﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 131 



especially necessary with small trees; and kerosene or whitewash 

 having Paris green mixed with it will answer as such preventives. 



One of the cheapest and simplest modes employed last Spring 

 was, to encircle the tree with cotton batting into which the insects 

 would entangle their feet, and thus be more or less obstructed. Strips 

 of paper covered with tar, stiif paper tied on so as to slope roof-fash- 

 ion, strips of glazed wall-paper, thick coatings of soft soap, were used 

 with varying success; but no estoppel equals the bright tin; the 

 others require constant watching and renewal, and in all cases coming 

 under my observation some insects would get in to the trees so as to 

 require the daily shaking of these morning and evening. This will 

 sometimes have to be done when the bulk of the insects have become 

 fledged, even where tin is used; for a certain proportion of the insects 

 will then fly into the trees. They do most damage during the night, 

 and care should be had that the trees be unloaded of their voracious 

 freight just before dark. 



One of my correspondents, Capt. John R. Wherry, of Boonville, 

 has suggested the use of strips of canvass, dipped in liquid sulphur 

 and attached to stakes to be stuck in the ground. He thinks that if 

 the strips are lit at evening the fumes will drive the insects away 

 from the locality they pervade. The suggestion strikes me quite 

 favorably as a means of protecting orchards, and I would recommend 

 its trial to the people of Colorado and the Mountain region, who 

 will doubtless have the opportunity the present year. The strips 

 should be dipped in hot sulphur, allowed to cool, and then staked to 

 the windward of the orchard, if the wind is stirring. 



HOW TO AVERT THE LOCUST INJURIES : PREVENTION. 



The measures so far recommended have in view the destruction 

 of the insects when once they are upon us. The question very natu- 

 rally arises, "Can something not be done to prevent the incursions of 

 the species into the more fertile States in which it is not indigenous?" 

 In the previously quoted paper read at Detroit, I gave it as my opin- 

 ion that "the proper way to deal with this insect is to attack it in its 

 native breeding places. It is a fact that does not speak well for some 

 of the countries of the Old World subject to locust injuries, that it is 

 to this day not known whence many of the devastating swarms have 

 their origin. But because European nations have hitherto shown 

 lethargy on this subject, it is no reason why we should. Let us rather 

 in this, as we have in many things, set an example which they will be 

 glad to follow. * * * Our efi'orts should be confined to 

 the restriction of the species within its natural limits. 



