221 



or enter. The great difficulty of this method is the expense, though 

 the manure being thoroughly protected from the weather, is greatly 

 increased in value. No relief however is afforded in respect of flies 

 from breeding places which for any reason are beyond control. The 

 systematic and regular use of poisoned bait has proved very satis- 

 factory, but arsenate of lead, which acted quickly enough for the 

 purpose in fruit-fly work, is too slow against house-flies, and arsenite 

 of soda was much more effective. The usual method of use by exposing 

 it in plates or other receptacles was dangerous to children and animals, 

 and it could not be used on living plants because of its destructive 

 action. A convenient vehicle for the bait was therefore desirable, and 

 branches of trees having firm foliage which, though it withers, does 

 not easily drop, serve the purpose well. Branches of eucalyptus were 

 used on a farm on which the experiments were carried out, and these 

 were syi-inged with a mixture of 1 lb. arsenite of soda and 2 gallons of 

 treacle in 10 gallons of water ; the results were excellent. When the 

 method was tried in Cape Town, branches of Acacia cyclopis were 

 particularly suitable, as also were various articles of rubbish, such as 

 pots, tins, 'bottles, etc., almost anything in fact mth a smooth non- 

 absorbent surface which preserves the efficiency of the bait for many 

 days ; the results were again excellent. For house work, a mixture 

 of 1 lb. arsenite of soda, 10 lb. cheap sugar and 10 gallons of water was 

 adopted and worked well. At an Agricultural School where the fly 

 pest was serious, manure containing a large proportion of straw and 

 other coarse litter was sprayed with fair success, but the branch method 

 proved much better. As a rule, wherever citrus trees thrive in South 

 Africa, flies will breed almost all the year round and baiting should 

 therefore be more or less continuous even in cold weather. During 

 the mobilisation of the Union Government forces, flies threatened to 

 become a plague in the camps ; spraying parts of the tents frequented 

 by the flies was found useful ; where the soil was coarse and stony on 

 the surface the bait was found to do good when sprayed over it. When 

 manure heaps have to be sprayed more or less indiscriminately, there 

 is a good deal of waste and the manure is damaged for agricultural 

 purposes, but with reasonable care and the use of branches laid over 

 the heap the percentage of arsenic in the manure is negligible. It is 

 stated that the bait method is very much cheaper than any other with 

 which the author is acquainted. 



DE Charmoy (D. D'E.). Report of the Division of Entomology.— .4nn. 



Rept. Dept. Agric, Colony of Mauritius, for 1914. [Received 18th 



October 1915.] 



A poultry-run infested with Echidnophaga {Sarcopsylki) gallinacea 



was sprayed with kerosene and phenyl mixture 1 per cent., and this 



controlled the pest. The foUowing ticks have been coUected from all 



parts of the Island : — Amblyomma variegatum on deer, cattle and goats ; 



Rhipicephalus sanguineus on cattle and dogs ; R. evertsi on cattle and 



dogs ; Margaropus annulatus var. decoloratus and Amblyomma sp. 



on cattle and Argas jjersicus on fowls. One dipping tank has this year 



been constructed at St. Antoine estate at a cost of Rs. 200. The 



results have been most satisfactory. Ticks have decreased in numbers 



and the general condition of the cattle has improved. 



