226 JOUENAL OF THE DepARTMEIST OE AGRICULTURE. SePT.. 1922. 



Poisoning Cases. 



lu spite of the explicit instructions and repeated warniugs issued 

 by tbe Department's officers, a large number of poisoning cases 

 amongst stock occurred, and in one case two native children died as a 

 result of drinking water from a drum that had contained locust poison, 

 and which was alleged to have been cleansed by boiling. Every case 

 of the loss of stock by poisoning has been traced to carelessness and 

 disregard of the instructions on the part of the owner. If ordinary 

 care is taken and the instructions adhered to, the risk is nil. 



One point of interest in connection with the poisoning cases is 

 that a large proportion of them occurred in the lamziekte areas, it 

 being asserted by the farmers that the dead locusts satisfy the craving 

 that cattle suffer from in these areas in the same Avay that decomposed 

 bones do. 



Collecting Locusts for Food. 

 TrAIAS held up by VOETUA.NGERt.. 



Through large swarms of voetgangers crossing the line seriou;? 

 delays occurred to train traffic in some districts, more especially in 

 the Prince Albert, Beaufort West, Victoria West, and De Aar 

 Districts. Much of the delay complained of by the Railway Adminis- 

 tration would have been avoided liad timely measures been taken by 

 the resi)onsible railway official to equip r;)ilw;iy gangers and others 

 with pumps and poison. 



P( ) I S ( ) N K XI' I'-. U I M K N TS . 



As a result of certain experiments in connection with the poison- 

 ing of locusts carried out in the field by Mr. C. W. Mally, Senior 

 Entomologist, Cape, it has been decided to use next season the concen- 

 trated arsenical solution without the addition of treacle in a few 

 districts in various parts of the Union with a view to ascertaining 

 definitely whether the addition of treacle is necessary or not. From 

 an administrative point of view there are certain disadvantages in 

 the use of the pure arsenical solution which, however, may gradually 



