TWENTY-FIFTH RFPOIiT OF STATK KXTOMf )T,()(;iST 27 



ditions in the soil scciiicd to (Iclermine tlie effectiveness of plowing. 

 Moist soil, wcli worked <lo\v)i after deej) p'owinfj, killed the 'hoppers. 

 Poor plowing" in soil which was rather dry did not i)rove very s;it- 

 isfactory. 



THE VALUE OF GRASSHOPPER EGG SURVEYS 



One of the li'reatest aitls toward promoting successfnl grasshoj)per 

 campaigns in all the western states has been the jirasshopper-egg 

 survey conducted each fall since 1931 under the general direction of 

 the Bureau of Entomology, Ignited States Department of Agriculture. 

 Although by far the greater part of the cost of these surveys has 

 been borne by the federal government, in this state the ]\Iontana Ag- 

 ricultural Experiment Station and the Montana Agricultural Exten- 

 sion Service have contributed either travel expense or the time of 

 one or two employees during September and October in every year 

 since 1932. 



By finding the grasshopper egg pods in the fields, roadsides, 

 ditcli banks, pastures, or waste land and determining the approxi- 

 mate number per square foot, a standard system luis been developed 

 by which abnormal grasshopper abundance can be i)redicted with 

 surprising accuracy. Tlie survey data are converted into terms of 

 ''percentage infestation" foi- each county. This means the percentage 

 of total crop area (including hay land) v.diich will have to be poison- 

 ed to avoid losses from grasshoppers. 



AYhen warning of a coming grasshopper outbreak can ])e given 

 during the fall prior to the season when trouble is expected, it is 

 very evident how valuable this information can be. For instance a 

 county can decide if farmers themselves can cope with the difficulty 

 or if it will be necessary to provide county money, as provided for 

 under the county insect-pest law. In some instances the impending 

 .outbreak may be so great that counties themselves can not support 

 the work. As in the case of the prediction for 1934, it was appar- 

 ent that an entire region of several states and Canadian provinces 

 was involved in an outbreak comparable with the notorious grass- 

 hopper plague of 1875-1880. Support from the federal government 

 seemed to offer the only possible way of prosecuting the intense cam- 

 paign which would be necessary. Without some accurate basis for 

 estimating the amounts of poisoned bait required in the various 

 states, and in the individual counties of each state, i)reparations for 

 such a great Tuidertaking would have been next to impossible. 



