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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [‎230v] (460/900)

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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. .

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8
Appendix
DETAILS OF CONTROL METHODS
DESTRUCTION OF FLYING LOCUSTS
Method 1(a).—Burning
Flying locusts densely congregated on dry herbage at night.—Set
fire to dry herbage, bushes, useless hedges, etc. If these are not suffi
ciently dry to fire readily, sprinkle first with mineral oil which will facilitate
the operation. This method is advisable only on cold nights with a tem
perature not exceeding 65°F.
Flying locusts densely congregated on green bushes, trees and
hedges. —-Where a trained staff equipped with flame-throwers is available
they can be used to advantage to destroy locusts which have settled on
green bushes, hedges and trees which cannot be set fire to. Flame-throwers
should be operated in the early morning but not at night. A flame-thrower
consists of a pressure chamber of the knapsack sprayer type containing the
fuel, which may be a mixture of crude mineral oil and kerosene oil, or
crude mineral oil and petrol. The fuel is ejected under pressure through a
flexible metal pipe continued into a metal tube with a fine jet. A special
form of vapourizer is necessary to ensure the projection of an effective flame.
This method should only be used under skilled supervision with approved
apparatus. (See illustrations on page 7.)
This method is applicable to adult locusts settled for resting, irrespective
of the temperature. It is also applicable to swarms which are in the act of
pairing or of egg-laying.
OPERATIONS AGAINST AREAS IN WHICH EGGS HAVE BEEN
the breeding area by surrounding it completely with a trench or a raised
barrier which the young locusts will not be able to cross. Very large breeding
grounds will require to be divided by cross trenches. No definite spacing
can be laid down and the position and number of cross trenches must be
left to the judgment of the officer-in-charge of the operations. It is sug
gested that they should never be more than one mile apart—preferably
much closer. Their layout will take into consideration patches of jungle
or cultivated areas within the ring-trenched area which might provide
sufficient food to maintain the hoppers throughout their development.
Method 1(b).—Flame-throwers
LAID
Method 2.—Ringing of breeding grounds
Determine the outer limits of the breeding ground and mark them out
and make effective arrangements to prevent emerging hoppers from leaving

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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
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‘File 16/37A-I Anti-Locust Measures’ [‎230v] (460/900), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1544, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034852387.0x00003d> [accessed 1 May 2024]

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