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PEST DESTRUCTION
The service provided by the Health Department enables residents in the
Borough to obtain advice as to the identification and method of eradication
of a wide variety of insect pests. The British Museum (Natural History Section)
are always willing to assist in the identification of unusual specimens, and I am
most grateful to them for their assistance.
An interesting experiment in the use of Dieldrin, a modern insecticide
was carried out near Crane Park at Whitton. Complaints were received from
a block of houses about an infestation of crickets. These insects were found
on a disused tip adjoining the back gardens, and in the houses themselves.
Evidence was found that the crickets were breeding in the tip, and the Borough
Surveyor promised his full co-operation and assistance in dealing with the
trouble.
All the householders were interviewed and advised to lay protective
barriers of Gammexane powder near doors and french windows to prevent
access to the insects. Shell Chemicals agreed to carry out experimental work on
the tip with Dieldrin. This insecticide had been used with success against the
desert locust and nearer home against the beach fly, but had not to my
knowledge been previously used against the house cricket.
A portion of the tip about 120 yards long and 25 yards deep was prepared
for treatment. The Borough Surveyor had the weeds on the tip cut down and
gave us the use of his Ferguson low volume sprayer, which is normally used for
spraying weed killer. The strip of land was then completely covered with the
solution of insecticide. This one application proved completely successful and
no more crickets have been seen or heard in this area.
The normal work of the department connected with rodent destruction
continued during the year, and the sewers were again treated during the months
of January and September.
Twenty-one premises were treated against bugs and in one case person
and premises were disinfested for body lice. In all cases complete clearance
was effective.
KEEPING THE BOROUGH CLEAN
I am obliged to A. S. Knolles, Esq., B.Sc., M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mun.E.,
Chartered C.E., the Borough Surveyor, for the following report about drainage,
sewerage, public cleansing and refuse disposal:—
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