524 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 10 



A DEVICE FOR SOWING GRASSHOPPER POISON 



By T. H. Parks, Kansas State Agricultural College 



The seeder shown in the accompanying photograph was impro- 

 vised, during a grasshopper campaign last summer in western Kansas, 

 to off -set the labor necessary in applying poison bran mash over many 

 acres of land. This seeder was used extensively in Sherman and 

 Thomas counties, and proved to be a success, one man covering as 

 much ground with it as three men sowing the mixture by hand. It 

 was constructed after the manner of an alfalfa seeder occasionally 

 used in that section of Kansas, the dimensions being enlarged to meet 

 the needs of the bran mash. 



The seeder consists of a canvas bag which is strapped over the shoul- 

 der of the operator and fitted with a feeding device consisting of a 

 canvas sleeve and swinging tube made of tin or galvanized iron, as 

 shown in the photograph. The first one was made on the Kuhrt farm 

 in Sherman County, Kansas, and constructed from an old grain sack, 

 and two empty molasses cans cut and soldered to make the tube. 



Some disappointment was encountered before a seeder of the right 

 dimensions was constructed and, after experimenting, it was found 

 that the machine shown in the photograph not only scattered the 

 mixture properly and evenly but covered the ground very rapidly. 

 The dimensions of the metal tube are as follows: Length, 28 inches; 

 diameter at upper end, 2| inches; diameter at lower end. If inches. 

 Over the opening at the lower end is soldered two short wires bent 

 around in the shape of a U, and crossing each other at right angles at 

 exactly the center and about one inch below the opening of the tube. 

 These wires are soldered to the edge of the tube and soldered together 

 where they cross. Their purpose is to scatter the mixture evenly and 

 thinly as it leaves the tube, being swung by the operator. The canvas 

 sleeve is 12 inches long, 13 inches in circumference at the upper end 

 and 8 inches at the lower end, which fits tightly over the upper end of 

 the metal tube. These were found to be the proper dimensions to 

 allow the mixture to work down into the tube, and to allow the tube 

 to be swung over an 180 degree angle by the operator walking through 

 the field. On a still day the poison bran mash was scattered in this 

 way, evenly and thinly, over a strip of ground sixty feet wide. This 

 enabled one to cover the infested fields in a short time and do the work 

 very thoroughly. 



It was found that a seeder made after the above dimensions scat- 

 tered the poison bran mash at the rate of twenty pounds to four acres, 

 which is recognized as the proper amount to apply under Kansas con- 



