THE AGBTCULTURAL JOURNAL. 



265 



Correspondence, 



To the Editor Agricultural Journal. 



SOAP SOLUTION ON LOCTTSTS. 



SIR, — The mealie season is now at an 

 end, and fortunatel)^ very little, if 

 any, damage has been done by locusts. 

 Still locusts have been about. On my 

 place at the end of March several fair- 

 sized lots of young locusts had made their 

 appearance, evidently on mischief bent, 

 but luckily for me I am a subscriber and 

 reader of the "Agricultural Journal," so 

 was enabled to avail myself of the latest 

 thing in the way of destroying the foot- 

 gangers. 



In previous years I have used fungus 

 and the arsenic mixture. The tirst 

 needs damp weather to be anyway success- 

 ful, and the second is rather a nasty ar- 

 ticle to have about, for there is always 

 a certain amount of danger in connection 

 with poison, however careful one may 

 be, and then there is the great objection, 

 the arsenic mixture cannot be used on the 

 young locusts when once they are in the 

 mealies. The arsenic kills the mealies 

 beyond redemption, so the remedy is very 

 possibly worse than the disease. 



In number I., Vol. IV. of the "Agri- 

 cultural Journal" you pi;blished an ac- 

 coimt of the experiments of Mr. Stock In- 

 spector Eobbins, on the use of a Soap 

 Solution on youno- locusts. I tried the 

 solution and found it most effective. The 

 locusts were very near the fields of 

 mealies, but they never got to the crops — 

 the soap was too much for them. Some 

 of the solution was sjrringed on the 

 mealies by way of experiment, and no 

 damage resulted whatever. I beg to 

 thank Mr. Robbins for having the 

 thought to experiment in the direction 

 of finding something harmless to mealies, 

 but particularly bad for the locusts, and 

 thanks are due to you for the clear and 

 lucid account you gave your readers of 

 the use of the solution and its results. 

 Yours faithfully, 



F. Smallte, 



HOW TO IMPROVE THE 

 "JOURNAL." 



Sir, — The recent discussion in Parlia- 

 ment on the "Agricultural Journal," 

 and the slighting remarks made thereon 

 by certain of our wise men leads me to 

 make the suggestion that farmers should 

 give their views in the "Journal" itself 

 as to how it can be improved and made 

 more attractive to themselves. As a 

 regular reader of the "Journal" I beg to 

 make a suggestion or two, which I hope 

 will be received in the same spirit in 

 which they are given. My object is solely 

 to help to make the "Journal" a greater 

 success than it has hitherto been. 



1. Taking the "Journal" as it is at 

 present, the subject-matter is undoubtedly 

 good as far as it goes. The articles by 

 the Principal Veterinary Surgeon on dis- 

 eases of stock are valuable and above 

 criticism, while the interviews by "Er- 

 gates" are perhaps the most interesting 

 features of the whole paper. These ar- 

 ticles should certainly be continued, and 

 "Ergates" may rest assured that they are 

 highly appreciated. Just a word in pas- 

 sing to "Ergates." As a young beginner, 

 only just getting a foothold on the ladder 

 which leads to success, I should be glad 

 to see something more said about the im- 

 plements used by the principal farmers. 

 These men have, doubtless, tried, and 

 perhaps thrown aside, a good many of the 

 implements which I, in my ignorance, 

 might be tempted to buy, while a word or 

 two from the men who have tried them 

 might be the means of saving me and 

 others a few pounds which we can ill 

 spare. The varieties of implements on 

 sale, English, American and German, are 

 so numerous, that without a practical 

 trial of them it is almost impossible to 

 select the right one. 



2. Comparisons were made between the 



and our own, very much to 



the disadvantage of the latter. As a 



