360 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
Small doses such as one-half pound per 1,000 cubic feet of space do 
not injure the germination of the grain. Large doses do injure the 
germination if germination is attempted before the grain has had a 
very thorough airing. Rye with a germination of 99 per cent was 
fumigated at the rate of two pounds per 1,000 cubic feet for twenty- 
five hours. A germination test started eight hours after being removed 
from the box gave 81 per cent; twenty-four hours, 81 per cent; forty- 
eight hours, 95 per cent; seventy-two hours, 98 per cent. It is also 
essential that the grain be perfectly dry when fumigated. Navy beans 
taken directly from the field before thoroughly drying were fumigated 
at the rate of two pounds per 1,000 cubic feet for twenty-four hours. 
The fumigated beans and the check were then permitted to thoroughly 
dry after which their germination was tested. The check germinated 
95 per cent while the fumigated beans germinated 5 per cent. Part of 
the check after drying, similarly fumigated, germinated 94 per cent. 
Effect of Chlorpicrin on Flour 
In the earlier experiments fumigation with chlorpicrin had a bleach¬ 
ing effect upon flour. When pure chlorpicrin, free from chlorine and 
nitrogen peroxide, was used, however, no bleaching resulted. Sam¬ 
ples of wheat fumigated and unfumigated were converted into 
flour and it was found that even following the use of chlorpicrin con¬ 
taining the above mentioned impurities no effect was noticed in the 
color of the flour. 
A sample of flour was fumigated with chlorpicrin to test its baking 
properties. The fumigation was at the rate of two pounds to 1,000 
cubic feet for twenty-four hours at 70° F. After fumigation the flour 
was thoroughly aired for a week after which it was enclosed in a tin 
box for a month before it was possible for the baking test to be con¬ 
ducted. The results are: 
Volume Color Texture Expansion 
Standard.. 1,520 100 99 820 
Fumigated . 1,450 100 96 850 
The fumigated sample required thirty-five minutes longer for fer¬ 
mentation than the control. The chlorpicrin must either have had 
some action on the flour enzymes, or a small quantity of the chemical 
had been retained by the flour, resulting in an inhibition of the yeast, 
or it left the flour in such condition that the yeast was inhibited. The 
normal sample showed a water absorption of 58.18 per cent while the 
fumigated showed 62.40 per cent. 1 The bread, showing no different 
1 The author wishes to express his thanks to Miss Cornelia Kennedy of the Division 
of Agricultural Biochemistry for the study of the baking qualities of the flour. 
