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.

    83/388 page 59
    advanced, they pass it by—not so with mealies, tobacco, etc. Indeed, most vegetables and all fruit and garden plants they eat with avidity. I have seen fields of pasture over which this scourge passed, and there was not a blade left, not even for a goat to nip. The surface there was “ desolate,” and quite black-coloured. 130. Destructive powers universal and unsparing'.—It is a curious phenomenon to see the trees stripped in one day of their foliage just in the season of the year when they ought to be covered with leaves and fruit. (See Figs, i and 2, par. 62.) In a month or two after being stripped bare by the locusts, young leaves again sprout out; but in trees such as the orange a visitation like that described destroys the fruit for two seasons, and not unfrequently the trees are permanently injured. Thus in one district the account of the plague runs :—The locusts have devoured everything—grapes, wheat, beans, and potatoes—the running stream is infested, and the loss is calculated at ^1,000,000 sterling. Now this took place in a vine- growing district, so that nothing seems to escape them. (See Fig. 2, par. 62, and Fig. 16, par. 206.) Other instances can be cited illustrative •of the universality of the destroying power, but it is unnecessary, for all will concede it. 131. Appearance on the march.—When these hoppers or jumpers (“voetgangers”), or “ saltonas,” are on the “march,” they sometimes appear so determined and bent on the fearful execution of their work that they resemble in certain aspects and have got the name of an “army on the march.” ' They move in open file, and carry themselves in a proud, haughty way, with heads high up and fixed. It is rather beautiful and interesting to see them “ on the march,” if we •only divest ourselves for the moment of the idea of their devastating object. In this stage they can both jump as well as walk, but walking is the feature. If left alone, they walk (hence “ voetgangers ” in Dutch); but if you approach them or meddle with them they jump. They can hop about a foot or so in height, and of course the older and stronger they become, they acquire more strength and can leap better. The comparatively slender hind legs of our voetgangers do not tend to good jumping; but these acquire more and more strength, so that the adult can jump six or more feet. 132. Marching stage the most deadly.—It is in this marching stage that they do enormous damage, and eat every edible thing in their path, and completely destroy the work of the husbandman. They are not content with levying toll merely, but they will have all, and will leave nothing behind but desolation. They therefore are unlike the flying company of locusts, which only levy toll here and there; but these when they pass leave nothing. 133. No fears deter.—The whole of the company begin to walk
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image