The St. Johns herald., 1892-06-30
A PLAGUE THREE FEET DEEP.
The Terrible Eavages of Locusts in Aus
 tralia.


 tralia.
 Tn order to check, if possible, the an nual plague of locusts that devours tho herbage and blasts the hopes of graz iers. farmers and fruitgrowers to 2 greater or less extent in December, the government of Victoria, Australia, pro- claimed November and s holidays for scholars and shoolmasters in the rural districts, in order. that they might co- operate win the settlers in destroyinG the young locusts in the early stage cI their development before they have been equipped with wings, cnablic them to take flight over the cou-. try to begin their work of devastatiO-
 With this end in view preparatio- were made in numerous parts of the terior to destroy the pest in vario- ways, such as by beating with branch the beds in the fields where the as y wiagless creatures were known to cxis; or in narrowing the ground, or turnir foclzs of sheep upon the land, and als by spreading straw over the plague spc and setting fire to it. In such Way vast destruction was done to the arraie of the young locusts in the early stag of their existence.
 It was seen, however, says the GlaS gow Herald, that the raid upon the vcl min should have been made sornewhe earlier, as numbers were already so fal advanced as to be on the wing on thei mission of mischief; and, besides, t. attack on them was not so general made as was desirable in some districts of Victoria, while north of the Murray comparatively little effort was put fort to cope with the evil, owing to the fac that on the New South Wales an South Australian side of the MurraJ the bulk of the land is taken up wit large squatting runs, and population sparse there, thus giving the ravagin. locusts almost complete scope to prop agate.
 People here can hardly conceive hoy serious the locust plague is in thel colonies. Recently the reports cam that these creatures massed themselvC so thiclzly along some of the lines C railways that, although the brallc were shut down, the trains could not brought to stand until they had gor half a mile beyond the stations, owin. to the multitudes crushed beneath u. wheels, causing the trains to pass abr as if the rails were covered with oil The wheels actually slid along the rails In many of the northern towns the in habitants had to close their doors t, keep out the invading hosts. The plague has now fairly begun work. In th> southern parts of New South Vale. and some of the northern portions 0. Victoria the outlook is ominous.
 In and around Barnawatha, Victoria the insects are spreading in swarms ant causing great destruction. A residen of that district reports that in travers ing that part of the country in b2lzgg- the wheels of his vehicle were com pletely imbedded in masses of youn. caterpillars and grasshQppers, which e many extensive areas ''covered th. whole surface to depth of about fou inches, like a gigantic and undulatinl coat of green paint"
 Where the country presented any de pression it was found impossible to pas. with buggy, and in several favorabl; localities, such as low-lying lands, etc. the insects were surging about masses some two or three feet deoT The ground in their wake is quite Gc@t tute of grass. Such are some cf th. breeding grounds from which the fulll developed creatures take flight to vast, and doStrOv other. 11oTtc of tho oOT1u+ I-1r