46 Indian Museum Notes. '_ Vol, III* 



*' 20th May 188H. — For some time past the locusts have (while not diminishing in 

 uumbers outside) been invading the town, spoiling gardens, and entering the houses, 

 where they have proved equally annoying to the inmates and destructive to household 

 fittings. 



" Tith June 1886. — The locusts have now quite disappeared. The general belief 

 is that, having laid their eggs, they have died, but it is noteworthy that no dead 

 locusts are ever seen on the ground. This suggests the possibility of their having set 

 off to new pastures, though it would be difficult for them to do so and escape 

 observation. 



"11th April 1891. — Locusts have now appeared— not from the skies, which is 

 hardly ever the way of it in Irak, but from the ground, where their spawn has been 

 buried, and myriads of them are now preying on the half-grown wheat and barley. 



" 29th April 1891.— The notable feature of the week is the rise of 40 percent, in the 

 price of wheat, owing to the extensive losses inflicted by the locusts in all the country 

 round Baghdad." 



A very complete and interesting series of reports by Mr. G. F. Playfair, 



on the results of experiments conducted in 

 Sulphur versus red spider. n i .1.1 i • e ,i , , 



Lachar upon the subject or the sulphur treat- 

 ment for red spider, have been furnished by Messrs. Barry & Co. Five 

 tons of refined flowers of sulphur were sent up to the garden for applica- 

 tion as a remedy against red spider (Tetranychus bioculatus W.M.), which 

 is one of the tea planters' most inveterate enemies. The sulphur was 

 applied over an area of 13S acres, and the results appear to be so success- 

 ful that the treatment seems likely to prove of the very greatest value. 



The method adopted was to put the sulphur into bags made of loose 

 woven cloth and sprinkle the tea bushes by simply shaking these bags 

 over them. In some cases the bushes were first splashed with water, 

 but in localities where water was not easily obtainable the sulphur was 

 applied without any previous watering. The sulphur was found to 

 adhere fairly well, even on dry bushes, in spite of the high wind which 

 blew both at the time that the sulphuring was going on and afterwards. 

 The average cost of the treatment has been estimated by Mr. Playfair at 

 H8-4 per acre, including the price and freight of the sulphur and the 

 cost of application. The sulphur was applied in the first instance at the 

 rate of one hundredweight to the acre, but a large area was afterwards 

 sulphured at the rate of two hundredweight to three acres, and an 

 experiment was made over eleven acres of sprinkling a mixture of one 

 part of sulphur with two parts of sifted lime. The last application does 

 not appear to have been so successful as the undiluted sulphur. Besides 

 destroying the red spider most effectively, Mr. Playfair is of opinion 

 that the sulphur treatment is also useful against the mosquito blight 

 {Helopeltes theiovora Moore), which is perhaps an even more destructive 

 pest than red spider. Upon this point it will be useful to make further 

 observations, as mites (such as red spider) are the only pest against which 



