April, '15] 



FELT: GRASSHOPPER CONTROL 



227 



heavily along the furrow aided materially in checking them. We 

 noticed that the caterpillars were not inchned to pass through the lime, 

 turning about and getting out of it as soon as they came in contact 

 with it. Poisoned bran mash scattered along the furrow killed prac- 

 tically every caterpillar. Ordinary road oil also proved an effective 

 barrier. It was applied with a garden watering-can, the spraying top 

 of which had been removed, making a strip a couple of inches wide 

 about the field to be protected. 



Mr. T.J. Headlee : Three-fourths of the damage done last summer 

 in New Jersey by army worms occurred in lawns. Generally over the 

 state and especially along the shore, lawns were so eaten that they 

 turned brown and seemed dead. Arsenate of lead (dry and wet) poi- 

 soned bran mash (without fruit juice) were used, with only partial suc- 

 cess. Mr. W. B. Duryee, Jr., the farm demonstration agent in Mon- 

 mouth County, devised a scheme which worked better than any other 

 tried. Shallow ditches were dug along paved walks, walls and building 

 foundations. Finely pulverized lime was dusted lightly over the 

 infested lawns, taking care to keep the ditches free from it. The 

 following morning the worms were foimd collected in the ditches and 

 were destroyed by sprinkling them with gasoline. The gasoline was 

 used instead of kerosene because it left no undesirable stain upon the 

 walks, walls and foundations. In nearly all cases a single treatment 

 proved sufficient to free the infested lawn from further trouble. 



For general field crops and garden infestation barriers have again 

 demonstrated their value over poisons. The trench 12 inches deep 

 and 8 inches wide with 6-8 inch-deep post holes along its bottom at 

 distances of from 10 to 20 feet was completely effective, the worms 

 collecting in the holes and being destroyed by crushing or by sprinkling 

 them with kerosene. It was also found that the ordinary oil treatment 

 accorded to macadam roads when freshly applied rendered the road 

 a complete barrier. Advantage of this discovery was taken to protect 

 threatened truck fields. 



President H. T. Fernald: The next paper will be read by Mr. 

 E. P. Felt. 



GRASSHOPPER CONTROL IN NEW YORK STATE 



By E. P. Felt, Albany, N. Y. 



New York State suffered last summer from an almost unprecedented 

 grasshopper outbreak, the injury being confined largely to the sandy 

 areas bordering the Adirondacks and extending from Poland, Herki- 

 mer County, through Fulton and Saratoga counties north to Warren 

 and Clinton counties. Melanoplus atlanis Riley was the principal. 



