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Show :; Destroying Troublesome Carpet Beetles j :: - ( iirf'd by the United States Department of Agriculture.) WNU Service. The larva of the carpet beetle or so-called "buffalo moth" is almost as great a nuisance In some parts of the country as that of the clothes moth. It feeds on much the same thing woolen fabrics, silks, furs, feathers, and hair In upholstered furniture and mattresses. Carpet beetles are possibly pos-sibly less destructive than clothes moths because they reproduce only once a year and less abundantly. Nevertheless they are troublesome when they once get Into a house and may even become so generally established estab-lished that th only remedy Is complete com-plete fumigation with a satisfactory fumigant. As fumigation should be tried only by some one experienced in handling fumlgants, other ways of controlling con-trolling carpet bettles are suggested by the United States Department of Agriculture. The young woman In the picture Is filling up cracks In the floor with a liquor crack filler. Carpet beetles can live In very small quantities of dust and lint in cracks and corners, and one of the first things to be done to get rid of them Is to destroy their hiding places. Kerosene may also be used to drench the cracks and kill any live beetles or larvae that may he lodged In them, but It gives only temporary tem-porary relief, and the filler should be used if possible to close the cracks entirely. Rugs, clothes, blankets, and other articles likely to be attacked should be protected from damage in just the same ways as they are protected from clothes moths. They should be thoroughly cleaned and wrapped In tight packages with crystals of naphthalene or paradlchlorobenzene, or stored in tight trunks or red cedar chests. Washing in hot soap suds and subsequent Ironing will kill any larvae or ecs of the carpet beetle that may be present, but unfortunately this cannot can-not be done to the woolen articles that are most likely to he infested. Furniture which ha. become Infested In-fested should be fumigated, either in the house when the entire house Is being be-ing fumigated, or In the establishment of some firm which maintains a spe- (, . . v, n5 Filling Cracks With Liquid Filler. cial room for the purpose. Hydrocyanic Hydro-cyanic acid gas is the best known gas for speedily eliminating carpet beetles and other pests that may be present. Where a house has been generally troubled with them, nothing will give greater peace of mind and freedom from worry than one thorough fumigation fumiga-tion carried on by a professional fumlgator or by an intelligent, careful person capable of following directions. |