HEAVY SCOURGE OF CRICKETS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 5

HEAVY SCOURGE OF CRICKETS.

I . IN NOETHERN.iWAIEOA.' \ ; . !■'■■' ■■ . ~~ —". \ ■■'.-' ■-' ■■■ (By , Telegraph.—Special .Correspondent.) '.■■•■■• Dargavillej March 9. During the past./week cricketsi have toeh swarming in the Northern'.Wairoa district in millions."';'The''6ldest residents, ■cannot remember , anything like it'.'ahd' the paddocks oh!the river flats, : instead of looking verdant after '.the 1 , recent, rains';! fare as.bare of grass as .it: is possibleto be. ' The. crickets, have .simply taken possession of :the land, and in some parts ■ the fields are black with' immense moving armies of these unpopular: hoppers. So serious has, the matter, become that farmers: have lost hundreds of pounds through the. devastation,:caused by the ravaging battalion,, and quite : a:number of dairy suppliers have .been;. obliged to dry off their herds and place -them; • in. .paddocks further.- back in : 'the' country where pasturage is! more plentiful. This •has absolutely' been necessary to save ;the stock from : dying' from"'.starvation. This visitation;is attributed, to the mild .winter of last year.' "What.is,really..required. is several days', heavy'rain, arid .a cold winter; • The chirp 'of the crickets would : not. then be so much: < heard as it is now. ■..; . . . ' ~. .1 In addition to the.loss of .the settlers on the land, .they have also had,to endure severe trials inside their "homes yhich have'been similarly- invaded.'.Clothing and' boots have' been simply riddled and placed beyond use. ■• '. , ~,' .'.-.■■■