AUSTRALIAN PLAGUE.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1917, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN PLAGUE.

BRED IN STACKED WffltAti Vjj . The latest reports indicate thit : fIM '■'', plague of mice in the wheat district* ot'y, Australia continues a grave source of/ 1 ! destruction.' The Sydney Moming Heraldh"] states that there are millions of mice in - the-Riverina, and on thai sooth-western '; slopes. In Victoria and South Australia f, ] the conditions are, if anything, worse ,''j! than in New South Wales, and thr,J Government of South Australia has of- .1 fered a reward to anybody who will fltid i; a remedy—something that will WU theiji '■ =j without "damaging the wheat TttflfeHeta.Vjj who have to'come to' Sydney froni fh*, s, country say that the position,that* UK most serious. The mice are now attacks .! ing the outside of the stacks and the' ■} latter are threatening to fall. Originally the pest kept well inside the stacks, bm- * now, either through pressure or because; \ the inside is getting unhealthy, they ■» | coming outside, and when they out the; jj outside tiers of bags the stack tt uusift. ;,!jj The plague is showing itself inSydae* < A i»nd is increasing alarmingly from day TO 3 day. For some time past trucks bearing 'j* produce from tho whoat-Growtas; di»- (| tricts have been bringing hundreds of -$ mice daily; At the Alexandria goodi ;jg yard it was found that several vvm Ja loads of chaff were infested with tVaigg pest, with the result that from flaw* »,j*s lOcwt of the produce were lost through a J damaged bags. In one caea hunfirads, ot .■ ,<i mice had died in a truck, while !nmdr«4«V|j of others escaped. As the yiolnlty. Vm thickly populated, it is possible that web m the mice Bpread they will be hard feM eradicate. ' • M Owing to the lack of •Mppbfr W*§tfl great quantifies of bagged whaat'htvf || been stored in stacks at railway ltatSoßsf.<|| Some of the stacks have been for over a year. According to a reesnT v 'J return there were still over lft uoo >°SJ ; a sacks of wheat at country stations W.lj New Soutn Wales, and nearly *»-*-•■> .iSj sacks in Sydney. There is lrtUe douSM! that the field mice entered into poises»mV|| in autumn or early winter of XM, «*tM causo the stacks gave them at «*Mig| place where a living was to be obtained, and at the same time "n* o ™^.J| a secure home. Moreov.v, in the midwdi of tho stacks there was warmth, and tW«j roofs over the tops kept out the **V-,f'j During last harvest they did not teHHtt*f« far from their home, because of W-m rains, but when the weather became,"Vial and warm, some of the mice emigrated. ;|| to the fields! They are spreading •<** , jfli the country like a flood, and causing! damage and annoyance incalculable. . :M