February, '17] BALL: GRASSHOPPER CONTROL 135 



Mr. p. J. Parrott: We have been working on a preparation man- 

 ufactured in this country for the purpose of preventing ants from carry- 

 ing aphids on apple trees. One of the great defects in the material is 

 that during seasons when rainfall is heavy, as in 1916, the ants were able 

 to cross the bands after heavy rains. 



Mr. a. F. Burgess : It is very difficult to secure a banding material 

 which will not run when exposed to high temperature or harden after 

 a rain. We have not had these difficulties with this material. It is 

 more greasy than sticky. 



President C. Gordon Hewitt: I will now call on Mr. E. D. Ball 

 to present his paper. 



EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMY IN GRASSHOPPER CONTROL 



By E. D. Ball, State Entomologist, Madison, Wis. 



That grasshopper outbreaks can be successfully controlled is a 

 definitely established fact. That they will ordinarily be controlled 

 under every day farm conditions is still very doubtful. 



Where organized campaigns are waged against large outbreaks, 

 public sentiment aroused, poisonous material supplied in carload lots, 

 and distributed to those needing it, it will always be easy to obtain a 

 high percentage of effort and a still higher percentage of efficiency. 

 Whether the material is sold or furnished free makes little difference, 

 so long as it is readily available and sufficient publicity has been given 

 to arouse interest to the point of action. 



Under ordinary farm conditions the handling of an outbreak is quite 

 a different matter. The danger of damage is often realized, but the 

 material for destruction is not at hand and often difficult to procure. 

 The writer has several times been in communities in which it was 

 found practically impossible to procure any strong smelling molasses, — 

 either West India or Sugar Beet, without which the effectiveness of 

 the poison bait is much reduced. 



The Hopperdozer as usually built and operated is not very efficient 

 and requires tar or crude oil, neither of which may be available, 

 though kerosene may be used as an expensive substitute. Its opera- 

 tion in any case is disagreeable and a constant expense, and the 

 machine is so offensive that it is almost always left outside to rust or 

 rot. 



The grasshopper catching machine is the easiest solution of many 

 of these problems. It is efficient, inexpensive and when once built 

 is always ready for immediate use. Communities that have once been 

 supplied with grasshopper machines rarelj^ call for additional help. 



