130 Indian Museum Nofes. [Vol. IL 



The following instructions were issued on June J 7th last, by Mr. 

 Paul Bouide, the Director o£ Agriculture in Tunis, for guidance in the 

 use of screens : — 



"Care should be taken to place tie pickets at distances of three yards apart. If 

 Instructions of the Director of the cloth is well stretched the screen serves its pur- 

 Agrieulture. pose, but if badly stretched, it is useless. 



" Many persons are under the impression that a screen should be fixed with pickets 

 1| metres apart. This is an error. There is no necessity for doubling the pickets when 

 the screen is provided with a cord, which keeps it more taut than additional pickets. 



" The trenches should be dug at reasonable distances and when they are bordered 

 with plates of zinc, the young locusts that enter the traps are unable to escape. 



" The lower edges of the screen should be covered with earth so as to avoid any 

 crerices between the cloth and the ground. But the earth should be placed on the 

 front part of the screen. When placed behind the cloth, it is apt to draw on the 

 picket tapes and give way. It is very important for the preservation of the screens to 

 follow these rules. 



" The dust which inevitably collects on the screens is an assistance to the locusfs 

 in scaling the oil-cloth. It is, therefore, necessarj' to damp the oil-cloth on the screens, 

 at least twice a day, with a rag soaked in oil. The chiefs of sections will observe 

 carefully these precautions and see that every gang is provided with a bottle of oil. 



"All the etficacy of the screen lies in the band of oil-cloth, which should always 

 be stretched vertically and kept smooth and slippery. 



" The chiefs of sections will organise their squads with the greatest care and assign 

 to each person a definite duty. 



" A few men thoroughly acquainted with their duties will perform more useful 

 work than large disorganised bands. 



" Four men are sufficient for fixing the screen — six at the most. A larger number 

 of hands is unnecessary and only impedes the work. 



" After unfolding the screen, two men measure the distances and fix the pickets ; 

 a third attaches the cord to the heads of the pickets ; a fourth ties the tapes to the 

 pickets and cords ; a fifth collects the earth ; and a sixth applies it to the screens. 



" The same man should, if possible, always be employed for the same work. Great 

 altention should be paid to the screens. 



" Tlie 3'oung locusts arriving in swarms are so numerous that the slightest ilaw in 

 the cloth, a picket wrongly pitched at the juncture of the screens, a tape hanging 

 over the oil-cloth, a crease in the material of the screen, forms a passage for tlie 

 locusts. 



" The chief of the section will always inspect personally the line of screens to 

 assure himself that all is in proper order. 



" The natives that are impressed must be divided into gangs often or twelve. Tht>y 

 render good service if employed on simple labour, and treated with patience and for- 

 bearance. 



"The chiefs of sections will remind landowners, and especially proprietors of 

 vineyards and gardens where the cultivation is most precious, that they are particu- 

 larly requested to guaid their own boundaries. Ko vigilance can equal that of persons 

 individually interested. With ])roper reconnaissances time is afforded to organise the 

 defence. These reconnaissances are indispensable in busby districts. 



