GRASSHOPPERS ON SUGAR BEETS AND TRUCK CROPS, 13 
This wire and the 2 by 4 brace the ‘“‘double” hopperdozer so that it 
can be drawn by two teams, one hitched at each end. Being flexible in 
the middle, it can be used on very uneven ground that will sometimes 
throw the ends much higher or much lower than the middle. Of 
course the screens at the back must be arranged so as not to interfere. 
The wide sweep (30 feet) of this hopperdozer enables the ground to be 
covered rapidly, which is very important during severe outbreaks, 
and the teams are so far apart that they do not drive many grass- 
hoppers before them. 
BURNING. 
Sometimes many grasshoppers hatch in dead vegetation where 
they can be destroyed by burning. This frequently occurs on 
buffalo sod, in neglected fields, or along roadsides. Burning is then 
the cheapest and most effective means of killing them. If there 
is not enough dead vegetation to carry the fire, some old hay or straw 
scattered through the infested area will help to produce enough heat 
to kill the insects. Opportunities for destroying native grasshoppers 
by burning should not be neglected. A sufficient number can hatch 
in one-fourth of an acre of sod to ruin a neighboring garden, yet half 
a day’s work and a load of straw or old hay would burn them all. 
UTILIZATION OF POULTRY. 
Where grasshoppers are an annual pest, farmers can protect their 
crops and make a profit on the insects by raising poultry to catch 
them. The value of chickens and turkeys in destroying grass- 
hoppers is proved anew by each succeeding outbreak, yet com- 
paratively few farmers utilize them as a means of control. 
During the late nimeties many turkeys were raised to catch grass- 
hoppers on the valley lands along the Solomon River in northern 
Kansas. Children herded the flocks where grasshoppers were the 
most destructive, and so successful was this method of saving crops 
that more farmers adopted it every year until that series of grass- 
hopper outbreaks ended. 
Near Scott City, Kans., during 1911, the second crop of alfalfa on a 
100-acre field was badly damaged. The owner secured about 100 
turkeys and turned them into the field. When the writer visited the 
place during the third week of August a few of the lesser migratory 
grasshoppers that could escape capture by flight were the only ones 
present. The alfalfa was uninjured and was then about 18 inches 
high. 
In June, 1912, the writer constructed a portable henhouse for about 
36 grown chickens. It was located on or along the edges of grass- 
hopper-infested fields, being moved to a new place when no “‘hoppers”’ 
were left near by. This flock was fed only a little grain, and while not 
quite so many eggs were obtained from the hens in comparison with 
