Show MEASURES TO CONTROL grasshopper PEST vve I 1 i rdo r DO ez 4 00 grasshoppers feeding on polson poison note that this Is not the way to spread the bait Tre prepared pared by the tha united states department of oc agriculture tho the moro more alfalfa fields there are arc the reater will bo be the plague ot of grasshoppers ora unless measures are adopted to tho the post pest the grasshopper of ourse was waa known lit in america long eforo alfalfa but as tho the country be omes more settled and tho the waste ands and uncultivated holds fields in which the insect areeda grow fewer the post pest roads in greater and greater numbers into the places that are left jt lt since binco an alfalfa field almost ideal conditions for breeding to plant alfalfa is to invite all the grasshoppers in the vicinity to come and bo be merry marry st it your expense in order to breed freely grasshoppers require two conditions first arst an tn disturbed coil to hutch batch their eggs and second a food supply for their young tho the margins of roads and fences ditch banks in fact any waste land will do to hatch batch the eggs but with alt alfalfa alfa or grain at hand jor for the eating the young will not stay long in their grasshoppers it la Is true have many natural enemies which will be attracted by the abundance ot of their prey and thus ultimately afford the farmer some relief by that time however the alfalfa crop la Is likely to have havo suffered irreparable damage perhaps the simplest way of fighting the pest when this Is practical la IS to destroy the eggs these are deposited in masses in the late buemer bummer and fall in bidne shaped pods in III soil which the grasshopper prefers moderately compact arid and rather damp but not actually wet the tha young hatch batch in spring roach reach maturity ma in the summer and die when they in their turn have deposited their eggs there Is only one generation each year throughout the late fall and winter therefore the farmer has bas an opportunity to rid himself self ot of tho the post pest by destroying the eggs plowing harrowing disking or cultivating to a depth of two inches will do this where the nature of the ground or other circumstances make this impracticable specialists in the department of agriculture recommend t the he uso use of poison balt bait resort must be had to the bait eary bo however wever and all waste and uncultivated land gone 0 vor over thoroughly before the young insects have evo loped sufficiently to move about freely ai aej 1 feast on the growing crops IT for or as has already been said though the grasshoppers 01 1 A corn eaton eaten by grasshoppers way may breed in places where they can do no harm barm they the will not spend their lives there A cheap and effective bait Is made b by y mixing 25 pounds of wheat bran ono pound of aels green two quarts ot of cheap molasses or and three oranges or lemons the bran and carls green are first mixed together loan inan ordinary washtub or any other convenient receptacle the molasses mol auses or Is placed in ii a separate vessel and the juice ot of the fruit squeezed into it then the skin and pulp are chopped up finely and added to the molasses mixture which la is further diluted by tho the addition of two gallons of 0 water this to la then mixed with the bran and carls green and enough water added adde 1 I to make the whole a stiff dough this amount of poison is sufficient to treat from ave to ten acres it must bo be remembered however that the fruit to la the most important ingredient lu III applying the tha poison it should be sown sawn broadcast in strips one rod apart before sunrise in the morning broadcasting does away with the risk of poisoning stock poultry or birds and it care la is exercised in this respect there need be no fear of loss on a vermont farm for example several hundred bundred acres of pasture which were very badly infested with grasshoppers were treated in this way and although more than one hundred valuable purebred pure bred jersey heifers heffers were grazing on the land throughout the process no instance of poisoning occurred on the A ai IT C 41 0 n the trail of grasshoppers in a corn field other hand where the bait la Is scattered in piles or bunches there may be serl ous oua cou consequences sequences another method of destroying the insects la is tile alie use of the this consists primarily of a shallow pan usually mad of sheet iron with a back about one toot foot high and a front about two inches high it la is filled with water covered with kerosene and drawn over the field on runners that can be made of old wagon tires the grasshoppers disturbed by its ita approach will either jump directly into the hero sene and water or against tho the back of oc the which throws them into ha he poisonous mixture where th the 0 conditions aro are such that the fields can be quickly inundated rind and the water promptly run off as la Is frequently done in rice fields it la Is possible to drown all the young grasshoppers hoppe irs it the right moment la Is selected As soon as tho the young begin to run about hooding flooding does but little good as they easily climb to the upper part ot of vegetation beyond the reach of the water on the whole the uye use of some such auch poisoned polson pd bait as that already described bed will probably be found the most satisfactory wity way to control the pest puller information in regard refard to tue the matter la Is contained in the recent publication of the united states department part ment of agrico agricultures agri iturea cultures farmers bulletin no the tha grasshopper problem lern and alfalfa culture |