THE CATERPILLAR PEST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 10

THE CATERPILLAR PEST.

(FaoM Oub Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCKURCH, January 15. The caterpillar pest is still the subject of interest and concern in North Canterbury. The plague (remarks the Lyttelton Times) was first reported from the Cheviot district, but there does not seem to be ground for -suggesting that the insects travelled to the other parts of North Canterbury. The caterpillars certainly oannot cross a river, though the evidence goes to show that if they meet with running water on their forward march they plunge in. They are washed away and drowned in such a case, and they could not have croesed euch a river as the Hurunui. No doubt tbe conditions that produced the caterpillars in unpleasantly large numbers in Cheviot also operated in other districts. Cheviot suffered pretty severely. Though a good deal of the grain is now in stook or in stack, almost every settlerhas complaint to make regarding the depredations of the caterpillars. Some have lost oats, some grass 6€edi, and some wheat, though this in smaller quantities. Some of the oat crops have suffered to the extent of fully 10 bushels an acre, and iv quite a number of paddocks almost every head of grass has been eaten off. Considerable areas of oats and wheat have been cut before they were fujly ripe in order to escape the pest, but it ha 3 been found that the caterpillars will even attack the cornstalks in stook. The reporter found a general feeling among the farmers that they bad been a little too hard on tha birds. Mr J. F. Whitcombe, railway traffic

manager in "Christckurch, states that he has a clear lecollection of the visitation of caterpillars in the Wanganui district about 30 years ago. On two occasions tiaios were "stuck up" by the caterpillars for about 15 minutes. The insects were present in millions, and they marched on through the district devouring everything as they went like a ravaging aimy. The only effective remedy was to drive mobs of sheep over them, and have them trampled to death. For several days after the visitation, parts of the affected districts were undesirable places on account of the smell that arose from the dead bodies of the insects.