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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [231v] (462/900)
The record is made up of 1 file (448 folios). It was created in 31 Aug 1942-18 May 1943. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Method 2(c)—(i) With oil-cloth
Oil-cloth strips, six inches wide, erected to form a continuous vertical
fence, will prevent young locust hoppers from escaping, but the oil-cloth
requires to be very carefully erected so that no hoppers can escape between
its lower edge and the ground. Stout tapes in pairs should be sewn at
six feet apart along the back of the oil-cloth strip. One of these will be
near the top edge and the other at one inch from the bottom edge. By
these tapes the oil-cloth will be tied to and supported by iron spikes of
round bar iron of one foot length. In fixing the oil-cloth to the stakes it is
essential that the bottom edge of the oil-cloth is lying on the ground, leaving
no space.
Method 2(c)—(ii) With metal sheets
Sheets of zinc, plain galvanized iron, or tin, cut in long strips of one foot
wide, serve as very efficient fencing. They have the disadvantage of being
heavier to transport and slower to erect than oil-cloth strips, but last better
and may be more easily obtainable locally. The metal sheets are erected
vertically in a continuous line and are maintained in position by iron spikes
in pairs in front of and behind the metal sheeting. The iron spikes, when
in position, must not reach to more than half the height of the metal sheeting
or they will afford a means of exit to the hoppers. The metal sheets must
everywhere be in close contact with the soil, and to ensure this it may be
necessary to dig a shallow groove, replacing the earth against the sheets
when in position.
Maintenance of King Trenches or King Fences
As the ring trenches may require to be dug expeditiously after the
location of breeding grounds, and may have to be in commission for a
considerable time, it will be necessary to provide patrols for repairing
damage caused by animals, and to see that the oil-cloth remains in posi
tion. One labourer will be able to look after a considerable length of trench
until the hoppers are on the move.
DESTRUCTION OF HOPPERS
Method 3.—Contact insecticides
Cheap kerosene oil is deadly to young locusts if it is brought into con
tact with the insect’s skin. It is, however, expensive to use as a general
method of control, and should generally be employed only to destroy
accumulations of hoppers in trenches or pits which may require to be emp
tied for further use. Economy in its use may be effected by mixing the
kerosene oil with soap.
About this item
- Content
Correspondence, reports and other papers relating to efforts, undertaken by representatives of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit (MEALU), to control desert locusts (first reported in western India in August 1942 (f 3)) along the Arab coast between Bahrain and Oman. The principal correspondents include: the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain (Edward Birkbeck Wakefield); the Chief Locust Officer (Reginald Charles Maxwell-Darling) and Locust Officer (Leslie Desmond Edward Foster Vesey-Fitzgerald) of MEALU, who arrived in Bahrain to carry out their work in October 1942; the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel H T Hewitt); representatives of the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC); and representatives of the Bahrain shipping agent Gray, Mackenzie & Company.
The file includes:
- reports from Maxwell-Darling and Vesey-Fitzgerald, as well as from numerous other British officials from across the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. region, including the British Minister at Tehran, Sir Reader William Bullard, on locust observations. The observations include estimations of the size of swarms, movement and direction of insects, age and colour of animals;
- correspondence relating to arrangements for the shipment of locust poison bait from the Sudan Government in Khartoum, to Bahrain;
- correspondence relating to the arrangements of facilities for the MEALU team on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , chiefly arrangements for suitable vehicles (arranged with the assistance of CASOC and the Defence Officer for the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), experienced drivers and motor mechanics, finances, and rations;
- papers issued by MEALU, including instructions on reporting locust swarms (ff 136-137), and notes on locust campaigns in sparsely inhabited countries (ff 194-195, ff 385-386);
- a copy of a booklet entitled Methods of Locust Control , produced by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research and published by the Government of India Press, Calcutta [Kolkota], 1941 (ff 226-236);
- a reprint of an academic journal article entitled Some results of studies of the Desert Locust (Schistocerca Gregaria, Forsk.) in India , by Rao Bahadur Y Ramchandra Rao (ff 266-278). The article is a reprint from the Bulletin of Entomological Research , volume 33, part 3, published December 1942;
- some papers relating to anti-locust activities in southern Iran.
The file contains a single letter in Arabic, a letter to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. from the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī (f 334).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (448 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 424-449) mirror the chronological arrangement.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 450; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 2-423; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [231v] (462/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x00003f> [accessed 18 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/1544
- Title
- ‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’
- Pages
- 226r:236v
- Author
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Copyright
- ©Indian Council of Agricultural Research
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Non-Commercial Licence