394 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Calif. An efficient means of control has been evolved by the bureau 

 in the use of an arsenate of lead spray which usually gives satis- 

 factory control when applied once during the season. In south- 

 western Idaho, however, it was discovered that two sprayings are 

 necessary in order to obtain satisfactory control, because of the fact 

 that the weevil continues laying eggs throughout a longer period 

 than elsewhere. The one thing which apparently is most urgently 

 needed in the aid of artificial control of this pest is some more 

 efficient means of placing the available information on control be- 

 fore the alfalfa growers who are most vitally concerned. Some of 

 the States which have been carrying on this educational work have 

 been compelled to restrict or discontinue it through lack of funds. 

 This has been the case notably in Idaho, and it is hoped that some 

 means may be found for the' continuation and elaboration of this 

 type of work in connection with alfalfa weevil control. 



Arrangements have been perfected for resuming the introduction 

 of the insect parasites of the alfalfa weevil from Europe. An ex- 

 pert who was dispatched to France for that purpose more than a 

 year ago recently has returned after accomplishing his mission, and 

 shipments of parasitic material are beginning to arrive in this 

 country. It is hoped by these means to supplement the good work of 

 a parasite already introduced from France, and thus eventually to 

 restore the balance of nature and secure natural control. 



Grasshoppers.— -Grasshoppers have continued to be seriously in- 

 jurious in the spring wheat region of the Northwest, and especially 

 severe outbreaks have occurred in northern Montana and through- 

 out Wyorning. Local outbreaks of these and similar insects have 

 occurred in eastern Utah and northwestern Colorado, where the 

 bureau has been active in lending its aid through the services of a 

 corps of trained experts, whose headquarters have been located at 

 Billings, Mont. _ Progress has been made in the standardization of 

 the poisoned baits and in the coordination of the plans for control 

 between the various State agencies and the entomological workers 

 of the Dominion of Canada in the neighboring prairie provinces. 

 It is estimated that campaigns in which the bureau has assisted in 

 North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming have resulted in the saving 

 of about 10 per cent of the wheat crop throughout the areas involved. 



A serious outbreak of the lubber grasshopper occurred in west- 

 central Texas during the summer of 1923, during which consider- 

 able damage was done. The farmers found it difficult .to poison 

 because of the suddenness of the attack and the fact that sufficient 

 arsenic was not locally available. 



A serious and widespread outbreak of grasshoppers occurred in 

 the Klamath Lake region on the southern border of Oregon and the 

 northern edge of California. Experts of this bureau were dis- 

 patched from Sacramento, Calif., and Forest Grove, Oreg., to assist 

 the local authorities in securing control. A very considerable sav- 

 ing of crops resulted from the work done. If this pest is to be 

 permanently controlled, however, a thorough study of • the whole 

 problem will be necessary, and because of the fact that this problem 

 is of an interstate character and involves public lands within the 

 breeding grounds of the pest, it seems proper that the Federal 

 Government should initiate studies looking toward the control of 

 grasshoppers in this severely infested region. 



