158 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



Reports like these indicate that grasshoppers may at times become a 

 very serious pest. However, returns also indicate that they may be con- 

 trolled. The most popular and effective remedy reported is that of 

 poisoned bran mash, the formulae and the method of application of which 

 is treated on page 377 of this volume. Another remedy used is 

 the hopperdozer, described on page 378. Not a few growers de- 

 clare a flock of turkeys or chickens to be the most efficient and economical 

 means of fighting grasshoppers. They not only destroy the grasshoppers, 

 but also derive great benefit from the food thus consumed. Disking or 

 harrowing in early spring to destroy grasshopper eggs is seldom men- 

 tioned. 



A few reports follow: 



Ford county: "We have 'hoppers' here nearly every year, but they can 

 easily be controlled with poison." 



Wichita county: "Poisoned bran mash does the work. It is sometimes 

 applied several times a season." 



Montgomery county: "Last year grasshoppers damaged our alfalfa 

 very much. We used Paris green and bran mixture with good results." 



Ness county: "We use the 'dozer,' poisoned bran mash, and keep clean 

 hedgerows." 



Gray county: "I run over the field after each cutting with a tank filled 

 with kerosene, fastened to a go-devil, and catch them. Make tank out of 

 galvanized iron and set on go-devil; fill pan with water and have a skim 

 of kerosene on top. Drive over the field several times." 



Pratt county: "We fight grasshoppers with turkeys, and find it 

 profitable." 



Logan county: "We fight grasshoppers with young chicks, having 

 portable concrete coops, which we distribute throughout the field." 



Jackson county: "The part of the field near the chicken house is never 

 hurt by grasshoppers." 



Greenwood county: "Hogs our best remedy sure cure; turkeys, sec- 

 ond; hopperdozer, third; poison and bran, last. 



Ottawa county: "Keep a big flock of turkeys." 



(See pages 374 to 379.) 



Gophers. 



The seriousness of the gopher pest in alfalfa fields is second only to 

 that of the grasshopper. Their burrows and mounds interfere with the 

 operations of harvesting, while they themselves destroy many alfalfa 

 plants. Instances are reported where fields have been completely de- 

 stroyed, or at least so damaged that it was necessary to plow them. 

 .Nearly two-thirds of the growers believe poisoning to be the most 

 efficient and economical means of destroying gophers. Trapping ranks 

 second in popularity. Another method of extermination is to offer small 

 boys a bounty of ten or fifteen cents a head for catching them, which, in 

 addition to the bounty offered by the county, is often sufficient to con- 

 trol them. Several other methods are mentioned, such as suffocation 

 with carbon bisulphide, shooting, keeping cats, and the encouragement of 

 snakes, but these are not in general use. On irrigated land they may be 



