74 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 7 



was in a letter from Secretary Coburn of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture transmitting a number of letters from alfalfa growers in the 

 western part of the state. Accordingly the department fitted out 

 an expedition which spent three seasons in camp in the alfalfa fields 

 of western Kansas. Results of this work were given in three 

 bulletins of the department of entomology.^ . 



Discing of alfalfa in early spring was here first advocated as an 

 effective means of destroying the grasshopper eggs and as well in- 

 ■creasing the forage yield. From time to time as occasion required this 

 problem has been followed. On June 6, 1913, Mr. A. J. Spangler, 

 then assistant state entomologist, began work in Ness, Ford and Gray 

 counties, giving special attention to the fungous disease then preva- 

 lent among the nymphs. Mr. Spangler continued his experimental 

 work on this until he resigned July 1, 1913, to become state inspector 

 of Minnesota, and was immediatel}^ succeeded by the junior author 

 of this paper. 



The University has responded to requests for entomological work 

 from all parts of the state from 1872, at which time Dr. Snow was 

 made chairman of the entomological commission of the Kansas Acad- 

 emy of Science, until 1907. In this latter year the state legislature 

 created an entomological commission, the scope of whose work is in 

 accordance with Section 4 of the Law creating that commission as 

 follows: "That it shall be the duty of said state entomologists, under 

 the control of the state entomological commission, to seek out and 

 suppress pernicious insect pests and injurious and contagious plant 

 diseases hereinbefore mentioned as destructive to the horticultural 

 and agricultural interests of this state, and conduct experiments when 

 necessary to accomplish that end.- 



This commission shortly after the enactment of the law divided the 

 state as shown in a map published in the first annual report of the 



1 Dept. Contb. No. 

 ■31-1897 — The More Destructive Grasshoppers of Kansas. Bui. Dept. of Entomology, 



. Oct., pp. 1-111 pis. I-IV. F. H. Snow and S. J. Hunter. 

 35 — Parasitic Influence on Melanoplus. K. U. Quarterly, VII, pp. 205-210, Oct. 



figs. S. J. Hunter. 

 38-1899 — Alfalfa, Grasshoppers, Bees; Their Relationships. Bui. Dept. Entomology, 

 pp. 1-164, pis. I-XIII, figs. 1-59. S. J. Hunter. 

 In addition to these, three taxonomic papers were prepared as follows: 

 47— The Melanopli of Kansas. Part I, Psyche, vol. IX, pp. 63-64, June, 1900. 



S. J. Hunter and W. S. Sutton. 

 48— The Melanopli of Kansas. Part II, Psyche, vol. IX, pp. 76-78, July, 1900. 



S.' J. Hunter and W. S. Sutton. 

 49— The Melanopli of Kansas. Part HI, Psyche, vol. IX, pp. 88-9, August, 1900. 

 S. J. Hunter and W. S. Sutton.' 

 ' Chapter 386, Kansas Session Laws of 1907, Sec. 4. 



