48 



III the majority of cases a recurrence of the enormous losses caused 

 by grasshoppers could be prevented by sufficiently energetic co- 

 operation between individuals and communities. The conditions 

 peculiar to each infested locality should be considered independently, 

 and a thorough knowledge of the breeding- places, habits and control 

 measures should be acquired by every farmer. The species that prefer 

 grass-covered slopes in the hills for their breeding-grounds hatch in 

 early spring, feed upon the green grasses for a time and then migrate 

 down the gulches, where they at first accumulate in great hordes. 

 They can then be most effectively poisoned before they are able to 

 reach the valuable crops and orchards in the cultivated areas. 

 Grasshoppers can sometimes be driven into definite areas and con- 

 centrated for more effective control by herding a large drove of sheep 

 slowly around the infested area. A farming community threatened 

 with grasshoppers working their way in from range lands should 

 co-operate and by burning a strip of grassland one-fourth of a mile 

 wide along the edge of the cultivated area may save their land from 

 further infestation. When waste areas and fence lines are burned to 

 destroy the pest every precaution should be taken to ensure that the 

 insects will not be driven ahead of the flames, and burning should 

 preferably be done at night. In young orchards every effort should 

 be made to keep the grasshoppers out of the trees. Clean cultivation 

 of orchards, fence lines and roadsides will keep the pest in check, but 

 if the grasshoppers are already in the trees poison bran should be spread 

 broadcast between the rows (not at the base of the trees). The insects 

 should be regularly brushed out of the trees so that they will hop to 

 the ground and pick up the poison. Hopperdozers have been used 

 for many years and have caught immense numbers of grasshoppers, 

 but the author considers poisoned bran mixtures the more practical 

 for general use. 



Grasshoppers that breed on irrigated lands first appear in May and 

 early June along the higher ridges such as ditch banks, fence lines, etc. 

 Poisoning should begin as soon as they have hatched and before they 

 spread over entire fields. A formula that has been found very effective 

 against grasshoppers consists of 1 lb. Paris green or white arsenic 

 and 2 quarts cheap molasses stirred into 4 U.S. gals, of water. Half 

 a dozen chopped lemons are added and the mixture slowly poured 

 over 25 lb. wheat bran or lucerne meal. If the latter material is 

 substituted an extra gallon of water should be used. This is sufficient 

 for five acres. When the area to be covered is too great to spread 

 by hand, an end-gate grain-seeder attached to the rear of a farm wagon 

 and geared from one of the rear wheels should be used. The poison 

 should be spread as finely as possible and should be used while fresh. 

 It should be appUed in the afternoon, shortly before the hoppers seek 

 their evening meal, and shortly before rather than after irrigation, 

 and before cutting lucerne rather than when the field is bare. Two 

 or three days later the grasshoppers generally begin to collect in the 

 crowns of plants and other shaded spots and die in numbers, the dead 

 insects being frequently destroyed by beetles, ants and other insects. 

 It is considered that there is no danger to livestock from the poison, 

 but it should not be left where it can be eaten in large quantities by 

 domestic birds or animals. 



