542 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. — Dec, 1922. 



Report No. V. 

 ENTOMOLOGY. 



Actin;) Cliicf of Dirislo7i : Claude Fuller. 



1. Genciiil. — For six years past tlie eiieip'ies of the Division 

 liave been leo-ularly almost l)r(nig'ht to nothino> 1)y tlie stress 

 of periodic locust campaigns. Always understaffed, and of 

 late years more so even than formerly, the administrative 

 duties involved — coupled with the distribution of pumps and 

 poisju supplies — have been so g-reat that the staff of the 

 Pretoria ofHce has staf^oered under the burden. There has never been 

 a sufficient interval between one and the next campaig'n to recover lost 

 ground. It has been impossible to study the bionomics of the locust 

 and ecjually impossible to design experiments towards finding new 

 methods of destroying the pest or to im])r>ive the composition of the 

 poison used, with the exception of the experiments (referred to below) 

 that were recently started by Mr. Mally. Entomologists, ])lant 

 inspectors, and any available otficers of the Division have had to take 

 the field each season for months on end to direct operations, and to 

 the entire neglect of those duties for Avhich they were specifically 

 engaged. 



As such a state of affairs could not continue longer with the 

 increasing severity and regularity of locust outbreaks, the administra- 

 tion of the locust law was partitioned off in September, 1921. It is 

 now allocated to a senior administrative officer, assisted by a per- 

 manent senior locust officer and a temporary staff'. 



The depletion of the professional staff', to which reference was 

 made in the preceding report, has not yet been made good. The 

 Pretoria office remained during the year weakly staffed in an excep- 

 tional degree, considering the many professional duties expected from 

 it. Investigational work continued largely upon the unsatisfactory 

 level of recent years, circumstances precluding any of magnitiule or 

 importance. 



During the year 1921-22 there was a marked revival of the 

 fumigation of citrus orchards for scale insects. This was brought 

 al^out by tlie rapid strides made in our orange-growing industry. 

 Much advisory assistance was given by the Division in this connection, 

 and practical help extended in the securing of suitable covers. 



It is a pleasure to draw attention in passing to the remarkable and 

 useful results of Professor J. C. Fame's recent study of the bionomics 

 of the locust, an original research he has been able to undertake since 

 leaving the Division and joining the faculty of the Transvaal 

 University College. 



2. Branches. — (a) Cape Soiith-West (Senior Enfomologist : C. W. 

 Malhj, M.Sc). — The staff consists of two entomologists, one plant 

 inspector, one clerk, and one European messenger, with headquarters 

 at Capetown. The duties of the Ijrancli are multifarious. The recent 

 appointment of an entomologist has enabled the senior entomologist 

 to carry out a series of experiments with locust poisons, and from the 

 progress made it is expected that valuable results will accrue. The 

 experiments of last season will bo repeated and extended during the 



