44 THE RICE GRASSHOPPER 



The results obtained in the two years 1909 and 1910 

 in the bagging of hoppers in different stages of growth on 

 the bunds, as well as on the crop, indicate that its effective- 

 ness is at its height soon after the emergence of the hoppers. 

 Weak, and with limited powers of jumping in the first and 

 second instars, they are then easily gathered into the bags 

 and no more than three sweeps were necessary to clear even 

 the worst infested bunds. The operations can then be 

 conducted, also, under more favorable weather conditions. 

 The only disadvantage in conducting operations so early is 

 that a second bagging may be necessary after an interval of 

 about ten days in order to catch the hoppers that have 

 hatched late. In the later stages of growth, the bags 

 can with difficulty be pressed down into the thick growth 

 of grass and the hoppers with their additional strength 

 are better able to evade the bags. In September, bagging 

 on the paddy itself was found more effective than that on 

 the bunds. The crop was not yet too high and w^as not 

 so thick as the grass and so allowed more satisfactory 

 work. Unfortunately, it was only occasionally that the 

 paddy was found badly infested, so that this course could 

 not be generally followed. The grasshoppers go over on 

 to the paddy usually decidedly later (October) after the 

 grass on the bunds has been cut. Under these circum- 

 stances, bagging on the paddy is practically useless. The 

 crop is high and the grasshoppers are for the most part 

 winged and can readily escape. Moreover the raiyats have 

 a distinct objection to having their crops bagged at this 

 time. There is a certain amount of danger of heads 

 being broken off by the bag and, in cases where individual 

 plants are trampled down, they do not recover. It will 

 be noticed from the above table that, in certain cases, hand- 

 nets were used. These are small cloth bags mounted on 

 a hoop or a ring made of cane or stout iron wire and fas- 

 tened to a bamboo handle. They were used in catching 

 hoppers on grass growing on the borders of tanks and 

 pools, where the water was so deep as to make the use of 

 the bag impossible. They were also useful in places, 

 such as survey mounds and bunds bordering hedges or 

 streams, where bags could not be worked. They are 

 quite effective and form a useful supplement to the bags, 

 their disadvantage being the comparatively small area that 

 can be covered in a given time. 



