4 MONTANA BULLETIN 200 



abilities are that with the coming of the spring of 1927 there 

 will be some new problem of major importance somewhere in 

 the State. A man on half-time in the Extension Service can 

 be of some assistance but he can not begin to handle the work 

 alone. Moreover, the work of controlling insect pests entails 

 other expenses besides those incident to travel, such as clerical 

 help, books, laboratory supplies and equipment, as well as labor 

 in the laboratory. 



At the same time that the work on Mormon crickets is in 

 progress it will be necessary to carry on also the work on the 

 beet leaf-hopper and on mosquitoes. With the present force it 

 is impossible to do even the cricket work as it should be done. 



We can not expect the funds supplied from the counties 

 to do more than purchase the supplies and pay laborers where 

 the cricket work is to be done. In order to have an effective 

 program it will be necessary for the State to provide sufficient 

 funds so that experienced men may be employed to direct the 

 work. 



The major reasons why an adequate fund is needed for the 

 State Entomologist are given more in detail in the following 

 pages. 



THE MORMON CRICKET IN WESTERN MONTANA 



The Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex Hald.) has been 

 steadily becoming more abundant and injurious in western 

 Montana for some years, and the situation became alarming in 

 1926. Some fanners have left the country on account of it 

 and a large acreage in the Camas Prairie region, which nor- 

 mally would have been planted to wheat in the fall of 1926, 

 was not planted at all. Through the county agents we have 

 the information that this cricket did damage in 1926 to the 

 extent of $120,000 and that it has now spread and increased in 

 numbers until some 250,000 acres are infested. The year 1926 

 was by far the worst year, and if conditions continue to get 

 worse during 1927 the situation will become appalling. The 

 Northern Pacific Railway Company, noticing that their load- 

 ings had fallen off in this section, investigated and, finding 

 that the Mormon cricket was responsible, took the matter up 

 with the State Entomologist. It was necessary to inform this 



