DITCHING TO TRAP LOCUSTS. 379 



2 feet deep by 2 feet wide, with perpendicular sides. Having been the 

 first to recommend proper ditching in this country, I have felt particular 

 interest in its results, and have been in no small degree amused at the 

 fault found with my recommendation bj those who, through slovenly, 

 made ditches or other causes, have not been successful in this mode of 

 warfare. It is less effectual against the newly-hatched young, which 

 more easily crawl up a perpendicular bank than the larger ones, and its 

 efficacy will vary with the nature of the soil and other circumstances j 

 for, in proportion as the soil is loose, and the ditches hence apt to fill up 

 by the action of strong winds, or in proportion as strong winds carry 

 the insects over, ditching will necessarily fail.'' 



^' Those who, from theory rather than from experience, are skeptical 

 about the efficacy of ditching, urge that the locust, especially in the 

 pupa state, can hop more than two feet. In truth, however, whether 

 when traveling in a given direction of their own accord, or when being 

 driven or disturbed, they very seldom leap that distance, as all who 

 have had experience well know. That, on a pinch, the pupa can leap 

 even farther, is true j but the fact remains that in practice Caloptenus 

 spretus seldom does. So the Chinch-bug, though capable of flight, will 

 yet tumble into a ditch by myriads rather than use its wings. Even 

 the larger winged Acridia and OEdipodse tumble into such a ditch, and 

 seldom get out again. I would remark in this connection, also, that a 

 ditch three feet wide, unless correspondingly deep, will be more apt to 

 permit the insects to escape, when once in, than a narrower one. In 

 hopping, the more perpendicular the direction the insects must take, 

 the shorter will be the distance reached. 



" The efficacy of the ditch depends not so much on the inability of 

 the young locusts to jump or scale it, as on their tendency not to do so. 

 In tlie bottom of the ditch they soon become demoralized, crippled, and 

 enfeebled by constant effort, and the trampling and crowding upon one 

 another." 



From the numerous instances that have come to our knowledge, we 

 give the following to illustrate the benefits derived from proper ditch- 

 ing: Just back of the fair-grounds at Kansas City, Mo., Mr. F. D. 

 Adkins had about three acres in vegetables in 1875. The locusts hatched 

 in large numbers all around the city, but were especially abundant in 

 the immediate vicinity of this truck-garden, and seemed bent upon its 

 destruction. Mr. Adkins, remembering his experience with the same 

 l^lague in 1867, began active operations in ditching for their destruction 

 in 1875 ; and though the country for miles around was laid waste, yet 

 this little three acre field was untouched — a perfect oasis in the desert, 

 at once giving pleasure to the eye, and speaking eloquently of what 

 may be accomplished by a little judgment and perseverance. 



Of the experiences in 1877 as to the efficacy of ditches, the following 

 are some of the more valuable : 



Yours of June 27 was duly received, and, in answer, would say, that up to the pres- 

 ent our "'hopper-ditches" have proved entirely successful, or, at least, to my full 



