Phoenix tribune., 1918-11-02

At this season stored grain is fire.
quently severely damaged by several
grain beetles and weevils, also a spe-.
cies of moth, which insects not only
consume the substance of the grain,
but in some cases give it flayor
which is Objectionable to stock The.
ninth annual report of the Arizona
Commission Of Agriculture and Horti-
culture includes brief account Of
the damage done by insects at farm
granary near Phoenix in the fall CT
1917, together with an account of the
methods employed in fumigating with
carbon bisulfid. This circular is pre-
pared to give information concerning
this method of control so that it may
be more generally used by farmers
and seedsmen in Arizona.
Carbon bisulfid is a clear liquid
which when exposed evaporates or
volatilizes very rapidly, forming a
poisonous gas. This gas is about two
and a half times as heavy as air.
When mixed with certain proportions
of air it is highly inflamable and ex-
plosive On account Cf its penetrative
powers carbon bisulfid gas is very eff
fective against insects in stored grains
and other food products. 1t is com
monty called high life" and is well
known in some sections on account of
its use against prairie dogs. The
chemically pure carbon bisulfid does
not have an Objectionable odor, but
The commercial grade manufactured
particularly for the destruction of in
sects and rodents has disagreeable
odor owing to hydrogen sulfid which
it contains.
In fumigating a granary the first
step is TO make the building as tight
as possible. The bottom can usually
be made reasonably tight by throwing
dirt all around the sides and packing
it down with shovel. Strips of heavy
brown paper should be pasted over
all cracks and openings in the side
walls. 1t is, as a rule, best to employ
a professional paperhanger to do this.
One door should be left open as an
exit, but everything should be in read
mess for prompt work as soon as the
operators have finished their work in
side. Wet newspapers are useful in
preparing building for fumigation,
especially in closing openings around
sliding doors The wet paper should
be tightly rammed into the openings
with a stick If the roof is provided
or hay stack covers may be thrown
over it in order to check the circula-
tion Of air. All openings should be
covered for as far as possible above
the highest sack of grain, but a mar
gin of three or four feet proved suffi-
cient in one instance where it was i'm
practical to close a corrugated iron
building tightly at the caves. Some
times it may be necessary to rear
range the sacks of grain in order to
have all of it well below the caves.
The exposure should start prefer
ably about midday, since insects are
easiest to poison when most active,
and up to a certain point they are
most active when the temperature is
highest. Do not fumigate when the
temperture is below 20 degrees. The
granary should be kept closed for "a
hours, by which ime much Of the gas.
will have escaped.
Carbon bisulfid will not injure the
feeding value or the termination of
grains and seeds. A convenient meth
cd CT exposing the liquid in granaries,
therefore, is to open the cans and
when everything is ready turn them
upside down so that the contents can
run out on the sacks of grain. The
cans should first be placed at suitable
intervals on top of the sacked grain
and arrangements made between the
men as to the part each will do in
order to turn over all the cans, get
out Of the building and close the exit,
as heretofore advised, as quickly as
Dccciblo