? Probably 
not very much. Imports of potatoes for 
any one Season are no more than a week’s 
supply, and are partly offset by exports 
to the West Indies and elsewhere. Fin- 
onions the imports come only late in the 
season and do not greatly affect the mar¬ 
ket for Northern onions. They are twice 
the export*, but are not relatively large 
compared with the takings of the domestic 
market. Apple imports are not heavy in 
a year of low prices, but apple exports 
may _ continue to help the situation re¬ 
garding this one product. The other 
lines are cheaper in Europe than here. 
Will the home demand increase? Pos¬ 
sibly, if business picks up before the sea¬ 
son is over, but hardly enough at best to 
take care of such heavy available sup¬ 
plier Possibly near ike end of the sea¬ 
son it will be found that fruits anil ornge- 
tables in ordinary storage have' been 
keeping poorly, and there will he a good 
market opening for what is left. 'This is 
a situation that would not help the pro¬ 
ducers whuse stock did not keep well. 
The majority probably must grit their 
teeth and face these low prices, taking 
whatever comfort they may out of the. 
memory of war time markets and in the 
thought that tin* farmer in his troubles 
Inis much company, as shown by the re¬ 
ports of numerous business failures. 
Even the city produce dealer has been 
losing heavily. .Tust. now the depression 
affects contractors for Southern oranges, 
which have been bringing in Northern 
markets less than cost of packing and 
freight. Some of the dealers are carrying 
out their contracts, thus building lip a 
reputation for reliability, while others 
have been trying their old trick of re¬ 
fusing to take the goods which the grower 
had sold to them in good faith at a fixed 
price. With some it was perhaps a choice 
between refusal and bankruptcy. In ease 
of such refusal the grower often has small 
chance of enforcing his claim, and he 
learns the need of investigating in ad¬ 
vance the standing and resources of the 
buyer, as well as noting the terms of the 
contract. Apple producers and dealers in 
tlie North have had similar troubles, but 
'not much of the Eastern crop was sold 
on contract this season. 
The apple market is dull and weak, hut 
having started low has uot suffered the 
same losses as some other lines. City 
markets still range $4 to $5 per barrel 
for best grades of standard kinds. There is 
not much for the grower after paying for 
Hie barrel and marketing costs. Stock 
for common storage is reported not keep¬ 
ing very well on account of mild weather. 
Most of the bulk stock is out of the way 
now, aud the position of barreled apples 
should improve, especially for that por¬ 
tion in cold storage. The outlook for re¬ 
maining apple stocks seems better than 
for most vegetables. 
Tlie gain in cabbage prices is probably 
the outcome of conditions described in 
this column several weeks ago. Early 
and partly frozen stock has been sold out. 
while the stock iu commercial storage 
is not large in proportion to the crop. 
Wliat. is left ought to bring fair prices, 
as prices go this season. Regarding pota¬ 
toes, not much can he said to offset the 
conditions described. Perhaps the serious 
loss by decay , in some Eastern States will 
help the position of the rest. The nearby 
holder should watch closely for temporary 
shortage in his markets. 
For next season the clouds are lifting 
slightly. Post of farm labor is surely 
coming down, having reached as low as 
$1 per day in parts of the South. Fer¬ 
tilizers possibly will come down, but. thus 
far the raw materials have kept high and 
tlm fertilizer makers, having bought ma¬ 
terials long ago, will try to keep up the 
prices. . Some of the Southern planters 
are trying all sorts of home-mixed mate¬ 
rials. *uch as leaves aud bones treated 
with acid. Such savings may prove short¬ 
sighted. but farmers everywhere will 
look closely to expenses. G. e. f. 
Mixing the Meg Mash for Poultry. Fig. 20 
