REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1914 47 



be nullified to only a very slight extent by migration. Throughout 

 the region there was a general feeling that it would be comparatively 

 useless for the individual to take up what seemed to be a very uneven 

 conflict. 



With these conditions in mind, a large scale demonstration was 

 started July 18th. A badly infested oat field of about 22 acres was 

 selected for the test. The Kansas bait, consisting of 20 pounds of 

 bran, 1 pound of Paris green, 2 quarts of cheap syrup, 3 lemons and 

 3^ gallons of water was used. The bran and Paris green were thor- 

 oughly mixed while dry, the juice of the lemons was squeezed into 

 the water and the remaining pulp and peel cut fine by running it 

 through an ordinary meat grinder. The poisoned bran was well 

 dampened or mixed with this liquid, producing a moist though not 

 sloppy preparation. This was distributed over the field, beginning 

 about 10.30 o'clock in the morning, much as grain is sown, a good 

 handful making three or four throws and covering approximately 200 

 square feet. It was the intention to use about 4 pounds of bran to 

 the acre, but as a matter of fact it was approximately 6, owing to 

 the difficulty of securing a uniform distribution. The poisoned 

 bait was so thinly spread in the field that one had to look closely in 

 order to find it. Observations showed that many grasshoppers began 

 to feed upon the bait within three or five minutes after it fell to the 

 ground and, in some instances, they seemed to drop from the oats, 

 being attracted by the smell, and gradually made their way to small 

 particles of the bait. About four hours after the first application, 

 namely, 2.30 o'clock in the afternoon, a few sick grasshoppers were 

 noticed here and there. At 6.30 o'clock the next afternoon, less than 

 36 hours after the beginning of the treatment, three-fourths of the 

 grasshoppers in this field were dead or dying, twelve to fourteen dead 

 insects being easily found on a square foot and frequently six or 

 seven were collected in a small crevice as many inches long. There 

 was a noticeable tendency to collect in hollows or at the base of the 

 grain stalks. Practically the same conditions obtained the next 

 morning. Three days after the application it was estimated that 

 about four-fifths of the grasshoppers were dead, sixty-seven being 

 found in one square foot, an average square yard contained twenty- 

 six dead grasshoppers and another sixty-four. Five days after the 

 bait was distributed, sick grasshoppers were still to be seen, though 

 there had been a heavy two-hour rain the day before and the efficiency 

 of the bait was probably decreased. The next day it was estimated 

 that over nine-tenths of the grasshoppers originally in the field had 

 been destroyed by the bait and many of the few remaining were de- 



