REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 183 



The eggs are laid for the most part in stubble fields. They are very seldom laid in 

 thick sod or in loose, newly-ploughed earth. In the first case it is difficult for the 

 female to form the chamber in which she lays her eggs, owing to the numerous roots of 

 the grasses, and in the second case the burrows could only be made with great difficulty 

 in the dry, powdery earth. All observers report that eggs are rarely laid in newly- 

 ploughed and well-harrowed land. 



The late Dr. C. Y. Riley wrote : " The egg may be laid in almost any kind of soil, 

 ■ but by preference they are laid in bare sandy places, especially on high dry ground, 

 which is tolerably compact and not loose. . . . Newly ploughed land is not 

 liked, it presents too loose a surface ; but new breaking is often filled with eggs." (This 

 is doubtless owing to the firm surface of the sod before backsetting.) " Sandy soil that 

 is compact, especially when having a south or east exposure, is much chosen ; but in 

 loose and shifting sand the eggs would perish." 



Prof. Otto Lugger, State Entomologist of Minnesota, writing in July, 1889, after 

 examining a district which had been devastated, says as to the places chosen for egg- 

 laying : "A close inspection soon revealed the fact that fields with last year's stubble 

 contained large numbers of eggs, whilst stubble land of the previous year and older con- 

 tained none or but very few. . . . There were some eggs in denuded spots of 

 timothy fields ; ... where the timothy plants covered the ground entirely no 

 eggs could be detected ; a similar observation was made in pastures ; if well sodded, no 

 eggs ; if bare of vegetation, a few could be detected. No eggs could be found in the 

 native prairie land, and but a few along roads and the elevated beds of railroads." 



In the Special Bulletin issued on this subject by the North Dakota Agricultural 

 Experiment Station in 1891, it is stated : "As the eggs are never laid in thick Sod nor 

 in loosely ploughed earth, it will be seen that the ploughing need not extend to any 

 land except the stubble fields." 



From the foregoing extracts by three of the leading authorities on the subject, it is 

 evident that if farmers will attend carefully to their stubble lands, where by far the 

 greatest proportion of the eggs are laid, there is every hope that next year there may be 

 no trouble from locusts ; but, at the same time, it must be borne in mind that unless 

 all help, there were certainly sufficient locusts this year in the district I visited, for the 

 young to commit serious depredations next year, and to spread over a much wider area 

 in the Province. 



Remedies. 



Ploughing. — The remedy above all others, as stated above, which has given satis- 

 factory results is the ploughing down of the eggs, and although harrowing has been 

 recommended by some, it cannot be relied on. Knowing the importance of giving 

 definite advice to the farmers of southern Manitoba, I corresponded with the State 

 Entomologists of Minnesota and North Dakota, both of whom have had extensive 

 experience in fighting the Rocky Mountain Locust. I submit herewith quotations from 

 recent letters giving most valuable information : 



" St. Anthony Park, Minn., August 2.3. — Ploughing from 4 to i\ inches deep is 

 the only true remedy. It is not necessary to plough during the fall, though best ; if 

 ploughed early in the spring the surface of the field will become quite compact by rain, 

 even by the wind. None or but very few young locusts will reach the surface, and 

 these will starve before reaching plants upon which to feed. Permit no stubble fields. 

 They should all be ploughed, as in them most of the eggs will be deposited. A few 

 acres of stubble land can and will breed enough locusts to endanger the crops of all the 

 surrounding fields. In the past I have repeatedly tried the plan of harrowing in the 

 autumn instead of ploughing, and have invariably failed, since sufficient numbers of 

 locusts hatched to destroy the crop. In fact, the trouble near Perham was almost 

 entirely caused by a party who insisted on harrowing the fields containing eggs instead 

 of ploughing them. He harrowed thoroughly during the autumn, but in spring I 

 found numerous eggs and egg-pods. At my request he harrowed again in spring (would 

 not plough) and seeded with a drill. This field was the principal one in which numerous 

 locusts hatched and from which they migrated to others." — [Prof. Otto Lugger.] 



