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Show "Grasshopper Area Sees Less Trouble Only One State Reports Increase in Number of Eggs in Ground. The prospects for damage from grasshoppers over the infested area as a whole are much less alarming than they were a year ago, accord-in- to the results of the 19o2 survey sur-vey of grasshopper conditions reported re-ported by the bureau of entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture. Only North Dakota shows an Increase in the number of eggs in the ground over the number deposited in the fall of 1031. If the weather this spring and early summer sum-mer happens to be favorable for grasshopper growth, however, more than five and one-half million acres in eight western states may need applications of poison bran to save cereal and forage crops from wholesale whole-sale destruction by the hoppers. Detailed surveys In co-operation with state entomologists of the areas where the 1932 grasshoppers laid their eggs show that a big hatch may be expected in six counties In Colorado, 10 in Idaho, 55 in Minnesota, Minne-sota, 23 in Montana, 42 In Nebraska, 50 In North Dakota, 48 in South Dakota, Da-kota, and four in Wyoming. The number of acres in these states that may need poisoning ranges from 30,000, with an estimated cost of $3,750 for material, in Colorado, to 3,084,736, with an estimated cost of $385,450 for material, In North Dakota. Da-kota. Grasshoppers gained a firm foot- hold in the hay and grain fields of the West in 1930 and 1931, when the hot, dry weather provided conditions con-ditions ideal for the hoppers and unfavorable for the disease and parasites that serve as a natural control of this pest. The Infestation Infesta-tion expected in 1932 from the millions mil-lions of eggs laid In 1931 failed to reach serious proportions over much of the area threatened because be-cause the weather early in the season sea-son was cold and damp. Where the weather favored grasshopper growth many farmers assisted by of the warnings broadcast by entomologists en-tomologists and spread the recommended rec-ommended poison bait over their fields in time to destroy the young hoppers. |