7 
direction of the oiled water orn account of the ** homing” instinct 
above mentioned. Young grasshoppers will not drive more than from 
10 to 20 feet before taking what is commonly termed by the plantation 
managers ** the sulks,” when they cease hopping and show an aggra- 
vating indifference to the brush of the switches used in driving them. 
The necessity of early learning the location of the egg-beds. and the 
time of hatching is obvious if the ditch method be practiced. 
Upon river plantations many open ditches are indispensable, and 
when rains are sufficient to keep them filled or partly filled with water 
they serve a most excellent purpose in the destruction of young grass- 
hoppers. During the grasshopper campaign of 1900 over 225 barrels 
of coal oil were used upon Dahomy and not a little of this quantity 
was placed upon the water of the ditches of the plantation in the form 
of emulsions. At the height of the season as many as 50 miles of 
ditches were oiled, and the number of young grasshoppers killed may 
be roughly estimated when we state that the surface of the water for 
this distance was completely covered. After the water evaporated 
the stench from decaying grasshoppers was very perceptible, and had 
it not been for the satisfaction of knowing that millions had been slain 
the stench. no doubt, would have been objectionable. 
Mr. Robert Glenk, a member of the experiment station staff of 
Louisiana, spent two weeks in the field in charge of the grasshopper 
work, and in his report to Mr. Harding, dated May 31, 1900, says: 
Sunday afternoon brought up a heavy rain and filled many of the ditches with 
standing water. We had oiled the surface of the water and made a combined attack 
upon the insects, which has resulted in their wholesale destruction. We are using 
gangs of men and are making a systematic drive to the ditches. 
One hitch occurred in the use of the emulsion. In driving the tank 
wagon over rough ground the emulsion became so thoroughly churned 
that the oil separated and floated to the top. This condition, however, 
was soon revealed by the effectiveness of the spray: The use of the 
pump, which mechanically mixes the oil and water, should obviate this 
difficulty. 
Tarred sheets and hopperdozers.—The operation of the ordinary 
hopperdozer may be considered an easy matter in meadows, pastures, 
and over crops planted upon the level, but one has to experience 
once the trouble of working a hopperdozer in alluvial sections where 
the high ridging of the land prevails to realize that the ordinary use 
of the hopperdozer is impracticable. To construct one of these imple- 
ments suitable to alluvial conditions will require further experience 
and trial. During the efforts with the hopperdozer Mr. C. D. Patter- 
son, general manager of Dahomy, improvised a tarred sheet similar to 
4670—No. 30—O1 
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