The locust plague and its suppression / by Æneas Munro.

  • Munro, Aeneas.
Date:
[1899]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The locust plague and its suppression / by Æneas Munro. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    369/388 (page 345)
    used the substances. I will therefore merely here give a plate showing a useful spray producer (Fig. 45), which ought to be the most suitable way for applying the “ Contact ” preparations direct to the locusts, whether saltonas or voladoras. The use of petroleum, which is not injurious to grass or plants, by the spray, when the hoppers are gathered into bunches or heaps, would produce a great massacre. From the accompanying advertisement from a Buenos Ayres paper it would seem that MacDougall’s Fluid Dip is safe, and if purchased at a conveniently moderate price, which in this matter is a great desideratum in view of the large area to be operated on, it could be tried, as it does not injure the grass or stock. “Locusts, Locusts 867. “ By using MacDougall’s Fluid Dip at 1 to 70 of water, you can kill thousands per minute. “This fluid does not poison or damage the grass, being the original non-poisonous dip.” 868. I now append a note that appeared in the Natal Witness from Mr. Millborrow on his “Exterminator,” and thereafter one from Mr. Wilkinson on arsenic and treacle. Millborrow's Exterminator Mr. Millborrow writes to the Witness:— Since it has been determined by the Government to continue for the present the services of the Locust Officer, I, as a veterinary surgeon to a large extent dependent on the prosperity of the farmer in this ■colony, have resolved to give the Government the recipe for my Locust Exterminator, to be used, if they will, for the benefit of the farmers at large. After a number of experiments, I have come to the conclusion that “spraying” is the most effective form of destruction of the insects, -and I have lately disposed of several thousand gallons of the Exter- minator, which has been used in this way with the best results. The constituents of the Exterminator are cheap and easily obtainable in the ■colony, and two men could make up as much as a thousand gallons in a day, and, notwithstanding its deadliness as far as the locusts are con- cerned, it is non-injurious to stock of all kinds. I have heard from various parts of the colony of various swarms of young locusts, which will be on the wing in the next two or three weeks, and now is the time ithat vigorous steps should be taken to stop them from arriving at maturity, and I trust therefore that the Government, on taking advan- tage of this offer, will, without delay, place supplies of the Exterminator in the hands of their officers, so that every means in their power may be used for the destruction of the insects. I feel confident that the •swarms now maturing are more numerous than those we have just