GRASSHOPPERS AND OTHER INJURIOUS INSECTS OF 1911 AND 1912. 29 



The following commendatory extracts are from letters received by the of- 

 fices or from articles in newspapers. They serve to show the opinion of men 

 who have tried this method of control against the grasshoppers. 

 (Morris, Minn., Tribune, Aug. 15, 1911.) 



"Kill the Hoppers. Save crops by spraying with Sodium Arsenite. J. J. 

 Gaffney is convinced that he saved his flax crop from the hoppers last week by 

 the early application of a solution of Sodium Arsenite. After Mr. Gaffney 

 had cut his wheat he noticed that the hoppers were very thick in his flax, and 

 last Wednesday had decided to cut it while it was still green when he heard 

 of the sodium arsenite treatment. He procured a sprayer and made the solu- 

 tion and went to work. The whole field was sprayed at a cost of about fifty 

 cents an acre, and the next day the field was found covered with thousands of 

 dead or nearly dead hoppers. Since then there are very few hoppers in the 

 field. Mr. Gafl'ney is satisfied that his investment of 50 cents an acre saved 

 his fine flax crop." 



Morris, Minn., Aug. 28, 1911. 



" I am satisfied that in the Sodium Arsenite treatment we have 



the hopper problem pretty well solved for next year." 



Yours truly, 

 (Signed) A. G. Marks. 



Extract of a personal letter. See reference to Mr. Marks' use of the 

 Arsenite against hoppers in corn. 



Beardsley, Minn., Aug. 9, 1911. 

 "Dear Sir: — In compliance with your request some weeks ago, when you 

 were here looking after the 'grasshopper situation.' Will say that we have 

 found the sodium arsenite preparation a very good exterminator, consider- 

 ing the way in which we have had to use it. All we had to use was a crude 

 sprinkler that was made by our tinner; but it seemed to 'layout' quite a high 



percentage of the hoppers." 



Yours very I'espectfully, 



(Signed) AM. M. MORONEY. 



In this, as in all control methods, the proper time for action is an element 

 which must not be overlooked. The best results can be obtained by spraying- 

 early in the season, i. e., from about the middle of May to the middle of June, 

 just as with the hopperdozer. Action at this time is best for several reasons. 

 At that time the young hoppers are feeding steadily and move in greater 

 numbers than after the wings have developed, and since they cannot fly it is 

 easier to place the poison where they must eat it. When used at this time 

 of the season it is possible to protect large tracts of land by spraying relatively 

 few acres. For instance, in case a field not badly infested with grasshoppers 

 adjoins a tract which is swarming with young hoppers these may be killed as 

 they pass into the cultivated field by spraying a strip two or three rods wide 

 along the edge of this field, through which "poison zone" the young grass- 

 hoppers must feed to reach the crop. In case a field is badly infested or to 

 treat a tract of "reverted land" or other source of hoppers the whole area 

 need not be sprayed but by spraying strips across the area in two directions, 

 "checker board fashion," the poison may be so generally scattered as to be 

 effective and yet the actual acreage sprayed is but half or less than half of 

 the area. (There is reason to doubt the real eflicacy of the "checker board" 

 spraying, unless the unsprayed squares are very small. — F. L. W.) 



In our formula given above, we made no mention of corn for the reason 

 that we have found no practicable method of spraying corn. With this crop 

 the damage by grasshoppers is normally late in the season when the corn is 

 too tall to be sprayed. We are inclined to believe that the best way to protect 

 corn from the grasshoppers is by killing the grasshopper early in the season 

 while on small grains. At my suggestion, Mr. A. G. Marks of Marshall tried 

 the following plan and reports gratifying results. His corn field adjoined a 

 field of oats in which the grasshoppers were so thick that they had utterly 

 ruined the crop and he feared that upon cutting the oats these hoppers would 

 attack the corn. I suggested that he spray a rather wide strip of the oats — 



