39 



of all such attempts has generally been too apparent to encourage 



any hope of even a chance of success. 



BURNING PRAIRIES. 



The amount of help which may be received from burning the 

 grass on the prairie at the time of hatching, seems likely to be 

 well tested next year, as the efforts to preserve the grass have so 

 far been generally suscessful. The exact amount of help that can 

 be derived'from a general burning must very much, with differing 

 circumstances, from one year to another, and the opinions as to 

 its value differ greatly. To those who believe that the whole 

 region of uncultivated prairie in the western part of the state is 

 extensively dotted with eggs, nothing could seem more important 

 than a general preservation of the grass, difficult or impossible as 

 this may be. There is no question whatever as to the value ot 

 preserving it in all cultivated neighborhoods, or in all regions 

 that are interspersed with farms. And yet even in these it is 

 difficult to select a time for burning which will not allow the 

 escape of some portions of those already hatched or of those still 

 unhatched. But even if the help falls a great deal short of general 

 destruction it is still a help: even if no insects are hatched on 

 the prairie they often hop away in large numbers while going off 

 the bare fields into the prairie grass, and may be destroyed in 

 large quantities. In addition to this, where the grass is burned 

 late in the spring it gives place to a growth of young and tender 

 grass which often serves to entice the locusts away from the crops. 

 In Watonwan county last year only about one half of the grass 

 was saved through to May or June, in Cottonwood county less 

 than one half, in Redwood, Murray and Lyon counties, hardly 

 any. Wherever it was fairly tried in Cottonwood county, those 

 who had charge of attending to the preservation and firing of it 

 are strongly convinced that efficient service was rendered by it. 



PLOUGHING AND HARROWING. 



The prevention of the eggs from hatching by deep plowing or 

 by surface harrowing has been urged in the Report of the Omaha 

 Conference, and none too strongly. While there is much differ- 

 ence of opinion in regard to deep plowing, there is strong testi- 

 mony to show that where the eggs are turned u der to the depth 

 of ten inches they either never hatch at all, or come forth so late 

 as to be incapable of harm, appearing sometimes after the corn 



