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Show OLD AND NEW IN FIGHT ON LOCUSTS And, Strangely, Both Metliods Proved Effective. The ancient and Hie modern continue con-tinue to flourish side by side in Fast Africa, but perhaps no more striking example of that platitudinous observation obser-vation was ever given than two incidents in-cidents in Kenya recently. A few days ago the manager of a large sugar estate near Nairobi rushed into town late in the afternoon after-noon and informed the directors that a vast swarm of locusts had settled In the sugar cane. Thousands of pounds were at Stake. Two directors made a quick, desperate des-perate decision. Idealizing the only hope was to disturb the s.wariu they hired a three-engined airplane and hurried in it to the estate. The machine passed low over the cane, but there was not a single sign of locusts. Turning they flew a few feet from the ground with all three engines roaring. Suddenly the locusts rose in a dense cloud. The machine shot into the sky and maneuvered over the swarm, which slowly moved to a swamp a few miles away and the cane was saved. But listen 1 A farmer in the Hoeys Bridge district, Kenya, who by desperate des-perate efforts had managed to save his maize during the past weeks, while all the crops around him had been cleaned up, was in despair when he saw a large swarm approaching. ap-proaching. Having done everything he could he finally remembered that one of his nativ employees was suspected of being a witch-doctor. He invoked tins man's help. The wizard, an elderly native clad in skins, and wearing the usual charms associated with the craft, pulled a maize stalk from the center of the healthiest part of the crop and slowly slow-ly walked round and through the maize, using the stalk as a wand and muttering. , The swarm descended and the farmer cursed the witchdoctor, but the latter said "Wait and see." The fact is that the swarm destroyed de-stroyed a small patch of inferior maize but left the large area of healthy crop untouched. The government, of course, does not adopt either method. Its experts ex-perts put poisoned bran bait on the ground, knowing that the greedy millions of young insects will feed on it and die. Montreal Family Herald. |