BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY AND PLANT QUARANTINE 43 
bilities of spread of the pest. Many farmers in infested areas on 
the Gulf coast adopted recommended planting and cultural practices, 
including crop rotation, that tend to reduce beetle populations. The 
planting of small-grain and winter cover crops was increased several 
fold. Other Department as well as State agencies participated in 
bringing these practices to the attention of the farmers. 
Methods of handling nursery stock were improved, in cooperation 
with State pest-control agencies. The number of fumigated, barri- 
caded areas and of protected plunging beds has been more than 
doubled. The percentage of certifiable nursery stock was correspond- 
ingly increased. An incipient infestation at Avery Island. La., 125 
miles west of any other known infestation, is believed to have been 
eradicated by methyl bromide fumigation. 
Improvement was made in machinery used for applying insecti- 
cides. A machine for applying concentrated spray was developed 
so as to eliminate belt drives, reduce the gross weight, and apply the 
spray more evenly and uniformly. Field tests have indicated that 
the concentrated-spray method of applying insecticides is more effec- 
tive than others against white-fringed beetles. 
GRASSHOPPER AND MORMON CRICKET CONTROL 
Grasshoppers were somewhat more abundant in the spring of 1944 
than in 1943, from Texas north to Montana and North Dakota. Al- 
though the infestation was spotted, destructive populations developed 
locally in 8 to 10 counties in south-central Texas and in western 
Kansas, central and western Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado, 
and particularly damaging outbreaks threatened in 10 or 12 counties 
in central South Dakota. In Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota 
the outlook for the 1944 crop season is not particularly alarming, but 
considerable baiting may be needed in some localities to protect late 
crops. 
Mormon cricket infestations developed in 1944 very much as indi- 
cated by the fall egg surveys. Control operations were conducted 
during May and June in Washington. Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and 
Wyoming. More extensive outbreaks occurred in Idaho and Nevada. 
Wet, cool weather during the spring and early summer retarded 
both grasshopper and Mormon cricket development and greatly pro- 
moted growth of crops and natural vegetation. Early crops that 
normally would have been susceptible to grasshopper attack had a 
good growing start, and the natural vegetation provided sufficient 
attractive cover so that early-season damage was restricted to localized 
areas. 
The grasshopper-control program in 1944 presented several im- 
portant aspects. Relatively low populations generally offered possi- 
bilities for holding infestations at a low ebb with a small amount of 
timely and effective control work. If a repetition of unfavorable past 
experiences in the more heavily populated areas was to be avoided, it 
was necessary to supplement farmer control in such areas with fed- 
erally-financed spreading of poisoned bait on roadsides and rights-of- 
way. 
To implement this program a new type of blower spreader was de- 
signed, and 275 of these spreaders were constructed. This spreader, 
with a throw of approximately 35 feet to either or both sides, will 
