THE NATURAL ENEMY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXI, Issue 10272, 14 February 1894, Page 4

THE NATURAL ENEMY.

That leviathan steamship, the Gothic, has just brought on her first trip to this colony a trifling consign-

ment which may prove of greater significance, judged by results, than all the reat of her cargo put together. This is a supply of a parasitic insect known aa Ssmiotellus Nigripes, whose claim to distinction is that it is said to be “the natural enemy ” of the Hessian fly. There can be no doubt that the Hessian fly i‘a a terrible pest. Its ravages in the wheat fields, more especially in the North Island, have exasperated farmers almost beyond the limit of endurance. No person is more dependent upon Providence for his living than the farmer is; but when small birds and insects devour the ripening grain, and what promised to be a splendid harvest is for the most part lost, the farmer is apt to lose faith in a bountiful Providence. But Providence is nob unmindful of the highest good of the heat elements in creation. Thera is for every natural past the natural enemy. The “ small boy ” is so far the best remedy discovered for the “ small birds ” pest, and it is to be hoped that the Semiotellus Nigripes (we would it had a more pronounceable name) may prove effective with the Hessian fly. If this parasite with the formidable title should do its work aa expected, and should not develop some special form of “ contrariness” on its own account, this consignment will mark the beginning of better times for the afflicted farmers. This Is but au instalment of more to follow, and although the present lot is to be sent to Otago and Wairarapa, we may hope to have some of the next consignment distributed among the Canterbury grain growers, if only sa a precaution against the arrival of the peat. On the whole, however, there may be nothing lost if we have to wait for the result of the experiment in other parts of the colony. We have seen how the natural enemies of the rabbits have themselves become pests, and have totally failed to do the work which Nature, or rather certain interpreters of her mysteries, declared they were specially created to perform. Batter results may be obtained from the Semiotellus Nigripes, but it is well to be suspicious of all enemies—natural ones not excepted.

Tha frequent occurrence of fires on board frozen meat steamers is naturally cansing uneasiness which may.

IN PBBIL ON the sea.

is no long time, develop into alarm. Quite apart from tba injury these frequent fires must do to the frozen moat industry in raising freights and insurance rates, they are certain to render the seagoing portion of the public more or less uncomfortable. About many of these fires there is a good deal of mystery, but as the majority occur on frozen meat steamers, it is not unreasonable to assume that charcoal insulation, with its dangerous tendency to epontaneoua combustion, is at the, bottom of the trouble. We are, therefore, glkd to learn that a substitute for charcoal has been discovered in pumice. This hitherto useless product of the North Island has been found to possess, when properly prepared, qualities which place it at the head of all known insulators for cleanliness, lightness and freedom from fungi, germs and microbes. But its chief advantage is the all-import-ant one of being absolutely incombustible. We welcome this discovery as a great benefit to the frozen meat industry, and an invaluable safeguard to the travelling public. It should become a potent agent in lessening the most terrible peril of the sea.

There is much to “ give pause ” to the English Government and people in

TORPEDO -.VABI'ABE.

the announcement that the French naval authorities have ordered the

building of nineteen new torpedo-boats,' The French make no secret of their intention in the construction of these destructive engines. They realise the importance of the torpedo boat in naval warfare, and have resolved that in the event of a conflict with England the torpedo-boat shall be largely, if not exclusively, the means employed for offensive purposes in the English Channel. They have constructed a large number of torpedo-boat stations on the plan of having an inland basin as the shelter for the boats, and a' narrow exit giving admission from the basin to the sea. Issuing out at night-time from these* there is no fear lest they should not, as long as commerce is maintained in the Channel, find plenty of English ships 6|* which to work their will. Of Fsen<m ehips they will find none. It will be UO loss to Franco to withdraw for the time the small number of her merchantmen. The French men-of-war, as fast as they have been built at Cherbourg or Brest, have been withdrawn to strengthen the Mediterranean Squadron of France, which now outnumbers that of England, It has been pointed out by Admiral Colomb that, terribly effective as a torpedo-boat is as an engine of warfare, it has one very serious disadvantage. Working, as ib necessarily does, at night, there is great danger lest, when it issues out from a port, it shall in the darkness mistake friend for foe. Clearly, however, if the crowd in the Channel be a purely, or almost purely, English crowd, especially if French warships and French merchantmen are sent out of the Channel in time of war, there will be no such risk in the action of a French torpedo - boat. To provide against the possible contingency of having the Channel practically closed to, com, merce in war time, the English Govern* ment has ordered the construction of a number of “torpedo-destroyers.” Thera is just a suggestion of the "natural enemy” about the idea of torpedo-des* troyers, with the possibility that the natural enemy may develop ecoentrio tendencies and destroy what it was intended to protect. It is evident, however, that torpedoes are destined to play an important part in the naval warfare of the future—a future that may indeed be very near.