﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 183 



young hoppers first hatch in Spring, or late in the Fall, as they excep- 

 tionally do when that season is prolonged and warm. In meadows 

 and prairies they may be destroyed by fire started in a circle around 

 them ; or they may be driven into windrows of straw or hay, and then 

 destroyed by fire ; for when these young are traveling they can be 

 driven almost as easily as a herd of sheep. Mr, N. C. Meeker, of 

 Greeley, Col., states that in this way the farmers there manage to save 

 50 acres of grain at a cost not exceeding $20. Their course can also 

 be governed by beating with brush until the advance guard is turned, 

 when the balance follow the leaders. Wherever there are running 

 ditches on a farm, the young can be driven into these and then caught 

 and killed in sieves or coarse sacks. This method is quite commonly 

 employed in those parts of the West where irrigating ditches and ca- 

 nals abound. In locust countries it is also a quite common practice 

 to drive the young into a heap against any converging barrier, and 

 then to destroy them by bagging or crushing. 



The attempts to protect the plants by sundry applications, such 

 as strong salt water, air-slacked lime, carbolic acid, etc., have proved 

 unsatisfactory; and from the collective experience of a number of 

 intelligent farmers in Colorado, which I made it a point of obtaining 

 in 1873, I feel that nothing is to be hoped for from such substances. 

 In 1868 and 1869, 1 sent two large cans of cresylic acid soap to Mr. 

 Stephen Blanchard, of Oregon, Holt county, to be tested as a means 

 of protecting his vegetables ; but he in the end concluded that noth- 

 ing would avail. Paris Green, as used for the Doryphora, will doubt- 

 less kill such locusts as partake of it ; but its general use on all the 

 plants which these omnivorous creatures relish, is out of the question. 

 However, there is yet room here for experiment, though, considering 

 that in all historical times, the resources of many nations have been 

 employed against Locusts without furnishing anything that will pro- 

 tect plants on a large scale — little hope can be entertained of discov- 

 ering such a substance. Turnips of which they are especially fond, 

 kohlrabi, carrots, and the like, may be saved when the insects come 

 late; by cutting off the tops and covering the roots with earth — the 

 tops making excellent food for milch cows. The earth should be re- 

 moved again as soon as possible to prevent the rotting of the roots. 



Where the means already suggested cannot be employed, there 

 are yet two methods of destroying these young, namely: by catching 

 them in hand-nets, such as entomologists use, and as were described 

 in my 5th Report; and crushing them with broad wooden shovels at- 

 tached at an oblique angle to some kind of handle. 



Finally, as Mr. Snyder well shows, in his letter which I publish in 



