24 THE ORTHOPTERA OF MINNESOTA. 



if there is enough fuel to do so thoroughlj^, and if a 

 fair wand is blowing at the time, untold numbers 

 of locusts are killed. Whenever straw can be had 

 it is wise to make long rows of such material across the 

 fields and thus add to the autodafe. 



Collecting the Eggs. — The Rocky Mountain locust pre- 

 fers certain places for the purpose of depositing the eggs, and 

 such places are easily discovered. If this is the case the eggs 

 shoidd be collected and destroyed, and the state should offer 

 some inducement in the way of bounty for such collection 

 and destruction. Every bushel of eggs destroyed is equiva- 

 lent to a hundred acres of grain saved, and when we consider 

 the amount of destruction caused by the young, and that the 

 ground is often known to be filled with eggs, or that, in 

 other words, the earth is sown with the seeds of future de- 

 struction, it is surprising that more laws have not been 

 made looking to their extermination. 



One of the most rapid ways of collecting the eggs, espec- 

 ially where they are numerous and in light soil, is to slice off 

 about an inch of the soil by trowel or spade, and then cart 

 the egg-laden earth to some sheltered place, where, after 

 being allowed to dry, it is sieved, so as to separate the egg- 

 masses from the dirt. The eggs thus collected can be easily 

 destroyed by throwing them into deep pits, providing the 

 ground is packed hard on the surface. In Algeria, a country 

 badl}^ infested with locusts, the soldiers are often employed 

 to gather eggs, and owning to a bounty paid for all eggs thus 

 collected, immense numbers of them are gathered and de- 

 stroyed.* The same is the case in southern Russia. In 

 thickly settled regions, where labor is abundant and cheap, 

 this method should be adopted. 



Poisoning. — There are cases where plowingcan not be per- 

 formed, notwithstanding the fact that numerous eggs have 

 been deposited in the ground. Frequently old timothy-fields 

 are badly infested, but as the farmers need the grass for 



*In 1897, 322 miles of ditches were constructed, in which -were killed 270,000 

 bushels of young locusts. 



