AprO, '19] DEAN, KELLY AND FORD: GRASSHOPPER CONTROL 215 



alfalfa during the entire season. In several other counties the farmers 

 purchased their own poison, and saved their alfaKa. 



During the latter part of June, a large amount of poison bran mash 

 was used in the sugar beet district of the state, and excellent results 

 were had in protecting the sugar beets. Later in the summer the 

 farmers of Thomas County organized, distributed the poison bran 

 mash, which was provided by the county, and protected their alfalfa, 

 and forage crops. 



Throughout the earlier part of the summer a close watch was kept 

 on the hopper situation. In western Kansas the small egg capsules 

 of the late hatching Melanoplus atlanis were present everywhere in 

 the hard soil in large numbers, and it was then evident that the far- 

 mers would have trouble with this pest on their wheat in the fall. 

 Early in September reports began to come to the effect that the small 

 lesser-migratory hopper was doing serious damage to the early fall 

 planted wheat throughout the western part of the state, and thus a 

 second campaign for demonstrations on grasshopper poisoning was 

 arranged. A survej' of the situation not only revealed the grasshopper 

 present in dangerous numbers, but also that large numbers of eggs 

 were already deposited in the soil in places accessible to the disk. 

 Since the time for poisoning M. atlojils was in the early fall, and since 

 this was also the proper time to emphasize the importance of destroy- 

 ing eggs, it was decided to combine both poisoning and fall disking to 

 destroy the eggs in these demonstrations. This campaign proved to 

 be a complete success. The attendance at the demonstrations was 

 large, and unusual interest was shown by the farmers, especially in 

 the fall disking demonstrations. 



In this campaign in western Kansas, 12 counties were covered in 

 which 59 demonstrations were given with a total attendance of 1,273 

 farmers, or an average of 22 at each demonstration.^ At these meet- 

 ings a short explanation was given of the life-history of the grasshopper, 

 with special emphasis on the oviposition habits. The proper method 

 of mixing and applying the poison bran mash was explained and dem- 

 onstrated. Following the discussions on poisoning, the fall disking 

 proposition was taken up in the following manner: The croAvd was 

 conducted to a nearby roadside or fence row where grasshopper eggs 

 were abundant. Grasshopper oviposition was reexplaincd, with spec- 

 ial cnipluisis on the place of oviposition. (Tliero nearly always is 

 found a very large number of eggs in the hard grassy places at the edge 

 of cultivated fields. The reason for this is that in the fall the majority 



* Had it not been for the state ban on all public meetinRS on account of the in- 

 fluenza epidemic, much more could have been accomi)lislicd. Practically all the 

 scheduled demonstrations after October 16 were fMiicclled. 



