52 GRASSHOPPERS AND ALFALFA. 



March, 1898, we started two teams, disking 160 acres of alfalfa in Ford county. 

 The harrow had twenty-inch disks and was set to cut about three and one- 

 half inches deep, as an experiment. We afterward ran a light small-toothed 

 harrow over the ground to level it after the disking. After this harrowing, the 

 ground had the appearance of a wheat field that had been plowed very shallow. 

 Almost immediately the good effect of the cultivation commenced to show, and 

 so continued until the present time, not alone in the increased yield of alfalfa, 

 but by destroying the native grasses which had not been entirely subdued when 

 the seed was sown. I am of the opinion that the proper time to cultivate is early 

 in the spring, while the ground is mellow, after the winter freezing, and the plant 

 has not started to grow. The cutting up of the ground at this season of the year 

 also exposes all the eggs of the insects to the action of the early frosts. This is very 

 noticeable on this particular field, as there was not one-sixth as many 'hoppers 

 as on an adjacent tract of an equal area, sown in the same season by the same 

 party, and treated in every particular the same, with the exception of the disk- 

 ing given the former in the spring. The yield was one-third more and of a bet- 

 ter quality than the land that received no cultivation. There was no bad effect 

 on the plant to be noticed, such as cutting off the crown of the plant. It seemed 

 to do it good. The yield of the second crop was a decided surprise. We will 

 continue the disking of our alfalfa fields this winter and early spring. I will disk 

 a part of the same quarter-section this spring that we did last spring, and note 

 the effect. In addition to increase of yield and absence of grasshoppers, this field 

 was very noticeable on account of being clear of weeds and free from native 

 grasses. J. H. SMART, Assistant Superintendent. 



My own observations upon this quarter-section I have endeavored 

 to record, not only by means of words, but by photographs taken at the 

 time, plates of which were made, and appear as plates i, v, and vi, with 

 detailed descriptions given. The first crop averaged in height twenty- 

 nine inches ; stalks of extreme length were found thirty-three inches. 

 This first crop was marked by an evenness in height of growth, and by 

 the remarkable freedom from the presence of native grasses and 

 noxious weeds. The second crop, however, appeared to me to show 

 by far the more striking benefits derived from disking the ground, 

 and, for an idea of it, I should like the reader to return to plate i, 

 and note the height and luxuriance of the growth. This second crop 

 averaged in height twenty-eight inches; stalks of thirty-two inches 

 were found. I should like to say further, that the photographs were 

 taken from different places in the field, and that one place in the 

 field appeared to be equally as good as the other, with the exception 

 of a low swale, where the ground was poor and non-productive. Con- 

 cerning this second crop, it is not an exaggeration to say that, in 

 thirteen counties traversed, I saw nowhere, under any conditions, a 

 second crop of alfalfa which excelled the one upon this ground. It 

 is of more striking interest to note that this crop was brought to 

 maturity and harvested with no appreciable loss on account of grass- 

 hoppers, while two quarter-sections near by, of the same kind of soil, 

 gave neither a first nor a second crop on account of the prevalence of 



