92 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
extreme importance in checking this pest. Thorough sweeping of the 
mow floor and beams is necessary. Poultry enclosed in the barn will 
also aid in cleaning the grain from the cracks and crevices of the floor. 
Infested screenings if kept in the barn should be ground, or imme¬ 
diately used as feed, and in the future all grain should be threshed in the 
open to avoid reinfestation of the barn. 
Finally, all sanitary work should be of a cooperative nature through¬ 
out an infested district, in order to insure against reinfestation from a 
negligent neighbor. Under the present conditions it is not advisable 
to do away with carbon bisulphid fumigation, but the writer is of the 
opinion, that in the future if cooperative early threshing and thorough 
barn sanitation are practiced, the use of carbon bisulphid will not be 
necessary. 
President R. A. Cooley: Do you wish to discuss the paper by Mr. 
King on this grain pest? 
Mr. J. G. Sanders: These five counties in southeastern Pennsyl¬ 
vania produced probably one third of the entire wheat output of the 
state. I think the latest figures are approximately 13,000,000 bushels. 
The loss in some sections last year and the year before ran as high as 
75 to 90 per cent of the crop in some limited areas. 
I do not think Mr. King brought out very vividly or strongly the 
reason why this pest seems to cause such great destruction in this area: 
because in this area the farmers have that unfortunate habit of storing 
their cut or harvested grain in the mows and then threshing it out dur¬ 
ing the winter as they need the straw, or as occasion affords. The 
problem of saving anywhere from one to two or three million bushels 
of wheat at this time is extremely important, and if we can secure the 
cooperation of farmers in that section of the state next spring to carry 
on sanitation measures in cleaning up the old hang-over wheat in 
every conceivable place and position, I think we would be accomplish¬ 
ing a very desirable result. 
Ultimately, I think that the pest can be held in control by sanitation 
measures, without resorting to fumigation with carbon bisulfid. That 
is only ameliorating the condition at best; but if we can secure the 
cooperation of the farmers and if they will change their habits of farm¬ 
ing, I think this pest will disappear. It is one of the most serious 
pests, as we now realize. 
Mr. M. H. Swenk: I am interested in this because during the past 
summer for the first time we found this insect working in the wheat 
fields in Nebraska. I want to ask Mr. King definitely if he has any 
indications in his studies of the life-history, that it is possible for the 
angoumois grain moth to persist in the field throughout the year, or 
must it always emanate from granaries individually? 
