10 MONTANA BULLETIN 150 



areas. The eggs are spread over more country and consequently more 

 expense and effort are attached to destroping the hoppers before they 

 have spread into tlie crops and have started to cause damage. It is 

 also very difficult to determine the liklihood of an outbreak of the 

 lesser-migratory grasshopper with any degree of certainty as can bo 

 done with the warrior grasshopper. Then in addition, the species oc- 

 curring in eastern Montana possesses a stronger migratory habit than 

 the warrior grasshopper. Not only is the control of the migrating 

 swarms on late crops very difficult but the migrations assist in the 

 rapid spread of the hoppers over immense areas. Undoubtedly many 

 of the infestations in the northern counties during the last two years 

 originated from swarms which flew in from the southeast. 



Accordingly, in 1922 the condition in western Montana was very 

 much alleviated but east of the mountains the infested areas of the 

 previous year had increased. North central Montana, especially the 

 region drained by the Marias and Teton rivers, having been very dry 

 in 1921, held a widespread infestation. The counties most concerned 

 in this area were Pondera, Glacier, Toole, Liberty, Chouteau, and 

 Teton. Farther east along the Great Northern Railway the infesta- 

 tions were worse than in 1921 except in northeastern Montana — Roose- 

 velt, Daniels, and Sheridan counties — where fewer hoppers were pres- 

 ent, although still numerous enough to make extensive campaigns nec- 

 essary in two of these counties. 



Increased infestations occurred in Cascade, Judith Basin, Fergus, 

 Wheatland, Golden Valley, and Musselshell counties to the extent that 

 many times as much money was spent in 1922 as in the previous year. 



The rather sudden increase of the two-striped grasshopper {Mel- 

 anophfs hivittatiis Say) through the valley of the Yellowstone, coupled 

 with the already serious infestations of the lesser-migratory grassliop- 

 ])er, made necessary organized campaigns in every county along the 

 Yellowstone River from Sweet Grass County east to North Dakota. 



Other counties not mentioned carried out extensive operations 

 against the hoppers during the season, financed either privately or 

 under tlie insect pest law. At the time this report is written informa- 

 tion is lacking from many of the counties, but from the data at hand 

 it appears that more than 700,000 acres of infested land in Montana 

 were treated, with an estimated crop saving of well over $2,500,000. 

 This was done at a cost of approximately $185,000 spent for materials. 



