186 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



» 

 thereby any present inconvenience or expense. There are a number, however, who are 

 only waiting for your report to take energetic action, should you consider it neces- 

 sary." — [Arthur S. Barton.] 



" Boissevain, September 10. — I have not yet found any eggs of locusts. They 

 are still pairing, and great numbers can be found on the lee side of the wheat stooks. 

 Is there any distinguishing mark on the ground where they lay their eggs 1 " — [Charles 

 A. Sankey.] 



" Deloraine, September 14. — I met Mr. D. Steedsman to-day. He has his 

 man ploughing the ground you advised him to, and the man reported that he had not 

 seen a single grasshopper. Yesterday, Mr. Steedsman himself went with the plough all 

 round the field and did not see a single grasshopper nor any trace of eggs. Per contra 

 I have noticed several hoppers six miles north of Deloraine. There is one point which 

 it may be of importance to mention : during the two weeks preceding Friday, 9th 

 September, we had very unusual weather — cloudy, heavy fogs by night, occasional 

 heavy showers of rain, one especially so on Friday, 2nd September, when for two hours 

 we had a perfect deluge. On Thursday, 8th September, we had a sharp frost, since 

 which the weather has cleared, but to-d^'^y (lith September) is again cloudy and threat- 

 ening rain." — [Dr. Robert S. Thornton.] 



" Boissevain, September 24. — " I have not been able to discover any locust eggs 

 as yet, and I have delayed writing in the hope of finding some. There are locusts on 

 tearly every stook of grain. They are still mating, but appear very sluggish, fre- 

 quently being lifted on to the stack on the sheaf and not attempting to move ; this is 

 principally in cloudy weather. I have scraped and dug, and examined (and so have my 

 friends and neighbours), but so far we have not discovered a single egg. Can you tell 

 me, if not too late, if there is any indication or mark left on the surface of the ground 

 that would guide one in looking for the eggs? 



" I saw a pretty sight last Friday ; a large flock of Black-headed Terns or gulls 

 came swooping down the field ; dividing at the leeward side, they ranged the rows of 

 stooks to the other side of the field ; returning with the wind in a body, they again and 

 again quartered the field. I was near enough to see them picking the locusts off the 

 stooks as they passed. I came to the conclusion that it was not their first experience, 

 and it would be interesting to learn if their absence this summer was due to locusts 

 further south (in Minnesota), or whether their usual breeding place at Whitewater 

 Lake was too dry for them. In other years we have a constant procession of them 

 backwards and forwards from the lake to the bush, and constantly they follow the plough, 

 picking grubs and larvae out of the freshly turned furrows." — [Arthur S, Barton.] 



" Boissevain, October 22. — I have made a close search for eggs of locusts, but so 

 far with no result. Mr. Barton has also been unsuccessful, though it seems almost 

 incredible to think that none have been laid ; apparently a disaster in the shape of a 

 severe snow-storm and frost has destroyed them. I do not think more than one supply 

 of eggs can have been laid." — [Charles A. Sankey.] 



"Deloraine, November 14. — "With regard to grasshopper eggs : I have not written 

 to you sooner because I had no information to give you. I have scraped and looked 

 on our wheat stubble and on my neighbours' fields and have seen but one female 

 loaded with eggs and no eggs in the ground. I heard of some being found two 

 miles north-east of here and I went there to get some, but I could not find any. Mr. 

 David Steedsman said that they had all moved north from his place and he did 

 not think that there were any eggs laid on his land. Mr. Leonard Sawyer says he 

 saw numbers of small grasshoppers full of eggs. I caught lots of them, and a good 

 many had those worms in them which you showed me when you were here. I 

 do not think many eggs have been laid here, where we had them thickest last year. 

 The grasshoppers seem to have moved north and jsast and cover more territory 

 than they did last year. While some farmers have ploughed a good deal of land, the 

 fall has been so backward and the harvest prolonged that people have, on the 

 whole, done very little work. I believe we all intended to follow your instructions 

 as much as possible, but now we are frozen up. I heard of eggs being found 8 miles 

 north of Deloraine, through reading your description of them in the Weekly Star. 



