| Show n Serious hopper j infestation Threat To All AU Of Sanpete INFESTED AREAS EXTEND FROM I CHESTER TO MANTI 1 MOSTLY 1 IN BOTTOM LANDS AND ON WEST VEST SIDE In what is described as the most serious grasshopper threat ever to hit Sanpete countless counties millions of the tiny insects are h hatching and are on the move in various parts of the valle valley from Chester to Manti ManU Also hordes of Mormon crickets crickets crickets crick crick- ets have appeared on the dry farms northwest of Fountain Green and are joining the more common variety of grasshoppers in devouring the dryland alfalfa and grain in that area A vigorous poisoning campaign is being pressed but work is hampered by the fact that of seven bait spreaders owned by bythe bythe bythe the county and which were available available available a- a last year only two are arenow arenow arenow now on hand the others having mysteriously disappeared Ground Is s Black lack Sheldon Larsen Larson of Ephraim chairman of the Sanpete County Grasshopper Committee states that in the opinion of many this is the worst infestation of hoppers the county has ever had They are scattered in patches all over the pastures and the Cow Bottoms and in inmany inmany inmany many areas the ground is black with the millions and millions of tiny crawling hopping devouring de devouring devouring de- de insects It will be only a matter of days he he says until some of them start to fly and then they will be scattered beyond hope of successfully poisoning them The destruction they can cause to crops with the resultant damage damage damage dam dam- age to the county's economy is inest inestimable mable he states Must lust Act NOW V The time to cat is NOW NOV Mr Larsen stresses Find and poison poison poison poi poi- son the pests while they are Continued on page 5 SERIOUS GRASSHOPPER INFESTATION THREAT TO ALL SANPETE Continued from page 1 still on or near the hatching grounds he urges In this he states the cooperation of all citizens is needed Its everybody's everybody's everybody's every every- body's problem he asserts not just that of the landowners al although although although al- al though these should be especially especially especially espe espe- alert in locating the pests and seeing that poisoned bait baitis is scattered at once Bait Is Free The mixture of poisoned bran branand branand branand and sawdust is furnished free freeby freeby freeby by the county and is being mixed mixed mixed mix mix- ed and distributed by Neal Benson Benson Benson Ben Ben- son of Ephraim who has up to now also done much of the actual scattering of the poison Mr VIr Larsen hopes however that hat landowners business and professional people and everyone everyone everyone every every- one in the county will become so alarmed and that there will willbe be such a great demand for the bait that Mr 11 Benson will be kept busy mixing the poison and others will be kept busy spreading it It can be spread best by the machines of course but smaller and scattered patches can be bevery bevery bevery very well baited by hand Make l Call for Bait An urgent call for 60 sacks of the he poison mash was received by jy Mr Larsen Monday morning from the of Manti lanti they reporting that 60 acres of their land and was badly infested It was arranged to have this entire area baited that same day A truck and spreader and many sacks of mash also went to Green Monday to help in the fight a against g a i ins n s t the Mormon crickets there Must lust Be Located While most of the heavily infested infested in- in ested areas are known the adult hoppers were so widely diffused last year that hatching grounds are appearing in many places even right against and in the cultivated fields ields These more or less isolated isolated iso- iso patches so near to the gardens and cultivated fields must be found and baited at once to avoid catastrophe to crops and gardens Mr Larsen states tales It is therefore necessary that hat all pasture lands ditch banks etc be inspected thoroughly thoroughly thoroughly thor thor- and frequently to find the hoppers and destroy them I The public can help greatly in finding the infested areas also in spreading the bait Mr Larsen states When a heavily infested area or a hatching place is located it should be marked marked by sticks stu stuck k in the ground and with a white or bright colored colored colored col col- ored cloth attached to the top The longer the sticks the better so they can be easily seen Bait should then be at once and scattered by machine machine machine ma ma- chine if possible but if no machine machine machine ma ma- chine is available it should be scattered by hand by anyone willing to cooperate It doesn't take much of the stuff a sack to the acre when a machine is used Continue to Hatch Some splendid results l have ave been reported Not a live hopper hopper hopper hop per has been seen in some baited baited baited bait bait- ed areas a few days after very heavy infestations were treated with the poisoned mash But Mr 11 Larsen says you get one crop killed only to find finda a new hatching in the same area with another horde of the insects moving in The hatching hatching hatching hatch hatch- ing is a continuous process as the ground drys and warms It Itcan Itcan Itcan can be expected to continue for several weeks especially if there is no rain to keep the bottom bottomlands bottomlands bottomlands lands moist he states slates So Mr Larsen and the members members members mem mem- bers of his committee shout an urgent HELP to everyone in inthe inthe inthe the county stressing again that the cooperation of all is needed if this serious serious' threat is to be met successfully |
