11 



but I am inclined to think that very heavy poisoning of all grass along the ditches 

 and elsewhere frequented in numbers by the grasshoppers, if accompanied with a 

 dusting of the cotton plants by the poison, as practiced for the cotton-leaf worm, 

 will be the more profitable and feasible, course. It is difficult to advise in the 

 absence of direct knowledge of conditions, and I am, therefore, in response to your 

 request, which has been seconded by the Hon. T. C. Catchings, M. C, of Vicks- 

 burg, Miss., and the requests of several other correspondents, about to send one of 

 my assistants, Mr. James S. Hine, to make a personal investigation of the case and 

 give such directions in regard to remedial work as, in his judgment, will be deemed 

 most worth while after a personal investigation. Mr. Hine will proceed to Vicks- 

 burg and call on you there. 



Yours, truly, L. 0. Howard. 



Mr. P. M. Harding, 



President Delta Trast and Hanking Company, Vicksburg, Miss. 



As the differential locust matures as early as June 25 in the latitude 

 of the section infested, nearly all of the grasshoppers had reached the 

 adult condition Iry the time Mr. Hine arrived at Dahomy, and little if 

 anything could be accomplished, save to carefully investigate the con- 

 ditions likely to precipitate such an outbreak, and to recommend 

 measures looking to the suppression of a similar or even more exten- 

 sive occurrence of these locusts the following year. 



In the fall of 1899, the writer, fearing the spread of this destructive 



Fir,. 1. — UManoplus differentialis — natural size (after Riley). 



locust into the Mississippi Valley of Louisiana, began, through the 

 assistance of Mr. Harding, an investigation of the Mississippi situa- 

 tion. Specimens of eggs sent from Dahomy were placed in breeding 

 cages and in the spring of 1900 some of the habits and the life history 

 of the differential and other species were observed. During the win- 

 ter, as the managers of Dahomy were following out the instructions 

 given by Dr. Howard and Mr. Hine, to have the infested fields 

 plowed and thoroughly cultivated, additional eggs were secured in 

 sections of soil, thus augmenting our breeding-cage operations and 

 making it possible to anticipate by cage data the development and 

 habits of the grasshoppers in the field. 



LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS OF MELANOPLUS DIFFERENTIALIS. 



The following observations were made in the fall and winter of 1899 

 and during 1900 in breeding cages of the laboratory of the Louisiana 

 State University, and in the fields upon and in the vicinity of Dahomy 

 plantation, Bolivar County, Miss. 



