LOCUSTS IN ALGERIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2276, 9 November 1889, Page 2

LOCUSTS IN ALGERIA.

The United btatea Oomal at Marseilles, In a recent report, states that the Frenoh Government have taken up vigorounly tho destruction oa a v*at scale of loouita m Algeria, iv consequence of '.he eerifonn iujary tUey icfllotad on the oropn Is.sh ynar, wnau they descended ia myiltds oa the fields dnrlng Jano and Jaly. Tuo method employed id eicnilac to that la aiH m Gypran sluoa the British occupation. The apparatus coostdts of long pieces of cheap oot'-on olo^h, « yard In width, edged on ono aide with a atrip of oilcloth 6ln In wldttt, aod eaoh provided with strings by whloh it oan be fastened to wooden stakes.

When an tuvaaion of locusts Is annonnoed, trenabes are dag aoeoos tbetr line of approach ; the stakes are driven In line) on the side of the trenoh from whloh the approach Is expeoted, and the oloths hang vertically, forming » ourtaln 42in to 4A\a hlgb ( fitting closely to the ground with the oilcloth edge uppermost. Between these oartains, at Intervals of 200 cr 300 yards, open ep»ce« of aboat tiro yards la width are left. The maroh of the lnaeots Is In a solid phalanx, devouring everything eatable as they go. When they reach the cartalo they ollmb leadlly to the point where thdy eccoanter the oiloloth. On this they slip and fall, and after several futile attempts they try to dear the obctraatlon at a jump. Suoh ac succeed fall Into the trenoh on the further side, and fiudtng the ground barren of food usual y proceed no farther, 1 The great majority fall to jump over the oartalu and seek to circumvent it. They thus poor by myriads through the openings. At these points the dltoh is made deep and wide, snd the further aide oovered with iheets of smooth zlnoor tin, upoa whloh they are unable to ollmb. Thay are thus caught In masses, beaten to death with long wooiou paddles, and their bodies uiod,for feeding pigs or for manure. In bo me o*»t>3 the pigs are tamed into the trenches to k'U their own prey ; but m general tho work m done by the peasants, shod with large wooden aabott, with

which they srample the Ineeota to death.

Six thousand of these curtains and 100,000 oak stakes have been provided by

the Government for use m Algeria, aoldleia being detailed to aid the peasants In using them wh«" ocoaMon ariies.