42 Indian Museum Kotos. [ y |. I[J 



Nubarieh canal. Thin iron sheets took the place of canvas, and if it were not for the 

 greater initial cost and heavier weight, this system is much superior to the Cyprus plan. 

 " Locusts may also be gathered by the hand for two hours in the early moraine 

 and for an hour after sunset. This semi-dormant condition might in future be taken 

 greater advantage of, by gathering many of them before they deposit their ecus. 

 Government did offer two piastres per oke for locusts, but the people did not seem to 

 realise that they would be paid until most of tbe eg^s were deposited. Two piastres 

 an oke is a sufficient price to pay ; and in future it would be well for the Moodeers to 

 order out the people at once, whether they wish to come or not, and pav them for the 

 quantity of locusts gathered at the end of the day. A few days delay may he fatal to 

 the success of this method. The collecting of eggs was a failure. Two piastres per 

 oke was likewise offered for eggs, but the impossibility of gathering them was soon 

 apparent ; the eggs were imbedded in the ground, and the digging of them up had the 

 effect only of distributing them with the soil, which, moreover, in nowise affected 

 their fertility. Only the eggs that were exposed on the surface of the soil were 

 destroyed by the sun scorching them up. I experimented with locusts' eggs as to the 

 depth at which the young locust could come up through the soil if the eggs were buried 

 without the exit hole natuially left by tbe female locust. I found that at a depth of 

 ten. centimetres, all found their way to the surface ; at twelve centimetres, about half 

 came up ; at fifteen centimetres, none of them came through. 



" If the land was unoccupied, as it generally was not, ploughing wouid have the 

 effect of destroying some of the eggs, either by burying or by exposing them on the 

 surface. No satisfactory means was found of destroying the eggs. 



"Small passing flights of locusts are frequently heard of in some parts of Egvpt 

 but give no great cause for alarm ; they have lately been reported at Suakim and at 

 Wady Haifa. 



" Forty years ago the locusts stayed and bred in the country in great numbers, and 

 were exterminated by the people in much the same manner as this year. In the 

 present year, practically no damage was done to the crops. Where the leaves were 

 eaten off the young cotton plants, they sprouted again almost immediately, and became 

 bigger trees than they would have been, but bearing a smaller amount of cotton." 



(iii) The Consular report for tbe year 1890, on the agriculture of 

 Algeria, by Consul General Playfair, published as No. 854 of Her 

 Majesty's Foreign Office in London; also a letter, dated 30th October 

 1891, by Mr. Playfair, forwarded through tbe Government of India; and 

 an account which appeared in tbe Daily Telegraph. 



In the middle of December 1890 flights of Acndium peregrinum 

 from the south-west were noticed in several cases in tbe extreme south 

 of Algeria. On 19th March 1891 again Mr. Playfair wrote— " The 

 crickets are appearing in various parts of the colony, but especially in 

 the department of Oran,and the Prefects are busy organising means of 

 defence. The Governor- General lias made an urgent appeal for a sup- 

 plementary credit of 500,000 francs for each department. The admin- 

 istration seems to be doing all that is humanly possible, but so widespread 

 is the evil that it is doubtful whether they will be able to cope with it." 

 On 30th October 1891, however, Mr. Playfair wrote that the result of the 

 campaign waged against the locusts had been sosucessful that but little 

 injury had been done to the crops. 



