.^88 REPORT UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



to a frame, to be dragged over the grouDd. It was referred to in the 



following words in Mr. Eiley's eighth annual report for 1875 : 



Mr. Rufus Clark, of Denver, uses a piece of oil-cloth 9 to 12 feet long and C feet wide. 

 One side and each end are secured to light wooden strips by common carpet-tacks, and 

 the corners strengthened by braces. The oil-cloth is smeared withicoal-tar, purchased 

 at the Denver gas-works for $7.50 per barrel, and the trap is dragged over the ground 

 by two men; a cord about 10 feet long being fastened to the front corners for that pur- 

 pose. The entire expense of the " trap " is about $3.50, and as it is light and easily 

 liandled, will be found serviceable on small as well as large farms. Zinc, instead of 

 oil-cloth, has also been used for the same purpose. 



Finally, the same use of it in much the same words was recommended 

 on page 51 of the Eeport of the Conference of Governors held in Omaha 

 in the autumn of 1876, ten thousand copies of which report were pub- 

 lished ; while it was further recommended in our first Bulletin, distrib- 

 uted in April, 1877. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that its use 

 should have proved such a novelty, though the fact finds explanation, 

 perhaps, in the simple form of pan recommended by Senator Eobbins, 

 and the commendable enterprise which Governor Pillsbury displayed in 

 aiding the farmers to obtain material. The "tjoal-tar plan, when so for- 

 cibly brought to notice, gained favor at once and soon created quite a 

 furore. The following extracts will show what was thought of it, the 

 extent to which it was used, and the effective manner in which Governor 

 Pillsbury assisted the farmers of his State : 



When, after a brief effort to exterminate the insects, there seemed to be a common 

 inclination to abandon the struggle in despair, a contrivance of sheet-iron and coal- 

 tar was resorted to, with such results as promised a successful issue of a vigorous war- 

 fare upon the pests. Concurrent reports of the successful working of this device con- 

 tinued to reach me from various portions of the afflicted region, and, after much in- 

 quiry and a personal inspection of its operation on the theater of the worst devasta- 

 tion, I deemed it possessed of so much efiSciency as to warrant an effort to induce 

 its comprehensive use. I thought this justified both by the practical results to be ex- 

 pected and by the moral effect of a vigorous struggle in self-defense. The emergency 

 not admitting of time for definite arrangements respecting the costs involved^ I tele- 

 graphed the several counties concerned, offering to furnish, immediate supplies, upon 

 an understanding of future reimbursement by them. This offer was promptly ac- 

 cepted, and all available supplies for material having been secured at wholesale 

 sources, a vigorous war of extermination was maintained simultaneously in twenty- 

 nine counties of the State. In three or four of these, comprising the dense center of 

 the destroying swarms, the expedient proved unavailing. In all the rest, and es- 

 pecially wherever protective ditches had been first constructed, a fair degree of success 

 attended these efforts, a vast amount of grain and other products having been by this 

 means unquestionably rescued from destruction. In the prosecution of this enterprise 

 there were employed about 56,000 pounds of sheet-iron and 3,000 barrels of coal-tar, 

 which required a total expenditure of about $10,350. Toward this I applied the un- 

 expended half of the five thousand which the last legislature placed at my disposal 

 for relief purposes, and obtained the remainder upon my personal credit. The coun- 

 ties have made reimbursements as promised to the amount of $3,200, leaving about 

 $4,700 yet to be provided for. As commendable efforts of this character, which aim at- 

 Belf-protection, without hope of reward other than that dictated by enlightened policy, 

 are especially deserving of encouragement, I recommend that the State assume the 

 whole expense of the movement, refund the sums which have been paid, and release 

 from their obligations the counties which are in arrears. — [From Governor Pillsbury's 

 annual message -for 1877. 



