lo Sept., 1908.] htscct Pests in Foreign Lauds. 537 



neighbourhood, and the whole valley is dotted with wells and pumps for 

 iirigating the land. Large quantities of loquats, some of rather fine 

 quality, were exposed for sale in the markets ; green cherry plums were 

 also sold in large baskets. The large oblong Jaffa oranges were plentiful, 

 with several small and poor varieties. All the trees in the gardens of the 

 town were covered with nets to protect them from the birds. Very small 

 cucumbers and immature young squashes, with quantities of slender 

 French beans, were the chief vegetables. 



Early on the morning of the 8th May we anchored off Larnica, where 

 T joined forces with Mr. Clement Reid of the British Geological Survey, 

 who was visiting the island of Cyprus to report upon its water supply. 

 I travelled in his carriage to Nicosia, a distance of 26 miles, over a most 

 barren strip of white chalky mud and limestone hills and valleys. Where- 

 ever there was a bit of land it was planted with barley ; but until we 

 came within a mile of the capital there was absolutely no shade or trees, 

 except a few Australian wattles planted round the Rest Houses and Police 

 Stations. As soon as we arrived I presented my credentials to the Director 

 of Agriculture (Mr. Saracomnos) and made an appointment to go out 

 next morning and see the methods they adopted for catching the young 

 l(x:usts. The same afternoon we attended a reception at the High Com- 

 missioner's, and left our cards. Next day I had an interview with Sir 

 Charles King-Harmari at Government House and obtained his authority 

 to get Mr. Bevan, Assistant Director of Agriculture, to go round the 

 agricultural centres of the island with me. 



With Mr. Saracomnos I drove out to the low, scrubby hills where the 

 I(x:ust-catchers were at work sweeping the ground with large calico nets 

 shaped in front like a lx>w, so that the flat side was drawn over the 

 surface of the ground, and the young hoppers fell into a small bag-like 

 appendage at the bottom of the net, from which they were shaken into 

 a small bag that the hunter carried tucked into his belt. We then went 

 down to the Government Camp and saw the method of buying them by 

 weight from the hunters, who receive a slip giving the amount due to them, 

 which they present at the Treasury for payment. The accumulated catch 

 is shaken into a large sack which is finally emptied into a pit of quick- 

 lime and covered up. Since the time of the British Occupation of Cyprus 

 in 1879, active operations have been carried on against the locusts that 

 Ijreed in the rough barren lands of the island, and which, under Turkish 

 rule, often devoured the greater part of the crops grown on the island. 



At first, attention was turned to the collection, and destruction of the 

 eggs, and a tax of 7 to 8 okes of eggs (i oke rr 2i lbs.) had to be 

 paid to the Government bv every able-bodied man on the island. This 

 collection started on the ist of June, and by the end of the year 138,422 

 okes of eggs had been brought in and buried. Each pod of eggs was 

 found to contain from 30 to 35 eggs, and each oke contained from 450 

 to 500 pods, so that the quantity of eggs destroyed made a total of two- 

 thousand millions. In spite of this work being carried out, the locusts 

 did not appear to decrease in the following year, and the natives lost 

 heart. In 1881 it was decided to use Mr. Richard Muttei's methods 

 of pits and screens, and this was the plan adopted until 1897, when an 

 income tax was made law, and the revenue derived was used for the 

 expense of killing out the locusts. Screens were erected and pits dug 

 along the line of march of the locusts as soon as they emerged from the 

 eggs and began to feed. Thev were driven against the screens, from 

 which they fell, and moving downwards encountered the pits into which 



