The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-05-30
PROTECTION FROM MOTHS.

Woolen Clothing Should Be Thoroughly
Mended Before Putting Away.
This is the time to put away the
heavy furs, for the moth mi1lers are
already beginning to fly. People rush
about buying all sorts of expensive
moth h-preventives, when they are not OF
the least use. If furs and clothing are
put away with the moth egg in them,
all the odors in the world, good, bad,
or Indifferent, would not keep them
from Matching. The time when the
eggs are laid and the fatal damage done
is usually before housekeepers think of
putting them away at all. When the
warm spring days come the heavy fur
coat or jacket is hung up in the closet
lest it may be needed again, and per-
haps it is worn once or twice and then
hung up again, and in the hurry of
spring work forgotten until somebody
sees moth millers flying about frequent
ly. Then the furs are taken out, per-
haps brushed little, and put away
smothered in camphor or in something
else that is useless as it is expensive.
In the fall, when the clothes and
furs come out, there is weeping and
wailing, for the hair flies from the furs,
and holes, always in the very worst
places to mend, are found in the clothes.
Then there is any amount of wonder
ing, and 81 can't imagine how it hap
pened, for put them away SO carefully
and used such a lot of moth stuff )"
The proper way is to lay the heavy
clothing in chest as soon as the use is
not daily, and then it can be taken out
and worn when the cold days come and
extra wraps are needed. When the
cold weather has fairly gone, then every
separate article should be taken out and
hung on the clothes-line on clear day;
if there is wind, SO much the better,
as the dust will blow away from you as
you beat it out. After beating with
light switch of some kind-it should be
both tough and elastic-brush the
clothes carefully. Never put clothes
away with soiled spots upon them;
scour them all out first. 1t is very
good plan to have them all thoroughly
mended, for the children's clothes are
always needed in hurry in the fall,
and if put away in order it is great
gain in every way. When all the
clothes are thoroughly beaten and
brushed and cleansed, fold every article
separately, and with care as to folding.
Do not leave them on the line to air,
for that is the very time that the moth
miller takes to lay her eggs. They are
very plentiful outdoors just as soon as
the weather becomes mild and are wait
ing for chance to get into the house,
and no article of woolen is safe if left
out half an hour. Then see that your
chests are absolutely tight, that there
are no cracks, in them anywhere. If
there are paste newspaper over the
cracks, wherever they are, and see
that there is not even the most infini-
tesimal crevice for the moth miller to
enter, for if there is one she will find
it. Wrap up each article separately,
either in old sheets or in old towels or
in papers. See that all are scrupulously
and absolutely clean. Pack them in
with care, SO that they will not be
crushed or wrinkled, and spread a
sheet over the top, and tuck it in close
ly all over the things. Close your
chest, and if you are sure that you will
not need to open it during the warm
season, paste paper over the edge of the
cover. But if it closes tightly there
will be no danger from the moths. -
Do,aa-