ranches, there should by all means be concerted action in this move- 

 ment. 



Where fields can be quickly inundated and the water promptly run 

 off, as is frequentl}^ done in rice fields, the young grasshoppers may 

 be killed by flooding the field for a day or two just as the eggs are 

 hatching. If close watch is kept to determine just when the young 

 grasshoppers are hatching, and prompt action taken at this time, 

 much good can be accomplished; but as soon as the young begin to 

 move about, flooding will avail but little, as the grasshoppers wdll 

 climb to the upper part of vegetation beyond the reach of the water. 



DESTROYING THE INSECTS. 



Under this head will be discussed those measures which should be 

 resorted to when the grasshoppers, having hatched from the egg, are 

 threatening alfalfa fields from within or without, or both. 



The hopper dozer. — On level or comparatively level land this im- 

 plement can be used to good advantage in collecting grasshoppers 

 of all ages— from the youngest to the adults. There are many modifi- 

 cations in the construction of these hopperdozers, but the form here 

 described and figured, the writer has had made for him, and he has 

 employed it in the fields and knows from experience that its use is 

 both practicable and efficient. It is constructed of sheet iron, pref- 

 erably galvanized, of reasonable thickness to insure strength, and, 

 except for the end pieces, made of a single sheet 10 or 12 feet long 

 and 26 inches in width. The front is formed by turning up one edge 

 a couple of inches, and the back may be turned up a foot, thus 

 making a shallow pan 1 foot wdde, with the back the same height 

 and with a front 2 inches high. Ends are riveted in and soldered, 

 as shown in figure 8. Runners of old wagon tire are placed at each 

 end (a, &), and another in the center (e) is turned over in the front 

 and back to strengthen the pan at these points. These runners are 

 riveted to the pan, as shown, and should extend both backward and 

 forward in order to overcome to some extent the inequalities of the 

 ground and cause the hopperdozer to run more smoothly. By solder- 

 ing it about the heads of the rivets the pan will be made water-tight. 

 The pan is filled with water on which is poured enough kerosene to 

 cover it with a film, a horse is hitched to the end runners, and the out- 

 fit is then ready for use. As the hopperdozer is drawn over the 

 ground the locusts will either jump into the kerosene and water 

 direct or against the back and drop into it and there be killed. By 

 using longer, wider, and heavier sheet iron a larger and stronger jian 

 can be made and this further strengthened by additional runners; a 

 horse can then be hitched to each end, or the pan may be mounted on 

 low wheels. The whole thing is easily constnicted, inexpensive, and 

 once made may be put into service year after year as needed. The- 



[Cir. 84] 



