MISCELLANEOUS. 91 



covered with earth well pressed down. When not above a week old, a trench of 

 six or eight inches wide and deep, such as two men could form in a few minutes, 

 sufficed for securing the insects which jumped into it; with alacrity, and appeared 

 wholly unable to extricate themselves. In some districts eggs were purchased by 

 weight and destroyed; but, as a general rule, it was not considered advisable that 

 the labours of the population in destroying the pest should be remunerated by the 

 Government. 



In 1869, in the Punjab, the destruction of eggs was discouraged, as being a 

 difficult operation and by no means certainly successful ; while the destruction of 

 the young, when first hatched by driving them into trenches, was found to be an 

 exceedingly simple operation and certain and effectual in its results. 



No general account has been found of the measures taken in Rajputana in 1869; 

 but at least in one case, excellent results were obtained by digging a series of 

 trenches in front of an advancing swarm of young wingless locusts ; the earth being 

 thrown up on the side away from the swarm, and each trench tilled in as it became 

 three parts full of the insects, which, like the locusts of Cyprus, were found to 

 continue to advance despite the annihilation which resulted from their obstinacy 

 in doing so. This makes it appear probable that the screen system which has 

 been successfully used upon a large scale both in Cyprus and Algeria, against two 

 distinct species of locusts, may be found applicable to the locust of Rajputana; 

 though it has been shown to be quite useless against the locust which invaded the 

 Deccan in 1882-83, and which declined to advance into the traps. 



The Cyprus screen system consists of a series of cloth screens, from 2 to 8 feet 

 high, bound along the upper edge with a strip of oil cloth to prevent the locust 

 from climbing over; a long line of these screens is erected in front of an advancing 

 swarm of young wingless locusts, so as to form an impassable barrier for them; pits 

 are dug at intervals, close to the screens and at right angles to them, on the side 

 towards the advancing swarm. The edges of the pits are guarded by frames, 

 made of cloth and wood, with overhanging zinc edges, arranged to prevent the 

 escape of the locusts from the pits. The swarms were found, both in Cyprus and 

 Algeria, on arriving at the screen, to turn to the right and left along it, apparently 

 endeavouring to go round it, the locusts thus poured in countless numbers into 

 the pits, and being unable to escape, could be destroyed wholesale. 



Of the measures adopted in the Madras Presidency in 1878, the most successful 

 seem to have been the destruction of the swarms of young wingless locusts by 

 driving them into lines of burning straw ; the preventing the flights of winged 

 locusts from settling in the fields, by lighting fires, beating drums, and waving 

 branches and clothes in the air, as soon as a flight appeared ; and the driving of the 

 winged locusts out of the fields, when they had already alighted, by beating 

 through the crops. It is said that in cases where winged flights were driven 

 persistently through a number of villages, without being allowed to settle, the 

 locusts perished without doing injury. 



In the Bombay Presidency in 1882-83, various methods were employed on a 



