264 AEID AGRICULTURE. 



especially along the borders of alfalfa and other 

 fields and sometimes get so numerous that they 

 cause damage. They are called locusts by en- 

 tomologists. The eggs hatch out early in the 

 spring when there is green vegetation for the lit- 

 tle hoppers to feed upon, and if food is plenty 

 they do not wander very far from the place 

 where they are hatched until they get considera- 

 ble size. They may be destroyed in several 

 ways. Plowing or harrowing, especially with 

 the disc harrow late in fall or early in spring, 

 will destroy the eggs, as they are quickly killed 

 when exposed to air. In running the disc or 

 rotary alfalfa harrow over alfalfa fields the road 

 sides and ditch banks should also be harrowed on 

 account of the grasshoppers and other insects 

 which may be killed. 



Grasshoppers may be quite effectually de- 

 stroyed by the use of poisoned bran. Use three 

 pounds of Paris green with one hundred pounds 

 of bran and moisten with water which has been 

 sweetened. Mix the dry poison and bran and 

 moisten so it "crawls" and will scatter like seed 

 when sown from the hand. One hundred pounds 

 will go quite thoroughly over 25 or 30 acres of 

 alfalfa or potato field. Mix in a tub and scatter 

 from a buggy as you drive along. This is espe- 

 cially valuable in potato fields when grasshop- 

 pers are thick enough to do damage. This poison 

 bran can be sown broadcast where the hoppers 

 are most numerous. This is undoubtedly one of 



