70 



FARMERS' REGISTER— STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



occasioned by the agitation and concussion of 

 wings in tlieir close phalanxes. When they arrive 

 they fill the air, like (iakcs of thick falhngsnow; and 

 we have known the bright and clear sky of Chal- 

 dea become daricer than that of London on some 

 heavy N ovember day. 



AVherever they alight, every vegetable sub- 

 stance disappears with inconceivable rajndity be- 

 <bre them. The most beautiful and higlily culti- 

 vated lands assume the appearance of a desert, 

 and the trees stand stripped of all their leaves as 

 in the midst of winter. After devouring the fruits, 

 the herbage, and the leaves of trees, they attack 

 tlie bads and the bark, and do not even spare the 

 thatch of the houses. The most poisonous, caus- 

 tic, or bitter plants, as well as the juicy and nutri- 

 tive, are equally consumed; and thus "the land is 

 ns the Garden of Eden before them, and behind 

 thera a desolate wilderness." It seems as if no- 

 thing could appease their devouring hunger, and 

 the eiicrg}^ and activity they exhibit, and the rapid- 

 ity of their operations, almost exceed beUef. Their 

 depredations are not confined to the open air; they 

 Kcale the walls, and penetrate to the granaries and 

 houses. Tliey swarm from the cellar to the garret, 

 find, within doors and without, they are a terrible 

 nuisance, for they are continually springing about, 

 and often, in con.^quence, give a person startling 

 rajis on different parts of tlie face,aflbrdingvery sen- 

 sible evidence of the force with which they leap; 

 and. as the mouth cannot be opened without the 

 danger of receiving a locust, it is impossible to 

 converse or eat with comfort. When they have 

 settled themselves at night, the ground is covered 

 with them to a vast extent; and, in some situations, 

 they lie one above another several inche.s thick. In 

 'travelling, they are crushed beneath the feet of 

 the horses; and the animals are so terribly annoy- 

 ed by the bouncing against them in all directions 

 of the insects they'have disturbed, that they snort 

 with alarm, and become unwilling to proceed. 



It is not merely the living presence of these in- 

 sects which is terrible, but new calamities are oc- 

 casioned by their death, when the decomposition 

 of their bodies fills the air with pestilential miasma, 

 occasioning epidemic maladies, the ravages of 

 which are compared to those of the plague.'^Thus 

 famine and death follow in their train; and in- 

 stances are not of rare occurrence in the East, in 

 which \allages and whole districts have been de- 

 populated by them. 



Under these cir-cumstances it necessarily be- 

 comes an object of anxious attention, in the coun- 

 tries they are most accustomed to visit, either to 

 prevent them from alighting on the cultivated 

 grounds, or to drive them off or destroy tJiem after 

 they liave descended, 



The impression is very general that noise 

 fiightens these insect devastators, ami prevents 

 theznfrom alighting. When, therefore, the people 

 are aware of the approach of their armies, every 

 kettle or other noiny instriunent in tJie place is in 

 requisition, with Avliich, and by shouts and 

 Bcreeches, men, women, and children, unite in the 

 endeavor to make the most liorrible din in their 

 power. The scene would be truly laughable, from 

 the earnestness which every one exhibits in this 

 strange employment, were not all disj^osition to 

 mirth checked by the consciousness of the fearful 

 consequences of the invasion which it is thus en- 

 deavored to a^•ert. 



IIoAv far noise may really o])erate in preventing 

 their descent in ordinary circumstances, it is not 

 easy to ascertain; but on the approach of evening, 

 or Avhen exhausted by their journey, notliing can 

 prevent them trom alighting. They will then 

 descend even on the seas and rivers, of which 

 some striking instances are recorded. 



When a swarm has actually alighted, the meanfs 

 employed to ch'ive them ofi' are much the same as 

 those to prevent their descent. But this is never 

 attemjitcd m wet weather, or until the sun has ab- 

 sorbed the dew, as the locust is quite incapable of 

 flying wliile its wings are wet. W^hen the swann 

 is large, or when it has come down on cultivated 

 grounds, no measure oi' destruction is practicable 

 without sacrificing the produce; but when the de- 

 predators have been driven to waste grounds, or 

 happencil in the first instance to descend upon 

 them, various modes of extirpation are resorted to, 

 of which the following is most eflective: a large 

 trench is dug from three to four feet wide, and 

 about the same depth; the ofl' side is lined with 

 people furnished with sticks and brooms, while 

 others form a semi-circle, which encloses the ex- 

 tremities of the trench, and the troop of locusts, 

 which are then driven into the grave intended for 

 them by the clamorous noises we have already de- 

 scribed. The party stationed on the other side 

 push back such insects as attemjit to escape at the 

 edges, crush them with their sticks and brooms, 

 and throw in the earth upon them. 



These insect devastators have fortunately a 

 great number of enemies. Birds, lizards, hogs, 

 foxes, and even frogs, de^'our a great number; and 

 a high wind, a cold rain, or a tempest, destroJ^g 

 millions of them. In the East they are used as 

 an article of food, In some parts they are dried 

 and pjounded, and a sort of bread is made, which 

 is of much utility in bad har\ests, They are sold 

 as common eatables in the bazaar of Bagdad, and 

 the cooks of the East have various ways of pre^ 

 paring- them for use. — Penny Magazine. 



STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



Piom the Libiarj- of Useful Knoivledge — Farmer's Series. 



Notwithstanding that the cost of horses forms a 

 prominent item in the farmer's outla}^, there is 

 frequently no part -oi" his live-stock, nor any branch 

 of Iris business, either so ill understood or so much 

 neglected as stable management. Let any one 

 look into the low-rooled, narrow, dark, and unstall- 

 ed building in which teams are often huddled to- 

 gether in some of the old homesteads, and the 

 lumes arising from stagnant urine lying upon the 

 uneven pavement, as weW as from accumulated 

 heaps of fermenting litter, and he must be con- 

 vinced that it is a jilace as noxious to health as the 

 cobwebbed rafters, the unwhitewashed walls, and 

 the confusion of the harness and utensils, show it 

 to he devoid of neatness and order, Let him ex- 

 amine the horses, and he will find that, although 

 perhaps sleek from good feeding, their coats are 

 foul and their heels greasy. Instead of exhibiting 

 the ejirightly appearance indicated by animals that 

 have been comfortably bedded, their heavy eyes 

 and sluggish appearance distinct!}^ mark the state 

 of the stable they have quitted. But though this 

 description is strictly apjjlicalile to many stables, it 

 must yet be admitted that those on most farms of 

 magnitude wear a very difierent appearance. 

 A stable for fiirm-horses need not be trigged out 



